Cultural Heritage Organizations Research Articles

KOL Strategies for Corporate Branding--The Digital Forbidden City as an Example

This study focuses on the KOL marketing strategy of the Digital Forbidden City in corporate branding, discussing how companies can carry out branding through KOL strategy in the digital era, especially taking the Digital Forbidden City as an example, analysing how it can leverage the power of KOL to achieve innovation and breakthroughs in branding. By studying the application of KOL strategy in strengthening brand influence and promotion effect, this paper reveals the significant effect of KOL strategy in enhancing brand awareness, shaping brand image and strengthening consumers’ emotional connection, and proposes specific insights for cultural heritage organisations and other enterprises. This study not only enriches the theoretical system of KOL strategy, but also provides operational practical guidance for enterprises.

Enhancing User Participation in Cultural Heritage through Serious Games: Combining Perspectives from the Experience Economy and SOR Theory

The dissemination and preservation of cultural heritage has attracted much attention globally, and serious games play an important role in cultural heritage dissemination and preservation; however, it is not clear which experiences of serious games are effective in increasing people’s attention to cultural heritage. This study combines the experience economy and stimulus–organism–response (SOR) theory to construct a theoretical model to explore which experiences of serious games influence users’ behavioral intention to care about cultural heritage. We surveyed 302 users who experienced serious games and analyzed the data and measurement model using SPSS 27 and partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). The results showed that the four experiences of serious games (educational, entertaining, escapist, and esthetic) had a significant effect on users’ perceived value and memory and that perceived value and memory significantly influenced users’ participation. In addition, this study found that the entertainment experience was not only a key factor influencing perceived value and memory, but also the most significant factor directly affecting user participation. This finding provides specific recommendations for game developers and cultural heritage organizations to enhance user engagement. Enhancing the four experience dimensions and strengthening users’ perceived value and memory can effectively encourage users to pay attention to cultural heritage through serious games and contribute to the preservation and sustainable development of cultural heritage.

Leveraging Systems Thinking to Dismantle Systemic Racism in Conservation

ABSTRACT In the early 1990s, the American Institute for Conservation (AIC) and other cultural heritage organizations began to formally address the lack of racial diversity in the US conservation field. Since then, a wide array of programs designed to attract a more racially diverse group of people to the field have been developed and implemented. Their impact, when measured by increased racial diversity in AIC membership, has been limited. Using the concepts of systemic racism, critical race theory, and systems thinking, this article explores how the conservation field got to where it is today and what it could do to become a contributing element of an inclusive society. Possible ways to leverage lasting change are proposed. An invitation to those who are interested in interrogating what is set out, finding the weak points, filling the gaps, and building on the strengths is extended to all readers.

Assessing the Long-COVID Impact on Heritage Organisations

The aim of this paper is to understand the long-COVID impact on cultural heritage organisations, and future research needed. COVID-19 was disruptive to cultural heritage socioeconomic activities across the world during 2020 and 2021. Whilst government intervention and changes from physical to digital engagement generally prevailed, the long-COVID impact on cultural heritage organisations, their people and users, buildings, and collections remains unknown. The extent, also, to which financing, curating, visiting, and volunteering patterns have changed is uncertain. Following the pandemic closures and associated support, cultural heritage organisations are facing continuing economic, social, political, environmental, technological, and organisational culture pressures. This research examines the existing academic literature, sector publications, annual reports and associated visitor information to understand whether cultural heritage organisations have long-COVID, whether they can survive another pandemic, and what further research is needed to be better prepared. Four case studies from the UK look at the visitor and financial impacts of COVID-19 on the British Library, the London Transport Museum, The Theatre Royal Drury Lane, and Kensington Palace. This paper contributes to heritage research by providing a deeper understanding of the impact that COVID-19 had on heritage, and how to proactively plan for similar future disruptions. The impact themes show that change did not result in a new normal but in the need for a new space, consisting of blended space (physical and digital), mixed space (indoors and outdoors), and community of practice space (isolated or cross-sector networking space). The literature highlights the significance of the sector coming together during the pandemic to share knowledge and provide support through its networks. It also highlights how important it is for such unity not to be lost but to be harnessed to support ongoing organisational sustainability and better preparedness for future crises. Finally, future research suggestions are proposed grouped into social, digital, financial, and operational research themes.

