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There is growing international interest in issues of preservation,
analysis, and access to artifacts, manuscripts, and related
materials of cultural heritage. Where IMLS and NSF interest
was initially raised in response to looting in post-invasion
Iraq, this interest has broadened beyond the Middle East
to other geographic areas, and continues to include a knowledge
repository, or digital library, of cultural heritage resources
as a central feature. Such a resource could not only facilitate
access to related cultural heritage resources in different
types of institutions throughout the world but could also
serve as a security and preservation repository in the case
of theft or loss of physical resources.
In the 15 years of progress in digital libraries, it has
become apparent that the same technology challenges that
apply to advancing science also apply to cultural heritage
resources and may even surpass the challenges for science – i.e.,
handling artifacts such as cuneiform tablets and original
manuscripts. It is critical to note that advancing
technologies can contribute to the preservation and study
of cultural artifacts, while also making them broadly available
to society.
This interest group will explore the opportunity to build
an agenda of collaborative research that leverages SIS capabilities
and interests in new and creative ways. The areas of
interest might include (but are not limited to) information
retrieval of non-textual resources and cross-lingual retrieval,
navigation and visualization of vast information stores,
and how medical technology is being used in the identification
and preservation of antiquities. IMLS, NSF, the Mellon
Foundation, and the Getty Trust have all been actively engaged
in fostering discussion around these topics and indicate
substantial interest in funding related work. IMLS may release
a call for proposals early next year to initiate research
leading to online repositories of cultural heritage materials. |
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