Digital Discoveries in Museums, Libraries, and Archives
Computer Science Meets Cultural Heritage
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 11937905 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Antal Van Den Bosch (0000-0003-2493-656X, Tilburg University, corresponding author), H J van den Herik (0000-0001-9751-761X, Tilburg University), Jaap van den Herik, Paul Doorenbosch (National Library of the Netherlands) |
| Year | 2009 |
| Volume | 34 |
| Issue | 2-3 |
| Pages | 129-138 |
| Publication date | 2009-07-10 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Interdisciplinary Science Reviews (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0308-0188 • E-ISSN: 1743-2790 |
| Publisher | Taylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1179/174327909x441063 |
| OpenAlex | W2116334661 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 2 |
A harmonious combination? The question that underlies this special issue is: can the arts, humanities, and sciences (in the Anglo-American sense) exist in harmony? Their perspectives on nature and culture are so different that it is not obvious that they would converge if brought together, and that the result would be harmonious. Yet, we see computer science approaching the arts and humanities and the other way around. To understand the mutual attraction, we start by describing their idiosyncratic behaviours. When asked to tell about the computer on his 1 desk, the typical computer science researcher will answer that the machine is a particular instantiation of a universal Turing machine (Turing 1936), capable of doing an inÞnite amount of things with data and information. The same machine will be described by a curator of cultural heritage data as a useful storage and data-accessing device that is helping to save precious time. Let us assume that the two meet to discuss collaboration. The computer scientist will not be surprised to see the utility of the device, as storage and access are two of its basic strengths. With half suppressed impatience, he will inquire whether the curator has considered moving beyond merely digitizing, storing, and accessing data. What about accessing and discovering information and knowledge? The curator will respond by pointing at the advanced state of metadata standards in the cultural heritage world. He may point at the Dublin Core Metadata Initiative, for instance. Upon browsing the Dublin Core speciÞcations, the computer scientist may spot key phrases such as Resource Description Framework, and will be duly impressed. Yet, the computer scientist is quick to point out that one of the weaker links in the digital era of cultural heritage remains the human user, struggling with
Archaeology · Art · Cultural heritage · Data science · Library science · Visual arts · World Wide Web · Computer Science · Digital and Traditional Archives Management · Digital Games and Media · History · Museums and Cultural Heritage
| Citations per year | 0.07 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2011 - 2011 (1) |
| Highly cited | No |