Stewarding Collections in Times of Changing Perspectives

Libraries, archives, museums and other cultural heritage organizations are collections-based institutions with the mission to preserve their collections and make them accessible in various ways, whether for research, study, exhibition and educational purposes, while holding the physical collections in trust for the public. With the transitioning values for the collecting practices, the norms of collecting practices and accessibility standards are being challenged. The provenance of collections is being challenged, as well, and in some cases, objects and materials in collections have become the subject of repatriation. This is particularly true where collections include objects and materials that were acquired or taken from one global region or community and accessioned into the collection of a cultural heritage organization in another. How can access to collections be provided to patrons and the public in a way that is true and respectful of the normative traditions of traditional communities, in keeping with shifting societal values? This article presents the argument that a recognition and respect for intellectual property norms, specifically traditional knowledge (TK) and traditional cultural expressions (TCEs), facilitates quality collections stewardship and access to collections.

Enhanced Inclusion through Advanced Immersion in Cultural Heritage: A Holistic Framework in Virtual Museology

In recent years, the digitization of cultural heritage has been favored by significant advancements in specific technologies, such as photogrammetry and three-dimensional scanning. The digital representations of artifacts, paintings, books, and collections, as well as buildings or archaeological sites, has led to the transfer of cultural organizations to the digital space. On the other hand, the rapid development of immersive technologies and the Internet of Things is expected to decisively shape virtual cultural heritage in the coming years. However, this digital transition should expand its impact on most of the population. This article aims to cover the lack of structured methodology in the design and development of inclusive virtual spaces in cultural heritage. This research introduces a holistic framework that is mainly based on the disciplines of virtual museology. The proposed methodology takes into account the advancements in extended reality and the creative industry of computer games. The multisensory approach would lead to advanced immersive experiences, while the multilayered approach of cultural heritage content would enhance accessibility in inclusive virtual spaces. Moreover, this holistic framework could provide evidence from the virtual worlds that could be applied to real cultural heritage organizations.

A Holistic Approach for Enhancing Museum Performance and Visitor Experience.

Managing modern museum content and visitor data analytics to achieve higher levels of visitor experience and overall museum performance is a complex and multidimensional issue involving several scientific aspects, such as exhibits' metadata management, visitor movement tracking and modelling, location/context-aware content provision, etc. In related prior research, most of the efforts have focused individually on some of these aspects and do not provide holistic approaches enhancing both museum performance and visitor experience. This paper proposes an integrated conceptualisation for improving these two aspects, involving four technological components. First, the adoption and parameterisation of four ontologies for the digital documentation and presentation of exhibits and their conservation methods, spatial management, and evaluation. Second, a tool for capturing visitor movement in near real-time, both anonymously (default) and eponymously (upon visitor consent). Third, a mobile application delivers personalised content to eponymous visitors based on static (e.g., demographic) and dynamic (e.g., visitor movement) data. Lastly, a platform assists museum administrators in managing visitor statistics and evaluating exhibits, collections, and routes based on visitors' behaviour and interactions. Preliminary results from a pilot implementation of this holistic approach in a multi-space high-traffic museum (MELTOPENLAB project) indicate that a cost-efficient, fully functional solution is feasible, and achieving an optimal trade-off between technical performance and cost efficiency is possible for museum administrators seeking unfragmented approaches that add value to their cultural heritage organisations.

Revitalization of cultural heritage in the digital era: A case study in Taiwan

<p>Cultural heritage organizations worldwide face daunting challenges, grappling with workforce shortages and financial constraints that often result in service closures, postponements, or cancellations. In response to these difficulties, we delved into the evolving interaction between cultural heritage sites and society, especially considering the profound socio-economic repercussions of the global pandemic at these sites. We scrutinized the dynamic heritage of community engagement, with a particular focus on pioneering methods to augment the participation and awareness of younger individuals. We focused on innovative methods to enhance the involvement and awareness of young individuals. Employing a comprehensive content analysis through a multiple case study approach, cultural heritage initiatives in Taiwan were investigated, emphasizing the pivotal role of technology and digital platforms in engaging young audiences. Using a comprehensive content analysis approach within a multiple case study framework, we examined various cultural heritage initiatives in Taiwan. Notably, we accentuated the crucial role played by technology and digital platforms in captivating younger audiences. Through theoretical sampling and triangulation methods, including semi-structured interviews, secondary sources, and participant observation, we sought to obtain a holistic understanding of the subject matter. The research findings underscore the pivotal importance of digital experiences as supplements to physical presence, providing a gateway to cultural heritage exploration. Moreover, we advocate for heritage sites to harness digital platforms effectively, encouraging collaborations with external partners to enrich visitor experiences. We also offer valuable recommendations aimed at enhancing customer engagement and communication with the younger demographic, thus making significant contributions to the cultural heritage sector in Asia. Furthermore, this research signifies a notable transition from traditional physical service design to online platforms, leveraging technology to inspire and engage diverse generations. By embracing digital tools, cultural heritage sites not only attract new visitors but also retain the interest of existing ones amidst an ever-evolving societal landscape. Ultimately, this study sheds light on the imperative nature of cultural heritage preservation and adaptation in the face of contemporary challenges, emphasizing the need for innovation and resilience in this vital sector.</p>

