Do virtual museums really provide added value to end-users, or do they just contribute to the abundance of images? Does the World Wide Web save endangered cultural heritage, or does it foster a society with less variety? These and other related questions are raised and answered in this book, the result of a long path across the digital heritage landscape. It provides a comprehensive view on issues and achievements in digital collections and cultural content.

Autorentext

Alfredo M. Ronchi is co-founder and coordinator of the Computer Aided Architectural Design Laboratory (1984 - 1990) and founding Director of the HyperMediaGroup Laboratory (1990 - today) at the Politecnico di Milano.

He is currently Secretary of the EC MEDICI Cooperation Framework, a consultant of the Council of Europe, member of the UNESCO OCCAM Mediterranean Programme, Infopoverty, Global Forum, Fondazione Italiana Nuove Comunicazioni, Sacred World Foundation Scientific Committee.

Inhalt
Cultural Content and the Information Society.- Digital Content.- e-Society and the Social Divide.- Quality Content.- Digital Content and Creativity.- Cultural Content.- Digital Communication: the Role of Context.- Cultural Diversity and Cultural Models.- Content, Communication and Tools.- The General Technological Framework.- Native Digital Content.- Datasets and Formats.- Data Visualisation and Display Technologies.- Interaction Design.- Computer Games, Edutainment and Theme Parks.- Customer Relationship Management.- Smart Labels, Smart Tags and RFID.- Standards and Protocols for Interoperability.- Data Tags and the Semantic Web.- Ambient Intelligence.- Long-Term Preservation of Digital Archives.- The Future: the Weave of the Digital Fabric.- Exploitation, Applications and Services.- Content, Communication and Tools.- Exploitation, Applications and Services.- Prioritisation in Digitalisation.- Cataloguing Standards and Archiving Tools.- Virtual Museum Networks.- Unique Object ID.- Different Channels and Platforms.- Intellectual Property Rights.- Technology and Privacy.- Usability, Accessibility and Platforms.- Content Repackaging.- Experiencing Cultural Content.- Cultural Tourism.- Games and Edutainment Applications.- Hands-On and Interactive Museums.- Educational Market.- Culture Counts: the Economic Dimension.- Quality.- Conclusions and Future Trends.