Galleries, Libraries, Archives And Museums Research Articles

Through the Looking Glass. Cultural Heritage Custodians to Populate the Mirrorworld

This contribution is a wake-up call to custodians of cultural heritage to get ready and prepare for the next platform – the 3D and 4D experiences of the nascent Mirrorworld. Built upon the first generations of online experience, the sprawling communication platform of the World Wide Web, and driven by the ubiquitous reach of social networks and online gaming, the Mirrorworld will breach the glass ceiling of 2D experiences to draw us into a fully functioning 3D environment. Public institutions that manage cultural heritage for visitors, such as galleries, libraries, archives and museums (GLAMS), are ideally placed to seed the spatial communications network that will drive the new platform. Despite the formidable challenges to be surmounted, it is up to custodians of cultural heritage to become proactive in building the Mirrorworld rather than to wait for third party actors to advance commercial interests with imitation culture, simulated histories, or made-up stories. As gatekeepers of cultural artefacts, GLAMs have the capability, the experience, and even the responsibility to tell their stories forcefully, accurately and in fully-functioning 4D.

Reusing digital collections from GLAM institutions

For some decades now, Galleries, Libraries, Archives and Museums (GLAM) institutions have published and provided access to information resources in digital format. Recently, innovative approaches have appeared such as the concept of Labs within GLAM institutions that facilitates the adoption of innovative and creative tools for content delivery and user engagement. In addition, new methods have been proposed to address the publication of digital collections as data sets amenable to computational use. In this article, we propose a methodology to create machine actionable collections following a set of steps. This methodology is then applied to several use cases based on data sets published by relevant GLAM institutions. It intends to encourage institutions to adopt the publication of data sets that support computationally driven research as a core activity.

Survey of 3D digital heritage repositories and platforms

<p class="VARAbstract">Despite the increasing number of three-dimensional (3D) model portals and online repositories catering for digital heritage scholars, students and interested members of the general public, there are very few recent academic publications that offer a critical analysis when reviewing the relative potential of these portals and online repositories. Solid reviews of the features and functions they offer are insufficient; there is also a lack of explanations as to how these assets and their related functionality can further the digital heritage (and virtual heritage) field, and help in the preservation, maintenance, and promotion of real-world 3D heritage sites and assets. What features do they offer? How could their feature list better cater for the needs of the GLAM (galleries, libraries, archives and museums) sector? This article’s priority is to examine the useful features of 8 institutional and 11 commercial repositories designed specifically to host 3D digital models. The available features of their associated 3D viewers, where applicable, are also analysed, connecting recommendations for future-proofing with the need to address current gaps and weaknesses in the scholarly field of 3D digital heritage. Many projects do not address the requirements stipulated by charters, such as access, reusability, and preservation. The lack of preservation strategies and examples highlights the oxymoronic nature of virtual heritage (oxymoronic in the sense that the virtual heritage projects themselves are seldom preserved). To study these concerns, six criteria for gauging the usefulness of the 3D repositories to host 3D digital models and related digital assets are suggested. The authors also provide 13 features that would be useful additions for their 3D viewers.</p><p>Highlights:</p><ul><li><p>A survey of relevant features from eight institutional and eleven commercial online 3D repositories in the scholarly fieldof 3D digital heritage.</p></li><li><p>Presents a critical review of their hosting services and 3D model viewer features.</p></li><li><p>Proposes six features to enhance services of 3D repositories to support the GLAM sector, heritage scholars andheritage communities.</p></li></ul>

Helping Yourself or Others? Motivation Dynamics for High-Performing Volunteers in GLAM Crowdsourcing

While most crowdsourcing (CS) cases in the literature focus on commercial organisations, little is known about volunteers’ motivation of initial and continued participation in not-for-profit CS projects and importantly, about how the motivations may change over time. It is vital to understand motivation and motivational dynamics in a not-for-profit context because a fundamental challenge for not-for-profit CS initiations is to recruit and keep volunteers motivated without any formal contract or financial incentives. To tackle this challenge, we explore high performing volunteers’ initial motivation for joining and sustaining with a GLAM (galleries, libraries, archives and museums) CS project. We situated our interpretive exploration in a case study of the Australian Newspapers CS project initiated by the National Library of Australia. Based on the case study, we found that high-performing volunteers were motivated by a combination of personal, collective, and external factors classified into intrinsic, extrinsic, and internalised extrinsic motivations. Further, we found that these motivations changed over time. Specifically, many volunteers presented substantial personal (i.e., personal interest and fun) and community-centric motivations (i.e. altruism and non-profit cause) when they initially joined the project, whereas external motivations (i.e., recognition and rewards) had a greater impact on long-term participation. Our findings offer implications for CS system design (e.g., user profiles, tagging and commenting), incentive structure (e.g., reputation-based ranking, leader boards), and relational mechanisms (e.g., open communication channels) to stimulate sustainable contributions for not-for-profit CS initiatives.