User versus institutional perspectives of metadata and searching: an investigation of online access to cultural heritage content during the COVID-19 pandemic

Findings from log analyses of user interactions with the digital content of two large national cultural heritage institutions (National Museums of Scotland and National Galleries of Scotland) during the COVID-19 lockdown highlighted limited engagement compared to pre-pandemic levels. Just 8% of users returned to these sites, whilst the average time spent, and number of pages accessed, were generally low. This prompted a user study to investigate the potential mismatch between the way content was indexed by the curators and searched for by users. A controlled experiment with ten participants, involving two tasks and a selected set of digital cultural heritage content, explored: (a) how does the metadata assigned by cultural heritage organisations meet or differ from the search needs of users? and (b) how can the search strategies of users inform the search pathways employed by cultural heritage organisations? Findings reveal that collection management standards like Spectrum encourage a variety of different characteristics to be considered when developing metadata, yet much of the content is left to the interpretations of curators. Rather, user- and context-specific guidelines could be beneficial in ensuring the aspects considered most important by consumers are indexed, thereby producing more relevant search results. A user-centred approach to designing cultural heritage websites would help to improve an individual’s experience when searching for information. However, a process is needed for institutions to form a concrete understanding of who their target users are before developing features and designs to suit their specific needs and interests.

The Laborious Cleaning: Acquiring and Transforming 19th-Century Epistolary Metadata

The paper documents the process of collecting, consolidating, and publishing epistolary metadata from Finnish cultural heritage organizations to create an archive for bottom-up analyses of 19th-century epistolary culture. We describe and discuss the data survey that was conducted to gather information about available letter collections across Finland, as well as the cleaning and harmonizing of over 350,000 letters from twelve different sources in various digital formats. We have also developed a data model that combines event-based and letter-based aspects of the metadata. Furthermore, the paper contributes to the ongoing discussion of the initial phases of data-intensive research and the importance of discussing the labor of cleaning data. We believe that our experiences described in this paper can have wider significance for other digital humanities projects in Europe.

Social impact and return on investment from cultural heritage institutions: An application to public libraries in Colombia

Evaluation of cultural heritage organisations and the returns on the resources they are provided with is becoming increasingly important, not only because of the economic efficiency implications but also vis-à-vis measuring their performance in terms of social policy and public governance. The present study seeks to estimate the social impact of libraries, as heritage representative institutions, from the case of the Medellin Public Library System (Spanish acronym – SBPM) in Colombia. This network of libraries is made up of 26 units that – in addition to traditional functions involving loans and custody – offer activities geared towards personal development and the enhancement of the community. The proposed method entails a combination of direct observation indicators together with other indirect or subjective indicators aimed at gauging social impact, applying two different yet complementary techniques; social return on investment (SROI), and contingent valuation (CV). The indicators obtained evidence different results when including subjective valuations in the calculations based on direct observations and financial returns, in line with the differences between the notions of price and value. Based on the findings to emerge, we show that public libraries are socially viable institutions and that they contribute towards the subjective well-being of their users, thereby legitimizing the public investment made to ensure their existence and functioning in the areas where they are located.

