Advances in Digital Heritage Preservation and Open Science

Dear Colleagues,

Digital heritage preservation has transformed over the past decade, driven by the development of advanced e-Infrastructures such as the European Collaborative Cloud for Cultural Heritage (ECCCH), the European Data Space for Cultural Heritage (DS4CH) and HathiTrust combined with the increasing adoption of Open Science principles. Tools such as 3D imaging, digital twins and augmented reality (AR) now provide powerful tools and methods for safeguarding cultural heritage, enabling the creation of digital replicas and immersive experiences that transcend geographical boundaries (Shehata et al., 2024).

Open Science with its different components—open access, data, software and citizen engagement—is a catalyst of the reuse of digital heritage assets. In addition, it enables the creation of new datasets and interpretations of heritage objects, thus generating an increased amount of digital content (Terras 2015).

However, this increasing openness introduces new issues; for example, ethical concerns, particularly in relation to digital ownership, privacy and cultural sensitivity. How much access should be allowed? Are there limits to the open sharing of heritage data, particularly when it involves sacred or culturally significant materials? What are the environmental impacts of openness, and how does open access support or negatively impact preservation?

This Special Issue aims to explore the intersection of digital heritage preservation and Open Science, critically examining both the advantages and ethical debates that emerge from the combination of these two fields. Through case studies, methodological papers and reviews, this issue will showcase the current best practices and explore the future of cultural heritage in the digital age.

Topics of Interest

This Special Issue invites contributions on, but is not limited to, the following topics:

• Innovations in 3D, VR and digital twins for heritage preservation
• Technologies for multi-sensoral preservation of heritage (visual, tactile, olfactory)
• Strategies for preserving heritage and the impact of open data on preservation
• Open data repositories and the access and reuse of cultural heritage
• Development and management of open-access digital heritage platforms, such as Europeana, OpenHeritage and other global open-access initiatives
• Case studies on how crowdsourcing is being used to digitise and preserve cultural heritage objects
• Ethics, privacy, and ownership in open access heritage data
• Balancing openness with concerns over data privacy, sensitive heritage data and potential for the misuse of cultural materials
• AI and digital heritage preservation
• Digital humanities, openness and preservation

References

Shehata, A. O., Noroozinejad Farsangi, E., Mirjalili, S., & Yang, T. Y. (2024). A State-of-the-Art Review and Bibliometric Analysis on the Smart Preservation of Heritages. Buildings, 14(12), 3818.

Terras, M. (2015). Opening access to collections: the making and using of open digitised cultural content. Online Information Review, 39(5), 733-752.

Prof. Dr. Peter Stanchev
Dr. Milena Dobreva
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Heritage is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• open and responsible research and innovation
• AI
• digital twins
• 3D
• e-Infrastructures
• EOSC