Datafication and Cultural Heritage Collections Data Infrastructures: Critical Perspectives on Documentation, Cataloguing and Data-sharing in Cultural Heritage Institutions
The role of cultural heritage collections within the research ecosystem is rapidly changing. From often-passive primary source or reference point for humanities research, cultural heritage collections are now becoming integral part of large-scale interdisciplinary inquiries using computational-drive...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Ubiquity Press
2025-02-01
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| Series: | Journal of Open Humanities Data |
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| Online Access: | https://account.openhumanitiesdata.metajnl.com/index.php/up-j-johd/article/view/277 |
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| author | Daniel Belteki Arran J. Rees Anna-Maria Sichani |
| author_facet | Daniel Belteki Arran J. Rees Anna-Maria Sichani |
| author_sort | Daniel Belteki |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The role of cultural heritage collections within the research ecosystem is rapidly changing. From often-passive primary source or reference point for humanities research, cultural heritage collections are now becoming integral part of large-scale interdisciplinary inquiries using computational-driven methods and tools. This new status for cultural heritage collections, in the ‘collections-as-data’ era, would not be possible without foundational work that was and is still going on ‘behind the scenes’ in cultural heritage institutions through cataloguing, documentation and curation of cultural heritage records. This article assesses the landscape for cultural heritage collections data infrastructure in the UK through an empirical and critical perspective, presenting insights on the infrastructure that cultural heritage organisations use to record and manage their collections, exploring the range of systems being used, the levels of complexity or ease at which collections data can be accessed, and the shape of interactions between software suppliers, cultural heritage organisations, and third-party partners. The paper goes on to include a critical analysis of the findings based on the sector’s approach to ‘3s’, that is standards, skill sets and scale, and how that applies to different cultural heritage organisations throughout the data lifecycle, from data creation, stewardship to sharing and re-using. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-1ca1511bd9f049bcb5eb22f0794fcff1 |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2059-481X |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-02-01 |
| publisher | Ubiquity Press |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Open Humanities Data |
| spelling | doaj-art-1ca1511bd9f049bcb5eb22f0794fcff12025-08-20T03:01:46ZengUbiquity PressJournal of Open Humanities Data2059-481X2025-02-0111141410.5334/johd.277277Datafication and Cultural Heritage Collections Data Infrastructures: Critical Perspectives on Documentation, Cataloguing and Data-sharing in Cultural Heritage InstitutionsDaniel Belteki0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8152-6244Arran J. Rees1https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7155-5335Anna-Maria Sichani2https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6778-4610Science Museum, LondonUniversity of Leeds, LeedsSchool of Advanced Study, University of London, LondonThe role of cultural heritage collections within the research ecosystem is rapidly changing. From often-passive primary source or reference point for humanities research, cultural heritage collections are now becoming integral part of large-scale interdisciplinary inquiries using computational-driven methods and tools. This new status for cultural heritage collections, in the ‘collections-as-data’ era, would not be possible without foundational work that was and is still going on ‘behind the scenes’ in cultural heritage institutions through cataloguing, documentation and curation of cultural heritage records. This article assesses the landscape for cultural heritage collections data infrastructure in the UK through an empirical and critical perspective, presenting insights on the infrastructure that cultural heritage organisations use to record and manage their collections, exploring the range of systems being used, the levels of complexity or ease at which collections data can be accessed, and the shape of interactions between software suppliers, cultural heritage organisations, and third-party partners. The paper goes on to include a critical analysis of the findings based on the sector’s approach to ‘3s’, that is standards, skill sets and scale, and how that applies to different cultural heritage organisations throughout the data lifecycle, from data creation, stewardship to sharing and re-using.https://account.openhumanitiesdata.metajnl.com/index.php/up-j-johd/article/view/277cultural heritage collectionsglamcollections managementinfrastructurescollections-as-data |
| spellingShingle | Daniel Belteki Arran J. Rees Anna-Maria Sichani Datafication and Cultural Heritage Collections Data Infrastructures: Critical Perspectives on Documentation, Cataloguing and Data-sharing in Cultural Heritage Institutions Journal of Open Humanities Data cultural heritage collections glam collections management infrastructures collections-as-data |
| title | Datafication and Cultural Heritage Collections Data Infrastructures: Critical Perspectives on Documentation, Cataloguing and Data-sharing in Cultural Heritage Institutions |
| title_full | Datafication and Cultural Heritage Collections Data Infrastructures: Critical Perspectives on Documentation, Cataloguing and Data-sharing in Cultural Heritage Institutions |
| title_fullStr | Datafication and Cultural Heritage Collections Data Infrastructures: Critical Perspectives on Documentation, Cataloguing and Data-sharing in Cultural Heritage Institutions |
| title_full_unstemmed | Datafication and Cultural Heritage Collections Data Infrastructures: Critical Perspectives on Documentation, Cataloguing and Data-sharing in Cultural Heritage Institutions |
| title_short | Datafication and Cultural Heritage Collections Data Infrastructures: Critical Perspectives on Documentation, Cataloguing and Data-sharing in Cultural Heritage Institutions |
| title_sort | datafication and cultural heritage collections data infrastructures critical perspectives on documentation cataloguing and data sharing in cultural heritage institutions |
| topic | cultural heritage collections glam collections management infrastructures collections-as-data |
| url | https://account.openhumanitiesdata.metajnl.com/index.php/up-j-johd/article/view/277 |
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