Achieving representation in sustainable socio-technical infrastructures

As technology advances, so does our understanding of the world. Technology can act as that great disruptor which facilitates, (or hinders) access to cultural knowledge. Towards a National Collection (TaNC) is a 22m euro UK investment that aims to identify the pathways into such sustainable socio-technical infrastructures where all levels of knowledge and representation can be produced and used by diverse groups with different cultural needs of information, and therefore tools to make use of it.

The Museo Integrado calls for museums to “take part in bringing awareness into the societies to which it serves”. However, this can become challenging due to the alienation generated by Western and Anglo-centric epistemologies, cosmovision and technologic impositions. How are museums meant to represent knowledge when the systems used to describe such knowledge do not engage with the perspective of the communities they are meant to serve? How do we overcome the large digital divide within cultural institutions, their staff, and especially among communities, not only in the context of the Global South, but also evident within the UK. The Digital Humanities have provided a paradigm shift in how knowledge production can sustain (and disrupt) novel research methods in the historic and cultural sector. TaNC research aims to identify such novel methods and integrate them within a sustainable model accessible for the wide range of users and non-direct users of cultural heritage.