Navigating the Challenges of Deduplicating Actors in Historical Letter Exchanges

This paper outlines ongoing research to standardize the metadata of letters from Finnish cultural heritage organizations to build a comprehensive archive for studying 19th-century epistolary culture in the Grand Duchy of Finland (1808/09-1917), as a part of the Constellations of Correspondence (CoCo) project. The challenge of deduplicating and reconciling actors and their associated information is an important problem faced in historical knowledge databases. The actors, e.g., senders and recipients of letters, can be individual people, couples, or families as well as organizations like institutions or companies. The deduplication described in this article has its focus on the individual people. The solutions we propose in this paper are significant for the development of the efficient and accurate approaches in this field.

Endangered cultural heritage in the Russia–Ukraine war: comparing and critiquing interventions by international cultural heritage organizations

ABSTRACT Cultural heritage in Ukraine is presently endangered. As Russia’s war against the country continues, Ukrainian cultural heritage has been damaged, destroyed, and remains at risk. Interventions into the war initiated by the international cultural heritage community commenced with the issuance of formal public statements regarding the war and its implications. This article reviews the statements by some of the world’s leading cultural heritage organizations, specifically the International Council on Archives (ICA), the International Council of Museums (ICOM), the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA), and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). Twin objectives are offered: first, establishing an overview of the international cultural heritage community’s early communications regarding the war; and second, comparing and critiquing these public pronouncements and implications for Ukrainian cultural heritage. Ultimately, a joint contemporary and historical snapshot situating the international cultural heritage community within the war’s early stages is presented.

The Nawa Gapura Marga Raja Gate as a Representation of the Cirebon Islamic Monarchy in Indonesia during the 17th Century

Cirebon's early manuscripts, specifically Prince Wangsakerta's Pustaka Rajyarajya I Bhumi Nusantara, the Kingdom of Cirebon begins to expand its realm as Islam starts to flourish in Cirebon. It was reported that the Kings occupied a structure in the shape of a gate. In Cirebon, the kings were to take part in "Gotrasawala" events that the Cirebon Kingdom was hosting. This is an article demonstrates that, in addition to serving as a gateway and fortress, this structure It also served as a stronghold, with a design that symbolizes the mixture of Islamic, Hindu, Buddhist, and Chinese civilizations. It is based on legends, oral histories, and information from Cirebon's culture and historian. In contrast to the history presented in the The families and descendants of the kings or leaders of the Cirebon Sultanate have provided more detailed supporting narratives to keepers, cultural heritage organizations, as well as culturalists.The continuity learned from interviews with the Cirebon area's source population, and Kasepuhan Palace in particular, was attempted by a detailed investigation using the Caretakers' oral history approaches The Kasepuhan Elders Palace family, historians, and culturalists. This page also coversthe type of Nawa Gapura Marga Raja, a historic gate that has influenced the growth of the Cirebon Kingdom in West Java's northern monitoring area since the 17th century.

Components of Digital Humanities in Indian LIS Curricula

Digital Humanities (DH) is an interdisciplinary academic discipline that employs computational techniques to
 address humanities and social science problems. It merges various domains such as history, philosophy, literature,
 and modern languages, offering unique approaches to traditional inquiries. DH has gained considerable popularity among students, academicians, and Library and Information Science (LIS) professionals, creating new employment opportunities in libraries, museums, archives, cultural heritage organisations, data science, and other sectors. In India, DH is still in its early stages, with diverse manifestations in university-level teaching and learning practices. This study examines the DH components integrated into the LIS course curriculum by analysing syllabi and course descriptions from central universities. Additionally, we briefly review DH research projects and programs in India and abroad. To enhance the design and implementation of DH programs and degrees alongside LIS curricula, a course module for DH within LIS schools is proposed. This research extends insights into DH pedagogical practices within librarianship education, offering a comprehensive perspective on contextual frameworks, academic discussions, development trends in DH, and the LIS field in India.

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE TO FIGHT ILLICIT TRAFFICKING OF CULTURAL PROPERTY

Abstract. The use of artificial intelligence (AI) has the potential to be highly effective in detecting and monitoring illegal trafficking of cultural heritage (CH) goods through image classification techniques, particularly on online marketplaces where the trade of stolen CH objects has become a major global issue. Traditional investigation methods are no longer adequate, but with the assistance of AI, law enforcement agencies and CH organizations can now boost monitoring capabilities to detect, track, and possibly recover stolen objects more efficiently. AI algorithms can indeed analyze images to identify unique features and characteristics that can be used to determine their authenticity and provenance. Additionally, AI can detect patterns and networks of illicit trafficking, and link stolen objects to their places of origin, facilitating the recovery process. In this context, the SIGNIFICANCE project (Stop Illicit Heritage Trafficking with Artificial Intelligence) has been specifically designed to increase the response capabilities of public authorities and police corps against the illicit trafficking of cultural goods perpetrated through internet channels (i.e., social platforms, web, and dark web). By leveraging the power of Deep Learning (DL), AI can help prevent the loss of invaluable cultural artifacts and ensure that they are returned to their rightful owners and places of origin. This paper presents the results reached by the SIGNIFICANCE AI framework on image datasets collected over the web and social media through crawling algorithms.

