Beyond numbers

Visual and Textual Diversity in the Online Art Database

Bibliographic Data

ID5905569
AuthorsCarma Bylund (0000-0002-5138-5823, Stockholm University), Anna Näslund (0000-0001-7772-2739, Stockholm University, corresponding author)
Year2024
Volume41
Issue2
Pages1-21
Publication date2024-07-17
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueMuseum Management and Curatorship (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0964-7775 • E-ISSN: 1872-9185
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/09647775.2024.2375994
OpenAlexW4400737083
LanguageEN
References cited19

This study investigates visual and textual diversity in the online art database with Nationalmuseum as a case study. It combines quantitative and qualitative methods to characterize different types of representations and analyse how such variations can be connected to different circumstances for digitization. As shown, database records have varied over time and they mirror institutional attitudes and priorities. Artworks which have been activated by being on display, recently acceded, or undergone conservation are typically rich in visual and textual information. As this study shows there is a need to look at digitization beyond numbers as the processes of representing art collections online are steered by different cultural factors. It is evident that the already esteemed, popular, activated artworks in the museum are also more extensively represented online. In effect, digitization does not seem to broaden the access to the visual heritage but rather amplify existing biases in the analogue systems

Database · Information retrieval · Online database · Sociology · World Wide Web · Anthropology · Computer Science · Cultural Industries and Urban Development · Museums and Cultural Heritage · Public Spaces through Art

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Open DOIOpen Access