Geospatial platforms and immersive tools for social cohesion: the 4D narrative of architecture of Australia’s Afghan cameleers

<p class="VARAbstract">This paper focuses on examining the scope of virtual architectural archaeology in forms of digital geospatial platforms and immersive tools such as Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) to be used for achieving social cohesion, particularly in a multicultural and multi-ethnic society like Australia’s. In the context of the current global and national concern about Muslims and Islam, as well as for the mistrust towards and distance between Muslims and Non-Muslims in Australia, it is imperative to delve deeper into the contribution of early Muslim pioneers, in this case, the Afghan Cameleers, in the social fabric of colonial Australia. Based on the premise that architecture could be a unique and revealing research frame to gain insight into human values, worldview and material culture, the main aim of this paper is to address two key issues using virtual architectural archaeology. Firstly, to demonstrate the application of 4D capturing and component-based modelling with metadata and paradata regarding the past of the lost architectural heritage sites in remote central and western Australia, also counting on assets such as Linked Open Data (LOD) for further dissemination and use. Secondly, to propose a mode to disseminate new knowledge through digital platforms and VR/AR experiences to the GLAM (Galleries, Libraries, Archives, and Museums) audiences and schools regarding the Muslims in Australia. Understanding properly them and their contribution to the Australian society would eventually minimise the cultural distance between Muslims and Non-Muslims in Australia. Greater awareness could mitigate the myth of fear and mistrust regarding Muslims and Islam, widely misunderstood for a long time.</p><p>Highlights:</p><ul><li><p>Architectural-archaeological heritage as a tool for achieving social cohesion and to minimise cultural/social differences between Muslims and non-Muslims in Australia.</p></li><li><p>4D capturing and digital geospatial platforms for contextualising architectural-archaeological heritage in a spatial and chronological way.</p></li><li><p>Gamified and non-gamified Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) applications to engage the general public with architectural-archaeological heritage from remote, hard-to-access areas.</p></li></ul>

Where is the I(nformation) in GLAM? Education, Knowledge and Skill Requirements of Professionals Working in GLAM Sector Institutions

ABSTRACTThis paper presents findings of a qualitative investigation of the employer-identified knowledge and skills required of professionally trained staff in the galleries, libraries, archives and museums (GLAM) sectors. Six group interviews and six individual interviews were conducted with Directors or their representatives from GLAM institutions in major and regional cities in Australia. The interviews were analysed according to the institution type, and the knowledge and skills discussed. The findings are situated within a wider conversation about the convergence of GLAM institutions, proposing that LIS education programs may have an opportunity to adapt their current courses to meet the needs for collaborative skills and knowledge in this sector.

Digitisation, Copyright and the Glam Sector: Constructing a Fit-For-Purpose Safe Harbour Regime

Copyright law does not currently align with the legitimate activities of galleries, libraries, archives and museums (GLAMs). The GLAM sector plays a central role in collecting and promoting access to cultural works. Increasingly, GLAM institutions are employing innovative digital technologies to expand access to culture and foster greater levels of cultural participation. Despite the utility underlying digitisation, copyright limits the use of digital technologies within the GLAM sphere. This article examines current copyright limitations and demonstrates copyright's significant limiting effect. It argues that reform is necessary to strengthen the right to participate in cultural life and to remedy harms inflicted by the current copyright regime. Creating a fit-for-purpose safe harbour would empower institutions to employ digitisation within a framework of reasonable copyright constraints. Accordingly, this article constructs a potential safe harbor that permits non-commercial GLAM digitisation, while also protecting copyright holders and tikanga Māori. The Copyright Act 1994 is currently under review. New Zealand ought to seize the present reform opportunity to invigorate participation in cultural life and enrich the cultural fabric of society.

