Francisco Soler

Design of cultural heritage information systems based on information layers

The information about cultural heritage artifacts that archeologists must manage is usually very heterogenous, and, due to its spatial nature, cannot be easily represented using conventional data management frameworks. The strong spatial dependence of this data suggests that the information should be linked to a 3D model of the artifact. This article presents a 3D information system that has been designed to manage cultural heritage information. The system allows information layers to be associated with the surface of the artifact, following an approach similar to that used in geographical information systems. This permits relationships between the different elements to be ascertained, and allows both specialists and the layperson to more easily understand the information. We describe here the structure and functionality of the system.

An information system to analize cultural heritage information

Managing information related to cultural heritage sites is an important task and much work has been devoted to developing special purpose document management systems. These systems are able to store and retrieve large amounts of documents; however, while this is adequate for some purposes, it is not sufficient for research and conservation work. Researchers need to determine relationships between data, and the most important relationships in cultural heritage information are spatial relationships. A new kind of information system is therefore needed, in which the 3D representation of an object is a blackboard on which all data is represented. This paper proposes the concept of Cultural Heritage Information Systems, and presents our implementation of the system. An example application illustrating the use of the system is also presented.

Design of an Information System for Cultural Heritage

Usually the information that must be managed by archaeologist for any cultural heritage artefact is very heterogeneous. Due to its spatial nature this information cannot be easily represented with conventional data management frameworks. The strong spatial dependence of data concerning the object of study makes it interesting to have a three-dimensional model of the artefact to associate the large amount of information available. This paper presents a 3D information system that has been designed to manage cultural heritage information. The system allows to associate information layer to the artefact surface, following a GIS like approach. The association of information to the surface of the object allows to find out spatial relationships between different elements, making it easier to understand this information to both specialists and general public. The paper describes the system structure