CONTACT THE PEOPLE BEHIND Digi CULT FORUM

As we progress towards a knowledgebased information society, a digital culture is emerging. This e-culture will be based on technologies that enhance the creation, management and provision of attractive cultural content and engaging interactions on a variety of platforms. This article addresses the endeavours of small heritage institutions to prepare themselves for e-culture, while facing the ‘trilemma’ of lacking human resources, lacking funds, lacking technical skills. It concentrates on the question: Which current and emerging technologies are most likely to find a broader adoption by large, medium and small institutions? It provides a classification of these sizes based on empirical data, and points out key issues that heritage institutions will need to consider when assessing the feasibility of adopting a certain technology. Based on this ‘e-readiness check’, the paper assesses 20 technologies especially from the perspective of smaller institutions. These technologies have been monitored in the DigiCULT Forum project, and include, for example, virtual reality, agents and avatars, digital asset management, mobile technologies, RFID technology, customer relationship management, virtual community and collaboration technologies. Although some of the technologies may be used by smaller institutions, the article concludes that these institutions may only become ‘e-ready’ for, and benefit from, most of the technologies within a framework of larger cultural heritage initiatives. In such initiatives, funded mechanisms such as cultural networks/service centres enable smaller institutions to keep their costs and risks manageable while not being excluded from new technological developments. READY FOR E-CULTURE? In recent years, substantial progress has been made in the access to digitised and born-digital resources held by cultural heritage organisations. As we progress towards a knowledge-based information society, a digital culture is emerging. This culture will be based on technologies that enhance the creation, management and provision of attractive cultural content and engaging interactions on a variety of platforms. This includes, to name but a few end-user oriented technologies, new displays and human interfaces, mobile access to heritage information, location-based services, virtual communities, 3D games and learning environments, agents and avatars, and Semantic Web applications. Yet, there is a growing risk that small cultural heritage institutions will be left behind as the main focus of information and communication technology (ICT) development in the heritage sector concentrates on medium to larger institutions. The reasons for this unfavourable development are not primarily technological in nature but organisational. They can be summarised as the institutional ‘trilemma’ of lacking human resources, lacking funds, lacking technical skills, which will be discussed below. A much broader perspective is given in the DigiCULT Report (2002)4, which addresses key issues of political frameworks, organisational change, exploitation, and existing and emerging technologies. Valuable further recommendations that concentrate mainly on improvements for smaller institutions may be found in a recent report on an eEurope agenda for local services by the PULMAN Network of Excellence (PULMAN, 2003)5. The ‘trilemma’ of small CH institutions: lack of human resources, lack of funds, lack of technical skills Frequently, small cultural heritage institutions function as shoestring operations that exist and live on due only to the enthusiasm, endurance and creativity of key individuals who manage them. These cultural enthusiasts spend not only their leisure time but often also their own funds to keep the institution running and to provide similar services to the local community to those provided by larger institutions. Yet, when it comes to making use and taking advantage of new technologies, these organisations reach their limits especially with regard to qualified personnel and funding resources. The most pressing factor that hampers small institutions in their efforts to Dr Guntram Geser, MTM © G .G es er , 2 00 4 4 DigiCULT (2002): The DigiCULT Report. Technological Landscapes for tomorrow’s cultural economy – Unlocking the value of cultural heritage, available for download at: http://www. digicult.info/pages/report.php 5 PULMAN (2003), Public Libraries, Museums and Archives: the eEurope Agenda for Local Services. Final Report of the PULMAN Network of Excellence. Edited by Rob Davies (Luxembourg: European Commission, Directorate-General Information).