Harnessing digital workflows for the understanding, promotion and participation in the conservation of heritage sites by meeting both ethical and technical challenges

The current application of digital workflows for the understanding, promotion and participation in the conservation of heritage sites involves several technical challenges and should be governed by serious ethical engagement. Recording consists of capturing (or mapping) the physical characteristics of character-defining elements that provide the significance of cultural heritage sites. Usually, the outcome of this work represents the cornerstone information serving for their conservation, whatever it uses actively for maintaining them or for ensuring a posterity record in case of destruction. The records produced could guide the decision-making process at different levels by property owners, site managers, public officials, and conservators around the world, as well as to present historical knowledge and values of these resources. Rigorous documentation may also serve a broader purpose: over time, it becomes the primary means by which scholars and the public apprehends a site that has since changed radically or disappeared. This contribution is aimed at providing an overview of the potential application and threats of technology utilised by a heritage recording professional by addressing the need to develop ethical principles that can improve the heritage recording practice at large.

ETHICAL FRAMEWORK FOR HERITAGE RECORDING SPECIALISTS APPLYING DIGITAL WORKFLOWS FOR CONSERVATION

<p><strong>Abstract.</strong> Recording the physical characteristics of historic structures and landscapes is a cornerstone of preventive maintenance, monitoring and conservation. The information produced by such workflows guides decision-making by property owners, site managers, public officials, and conservators. Rigorous documentation may also serve a broader purpose: over time, it becomes the primary means by which scholars and the public apprehend a site that has since changed radically or disappeared.</p><p> The development of ethics principles (or a code of ethics) applicable to the heritage recording specialist in their conduct, responsibilities, professional practice and for the benefit of the public and communities is of paramount importance. As indicated by Smith (2019), “the values and principles inherent in the technology itself are more sharply diverging for a reckoning: we must now address not just the practical considerations of the technology we use, but also its moral and ethical implications. If we don't, we risk compromising the values of the heritage we serve.” This means that it is important that the practice allow for better planning, recording, processing and dissemination of digital workflows for the conservation of historic places. Also, digital products should improve the practice, including sharing and preserving records among heritage organizations around the world. This contribution seeks to establish a framework to review and apply ethical concepts to improve the field of digital heritage recording.</p>

Built Cultural Heritage Recording and Evaluation in the Traditional Settlement of Siatista in Greece: Functional and Institutional Proposals for Conservation

This case report explores the town of Siatista (located in the Western Macedonia Region—Greece), which is designated as a “traditional settlement”. The paper argues that, despite the relevant legislation that designated 400 settlements in Greece as “traditional settlements” and put them under protection, Siatista has no delimited traditional section. Through the years, new house typologies, demolitions, and alterations of its urban form have appeared, and Siatista has lost its identity. Having as an ultimate goal to identify proper planning guidelines and regulations for the preservation of Siatista’s built heritage, the methodology used in the paper includes the following steps: (a) recording and codification of the key legislation for the protection of Siatista, including the official urban plans (and their revisions); (b) identification and mapping of the urban form and spatial characteristics of Siatista (existing land uses, house typology, etc.); (c) identification of the alterations of the urban form and the demolitions, mainly with the use of aerial photos (1960–2014); and (d) creation of a map presenting the remaining built heritage per degree of evaluation. Following the analysis of the existing situation and the identification of the key challenges, the paper ends by defining and delimitating the well-preserved section of the town (proposing stricter rules and regulations for its preservation).