‘Not Adopted’: The UK Orphan Works Licensing Scheme and How the Crisis of Copyright in the Cultural Heritage Sector Restricts Access to Digital Content

This article is a discussion of how digitizing and disseminating Orphan Works in the GLAM (Galleries, Libraries, Archives, and Museums) sector could have the potential to significantly reframe coll ...

Queer/ing museological technologies of display

Recent research has shown that the stories and experiences of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and queer (LGBTIQ) people are largely absent in museums internationally. At the same time, there is a growing awareness in the Galleries, Libraries, Archives and Museums (GLAM) sector that public-facing cultural institutions have a duty to reflect diversity in all its forms, to take an active approach to inclusion and to promote understanding between different groups, communities and cultures. What, then, might such an undertaking entail? Moving beyond assimilationist approaches to inclusion this article elaborates a ‘queering’ of contemporary museum practices, the often invisiblized assumptions that inform them and the ethico-political effects that they produce. The article will draw on examples from our own practice as museum curators in South Australia inspired by international and Australian artists and curators including Matt Smith (UK) and Jo Derbyshire (Australia).

The uses of Wikidata for galleries, libraries, archives and museums and its place in the digital humanities

As open source, collaborative and crowd-sourced media become increasingly popular, it is essential that the community of galleries, libraries, archives and museums (GLAMs) take a central role withi...

The Story of the Markham Car Collection: A Cross-Platform Panoramic Tour of Contested Heritage

In this article, we share our experiences of using digital technologies and various media to present historical narratives of a museum object collection aiming to provide an engaging experience on multiple platforms. Based on P. Joseph’s article, Dawson presented multiple interpretations and historical views of the Markham car collection across various platforms using multimedia resources. Through her creative production, she explored how to use cylindrical panoramas and rich media to offer new ways of telling the controversial story of the contested heritage of a museum’s veteran and vintage car collection. The production’s usability was investigated involving five experts before it was published online and the general users’ experience was investigated. In this article, we present an important component of findings which indicates that virtual panorama tours featuring multimedia elements could be successful in attracting new audiences and that using this type of storytelling technique can be effective in the museum sector. The storyteller panorama tour presented here may stimulate GLAM (galleries, libraries, archives, and museums) professionals to think of new approaches, implement new strategies or services to engage their audiences more effectively. The research may ameliorate the education of future professionals as well.

Museum Linked Open Data: Ontologies, Datasets, Projects

The Galleries, Libraries, Archives and Museums (GLAM) sector deals with complex and varied data. Integrating that data, especially across institutions, has always been a challenge. Semantic data integration is the best approach to deal with such challenges. Linked Open Data (LOD) enable large-scale Digital Humanities (DH) research, collaboration and aggregation, allowing DH researchers to make connections between (and make sense of) the multitude of digitized Cultural Heritage (CH) available on the web. An upsurge of interest in semtech and LOD has swept the CH and DH communities. An active Linked Open Data for Libraries, Archives and Museums (LODLAM) community exists, CH data is published as LOD, and international collaborations have emerged. The value of LOD is especially high in the GLAM sector, since culture by its very nature is cross-border and interlinked. We present interesting LODLAM projects, datasets, and ontologies, as well as Ontotext's experience in this domain. An extended version of this paper is available. It has 77 pages, 67 figures, detailed info about CH content and XML standards, Wikidata and global authority control.

Gamifying cultural experiences across the urban environment

New media and devices are offering huge possibilities for the enhancement and the enrichment of heritage experiences, improving the users’ involvement. In particular, tourists equipped with their mobile devices are invading cultural attractions, sharing pictures and comments (together with hashtags and geo-localized positions) on social networks. These represent an unofficial source of data, which can be integrated with the official ones provided by GLAM (Galleries, Libraries, Archives, and Museums) and cultural heritage institutions, enriching them. At the same time, travel planners and mobile applications related to cultural heritage can play an interesting role in the development of smart cities, when they are integrated each other, engaging the user in touristic and entertainment activities, letting him/her be a source of cultural resources. This work focuses on equipping users (citizens and tourists) with a system providing support in computing personalized urban paths across cultural heritage places (monuments, palaces, museums, and other points of interest (POIs) related to cultural heritage in the urban environment) and in sharing multimedia resources about POIs, by exploiting gamification elements with the aim of engaging citizens and tourists. A mobile application prototype has been implemented, showing the feasibility of the proposed approach and exploiting crowdsourcing activities as a source of information for cultural places and works of art.

