Replica of La Dama de Elche using 3D scanning and printing technologies – DigiCULT user survey – projects on e-learning – Spanish archives on the Web – interview with Susan Hazan – digitisation projects in Italy – interview with Paolo Buonora – more from DigiCULT’s Regional Correspondents

DigiCULT introduces our regional correspondents – using 3D technologies in heritage projects – content management – new open source tools – action in the preservation of memory – the object of learning – IRCAM digital sound archive – our knowledge society – news and events.

This sixth Thematic Issue concentrates on how resource discovery technologies can ensure that the high value, authoritative information of heritage institutions is effectively found, retrieved, and presented to Internet users.

With a key focus on the user, the Issue looks into user-driven approaches in interactive resource discovery. Expert opinion suggests that offering easy to use services and tools able to integrate the research and learning needs and behaviours of their users may form one of the heritage institutions, answers to the dominance of general-purpose global search engines.

However, along with ensuring state-of-the-art interactive access and presentation, the heritage sector will also need to raise the public’s awareness to, and visibility of, its online resources in a more profound manner. Otherwise it faces the risk that the large investment required in creating digital collections, rich descriptive metadata, study and learning material, will fail to realise a high return – in terms of interest and appreciation, discovery and valuable uses of heritage resources.

Der DigiCULT Technology Watch Report 2 ist der zweite von insgesamt drei Technologie-Reports, die im Rahmen des EU-Projektes DigiCULT Forum (bis 08/2004) publiziert werden.

Verschiedenste IT-Technologien werden vorgestellt und hinsichtlich ihrer Relevanz für den Kulturerbesektor vorgestellt. Gerade für kleinere Kulturinstitutionen (und 95% sind klein) bietet dieser Report eine neutrale und kompakte Informationsquelle und Entscheidungshilfe für Entscheidungsträger in Archiven, Bibliotheken und Museen ohne kommerziellen Hintergedanken.

Folgende Technologien werden ausführlich beschrieben, mit herkömmlichen Standards und Methoden verglichen und samt Vorteilen und potenziellen Risiken für den Kulturerbe-Sektor bewertet:

– The Application Service Model

– The XML Family of Technologies

– Cultural Agents and Avatars, Electronic Programming Guides and Personalisation

– Mobile Access to Cultural Information Resources

– Rights Management and Payment Technologies

– Collaborative Mechanisms and Technologies

It is with great pleasure and honour to publish alongside our series of DigiCULT Publications a special edition on the digitization of emblem books. The twelve articles by distinguished experts stem from the working conference on emblem digitization held in September 2003 at the Herzog August Bibliothek, Wolfenbüttel, Germany. They allow us to exemplify how scholars in a highly specialised area of research together with digital librarians have taken advantage of information technologies, standards, and emerging best practices for the digitization of emblems and emblem books, and the scholarly work related to them. In this volume readers will find valuable information as well as encouragement for their own projects in digitizing cultural heritage resources and digitally enhanced scholarship.

This fifth Thematic Issue concentrates on the question of how heritage institutions might benefit from fostering virtual communities related to core activities such as exhibitions, educational programmes or in support of scholarly communities.

There is growing volume of evidence to suggest that cultural heritage institutions’ adoption of virtual communities will broaden the reach, value and relevance of cultural heritage. The vision to link the collections and work of heritage insitutions with virtual communities promises to considerably change the way we access, communicate about, share our understanding of, and participate in the experience of cultural heritage.

But, for most cultural heritage institutions, the challenge will be first to embrace the idea of co-operating with a (non-professional) online community, and then to nurture an evolving and thriving community that crosses the virtual as well as physical space.

ARKive and educational games –, human language technologies –, introduction to Applications Service Providers –, astronomical photo archive, interview with Jean-Pierre de Cuyper –, news for European projects –, DAVID –, DELOS –, E-CultureNet –, open source solutions –, digitisation in Turkish libraries –, Open Video Archive.

Please welcome to the next edition in a series of e-journals from DigiCULT. Heritage Informatics continues to emerge as an exciting area for both the application of new technologies and as a source for research challenges that promote innovative technological developments.

An extra day in Berlin after IFLA2003 provided an opportunity to visit the Museumsinsel, one of the finest museum complexes in the world. Currently many of its buildings are undergoing extensive renovations. As on my right I passed the reopened Alte Nationalgalerie I noticed one of the buildings currently wrapped for restoration was covered by a massive poster. In the words Weltkultur beflügelt (world culture gives wings) it asks all who pass to consider the liberating power of the cultural heritage. Articles in this issue of DigiCULT.Info all show the power of new technologies in helping cultural heritage institutions in achieving their objective of improving the care, understanding and benefits of cultural heritage to individuals and society. Reflecting on the phrase Weltkultur beflügelt, we are reminded that technology is an enabler and not an end in itself.
Seamus Ross