Rethinking authenticity in digital art preservation

In this paper I am discussing the repositioning of traditional conservation concepts of historicity, authenticity and versioning in relation to born digital artworks, upon findings from my research on preservation of computer-based artifacts. Challenges for digital art preservation and previous work in this area are described, followed by an analysis of digital art as a process of components interaction, as performance and in terms of instantiations. The concept of dynamic authenticity is proposed, and it is argued that our approach to digital artworks preservation should be variable and digital object responsive, with a level of variability tolerance to match digital art intrinsic variability and dynamic authenticity

UniverCity Connections: Report From the Stakeholders

Outlines the development, vision, and community initiatives of UniverCity Connections, a collaboration between Colorado State University, Fort Collins, and others convened by the foundation. Describes the task groups' focus areas, goals, and strategies

Making Exhibitions, Brokering Meaning: Designing new connections across communities of practice

New media museum exhibits often see designers representing the research of expert content providers. Despite perceptions that such exhibits provide museum visitors with a greater depth and range of experience, differences in knowledge and practice between designers and content providers can see content development become an unruly, competitive process in which audience experience, digital mediation, visualisation techniques and meaning become contested territory. Drawing on Etienne Wenger’s theory of “communities of practice”, this paper argues that designers’ advocacy for audiences and distance from exhibition content well positions them to broker interdisciplinary goal setting so that exhibitions observe the representational objectives of content providers and meet the needs and preferences of museum visitors. A wide range of design literature already discusses the pragmatic benefits and ethical importance of user-centered design, while the literature on co-design suggests that designed outcomes are more successful if the design process considers the interests of all stakeholders. These discussions can be compelling, but the inherent challenges in engaging others’ perspectives and knowledge in the design process are less acknowledged, Wenger’s ideas on the social dynamics of group enterprise offering designers valuable insights into the actuality of negotiating designed outcomes with non-designer stakeholders. The paper has two main aspects. The first outlines the theory of communities of practice, focusing on the brokering of knowledge and practice between disciplines. This discussion frames an analysis of the design process for two museum exhibitions. Representing an original application of Wenger’s ideas, the discussion recognises the unique role of the designed artifact in brokering information visualization processes, transcending the actions and intentions of individual stakeholders. While accepting there are successful examples of interdisciplinary exchange in various areas of design, the interpretation of examples via Wenger contributes useful principles to the theorisation of co-design with non-designer stakeholders. Keywords: Information visualization; New media museum exhibits; Multidisciplinary projects; Communities of Practice; Brokering; User-centered design; Co-Design; Etienne Wenger</p

Introduction: migrating heritage - experiences of cultural networks and cultural dialogue in Europe

No abstract available

The 19th entury iron architecture of industrial buildings. A formal and constructive comparison between two case studies

The paper analyzes the features of the 19th century industrial architecture and the application of metallic structures combined with formal and architectural expressions that frequently concealed or mitigated their presence. The mix of engineering features for the industrial purpose and familiar perceptions of the traditional architecture is one of the characteristics of this typology. The cases - both belonging to the mining industry of the 1800s - feature both the structural innovations in the use of metallic - masonry structures and formalism that recall the Eclectic and aesthetic motifs as a mean to enhance the industrial function and the technological expression. The metallic elements are in fact frequently employed in the most important sections of the buildings and testify the influences of both the technical advance of the constructive theories and the stylistic formulas that, although belonging to a more aulic architecture, intensify the productivity and the performances. Finally a proposal of reuse for one of the case study aims to valorize the duplicity of the formal and the technological approach for this typology in order to give a new purpose to this symbol of the industrial epopee.Peer ReviewedPreprin

The Fourth-Century AD Expansion of the Graeco-Roman Settlement of Karanis (Kom Aushim) in the Northern Fayum*

The Graeco-Roman town of Karanis, founded during the Ptolemaic Period in the north-eastern Fayum in the third century bc and long thought to have been abandoned in the third century ad actually saw a substantial expansion during the fourth century AD. With the creation of an 3 extension towards the west and the expansion of the eastern part, the town grew in both directions. We argue that this expansion may be related to a sudden rise of the water level in Lake Moeris (Lake Qarun), perhaps linked to a catastrophic dam breach in the eastern part of the Fayum, and the subsequent relocation of the inhabitants of the low-lying settlements north and east of the lake

It's Public Knowledge: The National Digital Archive of Datasets

This article describes the history and development of the National Digital Archive of Datasets, a service run by the University of London Computer Centre for the National Archives of England. It discusses the project in light of the context in which it emerged in the 1990s, its departure in approach from traditional data archives, and the range of archival functions. Finally, it offers reflections on the project as whole. Cet article décrit l’histoire et le développement du National Digital Archive of Datasets, un service offert par le centre informatique de l’Université de Londres pour les Archives nationales de l’Angleterre. L’auteure présente le contexte dans lequel le projet a émergé dans les années 1990, son approche qui diffère de celle des archives de données informatiques traditionnelles, ainsi que la gamme de ses fonctions archivistiques. Finalement, elle offre des réflexions sur le projet dans son ensemble