Cultural Heritage Information: Access and Management

Citation

Jaye Weatherburn (2015), "Cultural Heritage Information: Access and Management", Library Management, Vol. 36 No. 6/7, pp. 549-550. https://doi.org/10.1108/LM-06-2015-0044

Cultural Heritage Information: Access and Management – the first title published in the new Facet Publishing iResearch series – highlights a growing need to address a number of the challenges that the digital environment has raised for the management and provision of cultural heritage information. It deftly assesses how digital technologies have prompted a rethinking of access to, and use of, cultural heritage resources.

The book’s target audience is a broad one: academics, researchers, practitioners and students. The editors’ goal is to provide “a snapshot of current research and development as well as outlining the various challenges and trends of research in relation to the creation, access and management of digital cultural heritage information systems and services” (p. xvi). The essays are from various international locations, including Africa, Canada, Europe, Japan and the UK.

The editors claim that “cultural heritage information systems will be a growing organism requiring more and more resources to run them in years to come” (p. 6). This adds to the book’s validity. It is essential reading for those embarking on managing and preserving cultural heritage resources into the future, specifically in metadata management and preservation.

The diverse chapters provide a good foundation to understand both historical and current practices. Chris Alen Sula’s “Digital humanities and digital cultural heritage”, for example, attempts to define the “central values” of digital humanities, and puts forward a case for cultural heritage institutions to become more open and connected.

Useability and methods for the long-term preservation of cultural heritage information are common topics throughout the essays. Melissa Terras’s “Cultural heritage information: artefacts and digitization technologies” highlights best practice for new and emerging digitization technologies in the cultural heritage sector. Similarly, “Metadata in cultural contexts – from manga to digital archives in a linked open data environment” develops an innovative metadata system for Japanese manga, offering a framework for other niche projects requiring bibliographic description by showing the benefits of reusing existing standards.

Sudatta Chowdhury’s “Cultural heritage information users and usability” mentions emerging trends such as crowdsourcing, the impact of digital natives and their influence on “cultural heritage information services”, and the increase of user-generated content, and provides a solid starting point for future research.

Cultural Heritage Information fulfils its editors’ goals – providing a well-rounded foundation for understanding the history of digital humanities and some of the current challenges in the increasingly important area of cultural heritage information management.