DISCUSSION ON THE PROBLEM OF REGULARIZED RECONSTRUCTION IN HBIM

<p><strong>Abstract.</strong> In heritage recording, conservators are required to understand the subjects, that, in a sense, means to recognizing the two opposite aspects of the buildings in question: regularity and differentiation. To do a specific documentation work, one has to make balance between regularity and differentiation &amp;ndash; the opposite poles, according to the goals and specific needs of the work. This paper discuss the goals and needs of HBIM, and regards HBIM models as “index frames” to run the information management for heritage. Therefore regularity is preferred in HBIM and the question of “regularized reconstruction” are raised. Three examples are provided to demonstrate how to realize the representation of regularity in preparing HBIM models, resulting in the conclusion: 1) partial or global regularized reconstruction is available and efficient; 2) regularized reconstruction can make best use of the advantages of BIM and bypass the disadvantages; 3) to what extent the use of regularized reconstruction depends on the regularity degree of the subject.</p>

WIDENING AUDIENCES – MAKING HERITAGE RECORDING DATA EASILY ACCESSIBLE VIA HTML APPLICATIONS

<p><strong>Abstract.</strong> With the ever increasing size and complexity of heritage recording datasets, and consequently, the required expertise to manipulate and extract information for conservation projects from this data, the use of dissemination tools was researched and used to help bridge the gap between information gatherers and users in order to increase accessibility and utilization. This paper examines a variety of case studies where dissemination tools were utilized to make heritage recording data more easily accessible for a variety of users. The first example involves high resolution photography; the second explores methods of sharing large point cloud datasets; the third explores panoramic photography and dissemination via virtual tours; and the fourth, capitalizes on using panoramic images as a by-product of terrestrial laser scan data. All data was disseminated solely through the use of HTML outputs, ensuring that the end users did not require any specialized software and minimal to no training to visualize, manipulate and extract data from the assembled information. Collectively the project team felt that the simplicity of these outputs would increase the likelihood of their utilization by the various user groups. Based on the teams past experience, the requirement for specialized software greatly diminished the chances of broad use of the data by untrained individuals. By adopting a HTML platform, the difficulties wrought by software installation restrictions imposed on many organizations or limited by access to required hardware, could be greatly diminished. There is also a possibility for this type of data to be disseminated to the public for their interest using these tools; however, the presented examples show only how these methodologies were used in the understanding phase and execution stages by other professionals.</p>

3D Models in Cultural Heritage

Metric surveys are a key component in Cultural Heritage. Metric surveys are in fact a basic input for a wide range of activities, from documentation to study, from restoration to valorization, that rely on the current condition of the monument. In recent years, laser scanning and, more recently, digital photogrammetry offered new perspectives, widening the perspectives of 3D Cultural Heritage recording. Digital technologies provide new ways to collaborate, record excavations, and restore artifacts, and in such a way they are transforming the way Cultural Heritage practitioners (researchers, archaeologists, curators) work. This paper attempts to review the methods for 3D digitization that are today available and discuss the possible use of 3D models beyond the pure extraction of reliable and accurate measures.

High Accuracy Photogrammetry of Historic Rock Art

The petroglyphs of Petroglyph Park, Peterborough, created by the Algonquin Peoples between 900 and 1400 A.D., were documented in 1983 by the Heritage Recording Directorate of theGovernment of Canada. With the aim of rerecording the glyphs again at a later date to monitor the conditions and weathering, several sets of photogrammetric stereo pairs were taken of the site using Zeiss UMK and a Wild P-31 film cameras. After this project was completed, the site became designated as sacred and photography was no longer permitted, thus rendering the completion of a second recording of the site all but impossible. Therefore, the photographs taken of these magnificent petroglyphs in the 1980s are the most recent documentation available. Using the ADAMTech Mine Mapping Suite, developed in Perth Australia for the mining industry, I was able to bring these archival photos to life by creating dense 3D models that rival those produced by LiDAR. I used the photos, digitized in Ottawa on a Wehri RM-6 photogrammetric scanner, to create 3D models of the glyphs. A similar Federal project from Writing on Stone National Park in Alberta also used film photogrammetry to record the glyphs at that site in 1982. From these images as well I was able to compile 3D models. It is hoped that by scanning the original glass-plate negatives from the 1980s, and not the film copies, as we have done thus far for both projects, measurement data of even greater accuracy (down to 60um) and density can be achieved.