Emergence of a new method: The Grounded Delphi method

This paper reports on the Grounded Delphi method (GDM), a relatively new methodological extension of the Delphi method, achieved by incorporating aspects of Grounded Theory, as used in a recent doctoral dissertation. The research explored the skills, knowledge, qualities and professional education needs of information professionals in galleries, libraries, archives and museums (GLAM) in Australia, with a view to determining relevant educational requirements to enable information professionals to operate across these blurred cultural heritage boundaries. Implications of using GDM for LIS research, and for research methods in general, is that it improves the rigour of theory building in Delphi studies, while the consensus, or force ranking, aspect of Delphi assists in improving the relevant level of importance of categories derived from Grounded Theory.

“Critter of the Week”: Wikipedia as a Museum Outreach Tool

Many museums spend time and money fruitlessly competing with Wikipedia, creating online information resources and image galleries that will be mostly ignored, as Wikipedia is usually the highest ranked search result for any query. Wikimedia Commons can host searchable, downloadable images and Wikipedia can be easily edited by volunteers and specialists; both cost nothing to use and have a global audience. Yet most museums have no Wikipedia strategy, and often their institutional copyright policies – needlessly, for most natural history collections – prevent them from engaging and openly sharing collection information. I’ll illustrate this with the case study of the Critter of the Week project, a collaboration between Radio NZ and the Department of Conservation that relies on the open image libraries of Auckland Museum and Landcare Research. There are simple institutional policies and procedures any museum can take that will support the work of the 70,000 volunteer Wikipedia editors. An institution can also directly host edit-a-thons and Wikipedia events, organise backstage tours for local Wikipedians, and host a Wikipedian in Residence. Subject specialists in a museum can even edit and update Wikipedia themselves, reaching a larger audience than almost any other science communication medium. In some ways, this is the opposite of how GLAM (Galleries, Libraries, Archives and Museums) institutions are used to working: collaborating with non-experts, releasing imperfect and unfinished content, abandoning branding opportunities, and no longer being the single voice of authority. But if we’re serious about being relevant to our public, we need to meet them where they are – which is on Wikipedia.

Collaborating and co-curating knowledge: Participatory engagement on Twitter between galleries, libraries, archives and museums (GLAM) and education audiences

Abstract Galleries, libraries, archives and museums (GLAM) are now actively concentrating on enriching communication across a variety of audiences in varied ways. This focus on communication, and thus engagement, has been significantly influenced by the rise of the Internet, social media and mobile technologies. As new kinds of experiences are tailored, there is a drawing together of networks to produce and explore knowledge, co-curation of experiences and scaffold participatory experiences to engage with objects, spaces and meaning making. This is where social media can provide a flexible and personalized experience that encourages interaction and discussion between visitors, museums and objects underpinned by reciprocity, community, and a shift in the cultural organization as the only expert. The monthly Tweet Chat called #MuseumEdOz is discussed in this article as a way to demonstrate how GLAM organizations, GLAM educators, curators and teachers can engage with institutions, key issues, innovation and objects through the platform Twitter. A discussion critically framing the notion of digital interaction through Tim Ingold’s (2015) lines, intersections and meshworks is presented. The data are explored through the entanglement of lines by digital becoming, visibility and connecting, and reciprocity. Illuminated is the emergent participatory culture, new partnerships, collaborative problem solving and the development of a more empowered sense of citizenship.

Encountering people and place: Museums through the lens of Instagram

Abstract The world of galleries, libraries, archives and museums (GLAM), once a set of onsite only experiences, is being increasingly encountered in the digital realm with screen culture and mobile devices now mainstream in many parts of the globe. The social media platform, Instagram, with its strong visual presence, is a popular window used by museum visitors to discover collections held by cultural institutions, and to reflect this experience back to their shared networks. This activity constitutes a form of sense-making. A neglected area of research to date, the digital content produced by visitors to cultural institutions provides unique insights into popular aspects of exhibitions and collections, particular spaces within their buildings, and the ways in which visitors experience and engage with these. This article draws on research into visitors’ use of Instagram in museums to argue that encountering material culture occurs in an integrated manner involving real-life and virtual experiences that act to create a social sense of the museum that is participatory and alluring. Place-making and social presence theories are used to interpret data generated by visitors. Findings highlight implications for museum practice and the changing role and value of social media in the everyday work of cultural institutions.

