Theorizing Digital Cultural Heritage A Critical Discourse

In Theorizing Digital Cultural Heritage, experts offer a critical and theoreticalappraisal of the uses of digital media by cultural heritage institutions. Previous discussions ofcultural heritage and digital technology have left the subject largely unmapped in terms of criticaltheory; the essays in this volume offer this long-missing perspective on the challenges of usingdigital media in the research, preservation, management, interpretation, and representation ofcultural heritage. The contributors--scholars and practitioners from a range of relevantdisciplines--ground theory in practice, considering how digital technology might be used totransform institutional cultures, methods, and relationships with audiences. The contributorsexamine the relationship between material and digital objects in collections of art and indigenousartifacts; the implications of digital technology for knowledge creation, documentation, and theconcept of authority; and the possibilities for "virtual cultural heritage"--the preservation andinterpretation of cultural and natural heritage through real-time, immersive, and interactivetechniques.The essays in Theorizing Digital Cultural Heritage will serve as a resource forprofessionals, academics, and students in all fields of cultural heritage, including museums,libraries, galleries, archives, and archaeology, as well as those in education and informationtechnology. The range of issues considered and the diverse disciplines and viewpoints representedpoint to new directions for an emerging field.Contributors:Nadia Arbach, Juan Antonio Barceló,Deidre Brown, Fiona Cameron, Erik Champion, Sarah Cook, Jim Cooley, Bharat Dave, Suhas Deshpande,Bernadette Flynn, Maurizio Forte, Kati Geber, Beryl Graham, Susan Hazan, Sarah Kenderdine, JoséRipper Kós, Harald Kraemer, Ingrid Mason, Gavan McCarthy, Slavko Milekic, Rodrigo Paraizo, RossParry, Scot T. Refsland, Helena Robinson, Angelina Russo, Corey Timpson, Marc Tuters, Peter Walsh,Jerry Watkins, Andrea Witcomb