A Proposal for a FAIR Management of 3D Data in Cultural Heritage: The Aldrovandi Digital Twin Case
Journal:
arXiv
Published Date:
Jul 2, 2024
Abstract
In this article we analyse 3D models of cultural heritage with the aim of
answering three main questions: what processes can be put in place to create a
FAIR-by-design digital twin of a temporary exhibition? What are the main
challenges in applying FAIR principles to 3D data in cultural heritage studies
and how are they different from other types of data (e.g. images) from a data
management perspective? We begin with a comprehensive literature review
touching on: FAIR principles applied to cultural heritage data; representation
models; both Object Provenance Information (OPI) and Metadata Record Provenance
Information (MRPI), respectively meant as, on the one hand, the detailed
history and origin of an object, and - on the other hand - the detailed history
and origin of the metadata itself, which describes the primary object (whether
physical or digital); 3D models as cultural heritage research data and their
creation, selection, publication, archival and preservation. We then describe
the process of creating the Aldrovandi Digital Twin, by collecting, storing and
modelling data about cultural heritage objects and processes. We detail the
many steps from the acquisition of the Digital Cultural Heritage Objects
(DCHO), through to the upload of the optimised DCHO onto a web-based framework
(ATON), with a focus on open technologies and standards for interoperability
and preservation. Using the FAIR Principles for Heritage Library, Archive and
Museum Collections [1] as a framework, we look in detail at how the Digital
Twin implements FAIR principles at the object and metadata level. We then
describe the main challenges we encountered and we summarise what seem to be
the peculiarities of 3D cultural heritage data and the possible directions for
further research in this field.
