Human-Oriented Semantic Technologies for Cultural Heritage: Knowledge, Standardization and Customization

Abstract

Cultural Heritage is the source of much knowledge. Arguably, Cultural Heritage is one of the most complex objects of study, as it knots together cultural, psychological, material, historical, biological and environmental concerns. When we study Cultural Heritage, we encode what we learn in the form of information, and then as data. Reinterpreting these data and being able to generate relevant knowledge from them is quite a challenge, and often we struggle to integrate large amounts of heterogeneous information into meaningful insights. Sometimes we employ the so-called semantic technologies, such as the semantic web or ontology description languages to get computers to assist ourselves in the process, but the results are still disappointing.