Digital Technologies in the Field of Culture: Theorizing the Issue of Digital Data and Cultural Heritage

Abstract

The purpose of the research is to reveal the peculiarities of the digital collections functioning in the field of cultural heritage. Research methodology is based on the application of a systematic approach to the digitization issue’s study of cultural heritage sites and museum practice. The scientific novelty of the obtained results is the issue’s actualization of the functioning of digital collections of cultural heritage in the cultural context, the statement of the digital canon expansion in the field of cultural heritage. Conclusions. It is emphasized that the discrepancy between the scale of digitized content and the real number of non-digitized and unpublished works of culture and art raises important questions about who decides which works will be published, will enter the scientific and educational circulation, will expand the digital canon and will serve as a source of inspiration for the general public. Thus, the range of problems in the development of digital collections and digital content aggregators in the field of cultural heritage becomes evident. Digital publishing platforms should be seen as primary sources that reflect the cultural, political and social issues of the modern era and reveal ontological and epistemic gaps in the perception of cultural, ethnic and social affiliation. The analysis of conceptual and methodological approaches to the development of modern digital technologies in the field of cultural heritage, which defined the digital turn for all modern cultural processes, allows us to understand the basic patterns and trends associated with recording, analysis and transmission of cultural heritage at the present stage. Critical analysis of digital infrastructures enables the cultural study of the digital turn in the field of cultural heritage in order to identify the possibilities and limitations of digital technologies in the analysis, publication and dissemination of textual and visual materials, demonstrating works of culture and art.