Analytical study of crowdsourced GLAM digital repositories

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to find out the status/levels of using crowdsourcing in galleries, libraries, archives and museums (GLAM) around the globe and to give suggestions on how Indian GLAM can take the benefit of this global trend.Design/methodology/approachThe study is based on the analytical study of the literature available on the embracing crowdsourcing for diverse tasks with special emphasis on the efforts of GLAM domain regarding the development of digital repositories.FindingsMeticulous analysis of literature and case studies give an overview of the diverse practices of public participation/crowd collaboration in the development of digital repositories around the globe. However, Indian GLAM are far behind in adopting such practices.Practical implicationsWith the rapid growth in digital information and Web-based technology, GLAM around the world encourage and engage public participation in various digitization projects to enrich and enhance their digital collections and place them on the Web. However, Indian GLAM still refrain to accept and adopt such practices. Thus, this paper will encourage and motivate the Indian GLAM to enrich and enhance their collection with crowd contribution and uploading them on Web.Originality/valueThis is an original paper and has great implementation value. During the study, enormous literature was available on crowd participation in various areas around the globe, as well as in India. International examples of crowd participation in GLAM creation are found in the literature; however, not sufficient evidences are found regarding crowd contribution in Indian GLAM. Hence, the paper, by presenting the evidences of crowd participation in GLAM domain, proposes the Indian GLAM to exploit the benefits of this practice for Indian digital repositories to expedite the creation and development of various national digital repositories.

Motivations of volunteers in the Transcribe Sheng project: A grounded theory approach

ABSTRACTWith an increasing interest in leveraging crowdsourcing in GLAMs (Galleries, Libraries, Archives, and Museums) projects, there is a growing trend within the digital humanities field to develop various platforms and tools that outsource the traditionally knowledge‐intensive tasks to the mass volunteers. However, such kind of projects usually entail a greater level of time, effort, and intellectual input from the public. In such case, what motivates volunteers remains little studied and poorly understood. To better understand volunteers' motivations and how they may benefit from their participation, we conducted interviews on volunteers in the Transcribe Sheng project, a crowdsourcing project in digital humanities domain in China. Grounded theory is employed to investigate the motivations from the interview data. The preliminary findings show that volunteers are motivated by a complex framework involving external factors, cognitive value, emotional perception, and task driven factors. Based on the qualitative analysis, this study proposes a preliminary theoretical framework to understand volunteers' motivations, which may also yield practical implications on digital humanity practices.

Enriching and enhancing digital cultural heritage through crowd contribution

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to identify the status of digitization of manuscripts in India and to give suggestions to transcribe these manuscripts easily, effortlessly and expeditiously.Design/methodology/approachThe study is based on the analytical study of the literature available on global efforts in respect of documentation, preservation, conservation and digitization of manuscripts with special emphasis on the efforts of “namami” (acronym for National Manuscript Mission) for Indian manuscripts.FindingsMeticulous analysis of literature and case studies give an overview of the diverse practices of public participation/crowd collaboration to transcribe and tagging of the rare and old historical documents around the globe. However, Indian libraries are far behind in adopting such practices.Practical implicationsIndia has a very rich cultural, educational and research heritage preserved in the form of manuscripts. These thousands of manuscripts are significant source of knowledge base for many researchers, however, despite their heritage value, these remain inaccessible to the researchers because of their being scattered and unpublished form. Moreover, even the digitized manuscripts remain difficult to use by the researchers because of immense linguistic diversity and scripts. Documentation and digitization of these manuscripts will not only preserve the invaluable heritage of India but also will enable their easy and vast access by the researchers globally. With the rapid growth in digital information and web-based technology, galleries, libraries, archives and museums (GLAM) around the world encourage and engage public participation in various digitization projects to enrich and enhance their digital collections and place them on the web. However, Indian GLAM still refrains to accept and adopt such practices. Thus this paper will encourage and motivate the Indian GLAM to expedite their digitization and uploading them on web for tagging and transcribing.Originality/valueThis is an original paper and has great implementation value. During the study enormous literature was available on digitization of Indian manuscripts. However, not even a single study could be found on tagging and transcription of these manuscripts, specifically crowd contribution in this area. Hence, the paper, by presenting the evidences of crowd participation for the tagging and transcription of manuscripts globally, proposes the Indian GLAM to exploit the benefits of this practice for Indian manuscripts also in order to expedite the tagging process to enhance their usage.