Tehran, (CHN Foreign Desk) -- Cultural heritage sites all over the world are under threat due to tourism, aggressive urbanization, speculative development, conflict, and general neglect. The complement of traditional methods to cultural heritage management has been augmented with the introduction of digital or new media. Individual researchers, professional societies, museums, universities, and governments have embraced computer modeling and visualization to create virtual reconstructions and databases of living, threatened or lost cultural heritage sites.

 

Digital media could be utilized for much more than re-creation and representation of physical entities and tangible heritage. It has the capacity to become a tool to capture both the tangible and intangible essence of both the cultural heritage and the society that created or used the sites.

 

In Digital Cultural Heritage, experts offer a critical and theoretical review of the uses of digital media by cultural heritage institutions. Discussions of cultural heritage and digital technology suggest perspective on using digital media in the research, preservation, management, interpretation, and representation of cultural heritage. The contributors believe digital technology might be used to transform institutional cultures, methods, and relationships with audiences. They examine the relationship between material and digital objects in collections of art and indigenous artifacts, the implications of digital technology for knowledge creation, documentation, and the concept of authority.

 

In the concept of Digital Media and Cultural Heritage, the possibilities for "virtual cultural heritage," meaning the preservation and interpretation of cultural and natural heritage through real-time and interactive techniques, has been taken into consideration.

 

Regarding the significant role of the media and journalists in preservation and promotion of cultural heritage, UNESCO World Heritage Center has decided to promote UNESCO World Heritage Sites through an international network of professional photographers. The network of professional photographers will produce a series of books, television programs and a websites to promote awareness of heritage sites among the broad international public.

 

In another attempt, the European Union in collaboration with UNESCO and the International Federation of Journalists founded the Euromed Heritage Journalistic Award which can contribute to raising awareness on cultural heritage by encouraging high quality reporting.

 

In the modern era and with an unprecedented increase in the use of the Internet, digital media play an effective role in preserving the cultural heritage by raising public awareness and compelling the related authorities to take necessary actions.

 

 

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Source:

http://www.unesco.org

http://www.euromedheritage.net

http://mitpress.mit.edu

http://newheritageforum.org