Semantic models and services for conservation and restoration of cultural heritage: A comprehensive survey

Abstract

Over the last decade, the Cultural Heritage (CH) domain has gradually adopted Semantic Web (SW) technologies for organizing information and for tackling interoperability issues. Several semantic models have been proposed which accommodate essential aspects of information management: retrieval, integration, reuse and sharing. In this context, the CH subdomain of Conservation and Restoration (CnR) exhibits an increasing interest in SW technologies, in an attempt to effectively handle the highly heterogeneous and often secluded CnR information. This paper investigates semantic models relevant to the CnR knowledge domain. The scope, development methodology and coverage of CnR aspects are described and discussed. Furthermore, the evaluation, deployment and current exploitation of each model are examined, with focus on the types and variety of services provided to support the CnR professional. Through this study, the following research questions are investigated: To what extent the various aspects of CnR are covered by existing CnR models? To what extent existing CnR models incorporate models of the broader CH domain and of relevant disciplines (e.g., Chemistry)? In what ways and to what extent services built upon the reviewed models facilitate CnR professionals in their various tasks? Finally, based on the findings, fields of interest that merit further investigation are suggested.

Documentary data collection: an initial step for information management in the conservation and restoration of cultural heritage

“…c) All the documents generated in an intervention are part of the same information unit and are linked by the logic generated by sequence of the events (e.g. a notice informing about an alteration that triggers a project to plan a corrective intervention which, once finished, is described in a report of activities) [41][42] (Figure 3). This semantic conceptual model provides an additional way to navigate between the documents, which facilitates fast and efficient handling and consultation.…”

Cultural Heritage Information Retrieval: Past, Present, and Future Trends

“…They were not developed for structuring data but rather for querying the APIs and harvesting information. LIDO (Light Weight Information Describing Objects) 25 is an XML schema developed collaboratively by CDWA Lite, museumdat, SPECTRUM and CIDOC CRM communities intended for delivering metadata for use in a wide range of online services. It covers a variety of descriptive information about museum objects.…”

“…There are only a few review studies in the domain of cultural heritage information retrieval and knowledge management. Mostly, they focus on specific subjects, such as geospatial semantic web for CH [23], building heritage model (BIM) for heritage buildings [24], conservation and restoration [25], and systematic bibliography survey [26]. However, in this paper, we seek to provide a comprehensive review of the vast topic of information retrieval and semantic web for CH domain.…”

Supporting the Conservation and Restoration OpenLab of the Acropolis of Ancient Tiryns through Data Modelling and Exploitation of Digital Media

“…CIDOC CRM provides the basic concepts and relations related to various CH disciplines, and is extended by ten modular models which cover documentation requirements of specific disciplines of the CH domain (FRBRoo, PRESSoo, CRMinf, CRMarchaeo, CRMsci, CRMgeo, CRMdig, CRMba, CRMtex, CRMsoc) (https://www.cidoc-crm.org/collaborations, accessed on 30 April 2023). CIDOC CRM and its official extensions have been widely used for CnR data modelling through the years [11].…”