Page 143 - AC/E Digital Culture Annual Report

the interpretation of the cultural object – the di erence being that they do not require the same preservation and conservation e orts.The following survey illustrates the major possibilities and potential of digital technologies – headed by virtual technologies – with respect to disseminating heritage both digitally and otherwise.2.1 Heritage in the digital mediumOne of the milestone achievements of informa- tion and communication technologies (ICT) was the emergence of the internet as a worldwide network for transferring multimedia data. Its advent bene tted many elds of knowledge, especially cultural heritage, as knowledge and dissemination overcame physical and geo- graphical limitations. UNESCO’s drafting of the Charter on the Preservation of Digital Heritage81 (2016) and the submittal of the report on El impacto de las tecnologías digitales en la diversidad de las expresiones culturales de España e Hispano- américa82 (The impact of digital technologies on the diversity of cultural expressions of Spain and Spanish America, 2016) stress the potentialityof digital and the need to share experiencesby joining forces to adopt an interdisciplinary working method aimed chie y at enhancing the value and knowledge of heritage.The ultimate purpose is to make all heritage objects available on the internet to be consulted and enjoyed anywhere in the world, facilitating the work of both sector professionals and millions of potential users all over the planet.2.1.1 Geographic Information SystemsGISs or Geographic Information Systemshave been one of the most e ective tools for cataloguing historic heritage, as a map locationmakes it possible to obtain complete and analytical visualizations of a group of heritage sites in a geographical area and globally. Roughly speaking, a GIS system consists of a database which has the particular feature of using geolo- cation references for inventorying and managing each of the elements incorporated into it. GISs have been of particular signi cance in elds such as archaeology or cataloguing historic heritage as they allow interactive maps to be created that not only refer to the information in the inventory entries for each item, but also provide multimedia data ranging from links to websites, high-resolution photographs and videos to virtual visits and 3D models that exploit all the possibilities of the digital medium. Many GISs applied to heritage have been published on the internet and there are very interesting examples of their use in disseminating and carrying out research on heritage.Arches ProjectAn example worth highlighting is the Arches Project83 developed jointly by the Getty Conser- vation Institute84 and World Monuments Fund.85Arches is a geospatially-enabled software platform for cultural heritage inventory and management which meets a widespread need in the heritage eld for low-cost, user-friendly and easily accessible electronic inventories. It is therefore freely available for organisations worldwide without restrictions, based onthe open-source philosophy. It is designedto facilitate inventorying and cataloguing for international institutions as well as local bodies with fewer funds. The software accordingly combines several functions, such as identifying and inventorying, investigating and analysing, and monitoring and mapping, taking advantage of the latest digital resources (image, video, 3D models) to allow users to create and manage heritage information in all its richness and diversity. Another of Arches’ potentialities isits use of advanced semantic technologies that make it possible to discover previously unknownAC/E DIGITAL CULTURE ANNUAL REPORT 2017143The use of digital technologies in the conservation, analysis and dissemination of cultural heritage