Enhancing local heritage to implement a global Information Society 25 small-scale trial projects with a great potential Concertation Meeting - Heritage for All Luxembourg, 2-3 June 2003

The context 2000 Call for Proposals within the Cultural Heritage Sector of the European Commission: ACTION LINE III.1.5: Trials on new access models to cultural and scientific content ☞ Trials on new access models to cultural and scientific content

The objectives Encourage take-up of results of research Improve access by a wider public to cultural and scientific assets in museums, libraries and archives through the use of innovative technologies

The actors 25 take-up trial projectsand TRIS

Something in common with the Heritage for All projects… Focus on local cultural heritage Attention to the user and single citizen Constituencies: cultural/educational institutions + technology providers Addressing a broad range of user communities

Distinguishing characteristics of the take-up trial projects ‘Lightweight’ projects with a short duration and a relatively small budget Do not involve research but experimentation with existing technologies to enhance access to cultural resources Driven by small- sized local cultural institutions

CTIC - Common Threads: Collections & Connections in Cyberspace

CTIC A prototype web-based interface networking local costume & textile museum’s collections

CTIC - Objectives Developing a prototype web-based interface networking local costume & textile museum’s collections: Photo-realistic 2D and 3D objects, which can be rotated under the control of the user Panoramic vistas (360°) giving the user the impression of being physically present in the museum Interpretative text held in a database

CTIC

CTIC - Results Over 3,594 images captured with resource management metadata 3D image objects produced for all museums and added to the site New web site:

POUCE - Portails Culturels Collectifs

POUCE Museolog, a museum inventory tool for local museums offering: A joint Web portal providing access to their collections over the web A collection management system

POUCE - Results Currently used in the six museums of the POUCE consortium as a cataloguing tool Future integration of a virtual exhition function Conducting market research in some EC countries to make it a commercial product

ACTIVATE New Access & Services for Cultural Content

Activate - Objectives Developing thematic networks, That is to say: web-based networks of related content sites that link to and can be accessed from a single central and searchable portal

Activate Participating Libraries building a thematic network of local history Goldsmith - Longford Scattery Island - Clare Shandon -Cork Tallaght - Dublin Pierce’s foundry - Wexford Art Collection - Donegal John Roberts – Waterford

Activate - Results Freely available and easy to use instructions and software (templates) for creating thematic networks An online cultural heritage network (Irish Local Studies Portal) A VRML tour of a cultural landscape as a “shop window” product

BEASTS Boosting the Economy by Assisting SMEs in the Tourism Sector

BEASTS - Objectives Helping SMEs in rural areas to exploit the potential of electronic commerce and national cultural resources by: Training managers from selected SMEs in rural areas of Wales to make use of technology and national archival materials to market their products and services via the WWW

BEASTS - Results Developed specialised templates with links to digitalised materials Developed easy to use interfaces to allow selected trial companies to create and enhance their own web sites Performed a quality criteria mechanism, to ensure the integrity and quality of the information and services offered by the SMEs

SEAX-DAMAS - Essex Archives on-line

SEAX-DAMAS - Objectives Improving access to content of local archives: To refine and test the Archives Management System of the Essex Record Office (SEAX), UK To install the system in the Northamptonshire Record Office, UK

SEAX-DAMAS - Results & prospects Converted all the Essex Record Office catalogues Converted catalogues currently comprise about 80,000 A4 pages and continue to grow Digital images of documents, maps and photographs are being added to the database Currently evaluating market potential of the system in Europe

Towards a ‘Community Memory ’ Safeguarding the Memory of local communities in a global world: Preserving their cultural identity Documenting their local history Promoting tourism & local products Exploring their shared heritage

Towards a ‘Community Memory’ The Take-up trials and HforA projects have paved the way for: Promoting and supporting the creation, documentation and safeguarding of digital cultural resources of local communities Encouraging citizens to benefit from the combination of technology and culture Fostering take-up projects to develop technology-enhanced services for the end user

Towards a ‘Community Memory’ A need to continue in this direction in order to: Preserve local cultural heritage resources ☞ Safeguarding CULTURAL DIVERSITY Provide new services tailored to the real needs of citizens, thus offering new business opportunities ☞ Boosting ECONOMY Promote social inclusion through e-learning and enhanced access to information and resources ☞ Enhancing SOCIETY

Memory culture is the way a society ensures cultural continuity by preserving, with the help of cultural mnemonics, its collective knowledge from one generation to the next, rendering it possible for later generations to reconstruct their cultural identity’ ‘Memory culture is the way a society ensures cultural continuity by preserving, with the help of cultural mnemonics, its collective knowledge from one generation to the next, rendering it possible for later generations to reconstruct their cultural identity’ BARBARA MORGANTI TRIS