Corporate archives in the wild

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the archives management practices and needs of corporations that do not employ professional archivists and propose strategies for helping corporations manage and preserve their archives. Design/methodology/approach An online survey was distributed to non-profit and for-profit corporations located in the XX area, USA. Findings The majority of surveyed corporations did not have archivists on staff and were not satisfied with their archives management practices. Many of them have unaddressed archives management needs and preferred no-cost or low-cost approaches to address those needs. Most surveyed corporations had digital archives but lacked knowledge about digital archiving. Free archiving resources and services provided by libraries/archives were dramatically less well known than commercial archiving resources and services. Originality/value To the best of the author’s knowledge, this is one of the very few empirical studies on corporate archives not under professional control. Findings from this study inspired thoughts on how archival education programs, professional associations, cultural heritage organizations and other relevant parties could help corporations better manage and preserve their archives.

R.A.O. Project Recovery: Methods and Approaches for the Recovery of a Photographic Archive for the Creation of a Photogrammetric Survey of a Site Unreachable over Time

The goal of this research is to make photogrammetric surveys of the walls of Cortona from 2012 accessible using new methodologies for recovering photographic material. This will allow a team of archaeologists to carry out a virtual reconnaissance of the surveyed stretch of wall as well as provide the basis for future investigations into any potential changes that may have occurred in the wall since 2012. Photogrammetry is a widely used technique in archaeology that can help researchers accurately measure, reconstruct, and analyze different architectural components of the wall. By using state-of-the-art photogrammetric techniques, including advanced computer vision algorithms, our team aims to produce high-quality 3D models and accurate measurements of different parts of the wall. The results of this research project will enable archaeologists to gain a more comprehensive understanding of the layout of the fortifications and the role of the Cortonese walls in the historical context of the area. Additionally, the research project will provide a detailed documentation of the wall that will be useful for both archaeological researchers and cultural heritage organizations. Finally, the research project will also provide the basis for future investigations into potential changes that may have occurred in the wall since 2012, which will be important for monitoring conservation and restoration efforts and providing an up-to-date record of the wall’s state of preservation.

Current State and Challenges in Democratizing Small Museums’ Collections Online

This article focuses on the problematic democratization of small museum collections online in Cyprus. While the web has enabled cultural heritage organizations to democratize information to diverse audiences, numerous small museums do not enjoy the fruits of this digital revolution; many of them cannot democratize their collections online. The current literature provides insight into small and large museums’ challenges worldwide. However, we do not have any knowledge concerning small Cypriot museums. This article aims to fulfill this gap by raising the following research question: What is the current state of small museum collections online in Cyprus, and what challenges do they face in democratizing their collections online? We present our empirical results from the interview summaries gathered from six small museums.

Participatory Governance as a Success Factor in Equity Crowdfunding Campaigns for Cultural Heritage

This study seeks to address a research gap about the role of participatory governance as a success factor in successful equity crowdfunding (ECF) campaigns in the cultural heritage sector. The research stems from calls coming from both equity crowdfunding and cultural heritage research. Concerning equity crowdfunding research, academics have pointed out the need for more research on specific economic sectors and topics related to governance. Concerning cultural heritage and equity crowdfunding, our investigation is in line both with the calls for differentiation of funding schemes that could increase the financial resilience of cultural heritage organizations and with the academic and policy debate on the need to promote engagement and participation, also through participatory governance. Via QCA (Qualitative Comparative Analysis), this research investigates the peculiarities and success factors of equity crowdfunding for cultural heritage, with a special focus on participatory governance. The results indicate that ECF campaigns in this field can raise more funds than the targeted ones if they propose participatory governance schemes and enhance emotional and cultural heritage-related signals, thus differentiating ECF in cultural heritage from ECF in other sectors.