🏛️Curatorial Studies Unit 13 – Digital Curation and New Media

What's This Unit About?

• Explores the intersection of digital technologies and curatorial practices in the context of preserving and presenting digital assets
• Focuses on the unique challenges and opportunities presented by curating digital content and new media artworks
• Examines the role of the curator in the digital age and how traditional curatorial skills must adapt to the rapidly evolving digital landscape
• Covers key concepts, tools, and strategies for effectively managing and showcasing digital collections
• Highlights real-world applications of digital curation in museums, galleries, and other cultural institutions
• Discusses future trends and emerging technologies that will shape the field of digital curation in the coming years

Key Concepts and Definitions

• Digital curation: The active management and preservation of digital assets throughout their lifecycle to ensure long-term accessibility and usability
• New media: Artworks and cultural artifacts that are created, stored, and experienced using digital technologies (interactive installations, net art, virtual reality)
• Metadata: Structured data that describes and provides context for digital objects, enabling their discovery, management, and preservation
  • Descriptive metadata: Provides information about the content and context of a digital object (title, creator, date, subject)
  • Administrative metadata: Documents the technical and management aspects of a digital object (file format, rights, preservation actions)
• Digital preservation: The process of maintaining the accessibility, authenticity, and integrity of digital objects over time, despite changes in technology and storage media
• Interoperability: The ability of different systems and software to exchange and use information seamlessly, ensuring that digital assets can be accessed and shared across platforms

Digital Curation Basics

• Digital curation encompasses the entire lifecycle of digital objects, from creation and acquisition to long-term preservation and access
• Involves a range of activities, including selection, appraisal, description, storage, preservation, and dissemination of digital assets
• Requires a combination of technical skills, curatorial expertise, and knowledge of legal and ethical issues surrounding digital content
• Aims to ensure that digital assets remain accessible, usable, and meaningful for current and future audiences
• Involves collaboration among curators, archivists, librarians, IT professionals, and other stakeholders to develop and implement effective digital curation strategies
• Requires ongoing monitoring and management of digital collections to address evolving technologies, standards, and user needs

New Media Types and Characteristics

• Digital art: Artworks created using digital tools and technologies (computer-generated images, digital paintings, algorithmic art)
  • Often interactive, immersive, and dynamic, requiring specialized curation and preservation approaches
• Net art: Artworks that are created and experienced online, using the internet as a medium and platform (web-based installations, browser-based art)
  • Poses challenges for traditional modes of exhibition and collection due to their ephemeral and networked nature
• Virtual and augmented reality: Immersive digital environments that blur the line between the physical and virtual worlds (VR installations, AR overlays)
  • Require specialized hardware and software for display and interaction, as well as considerations for user experience and accessibility
• Generative art: Artworks that are created using algorithms, software, or other automated processes (procedural animations, data-driven visualizations)
  • Often dynamic and variable, requiring flexible approaches to documentation and preservation
• Interactive installations: Physical or virtual environments that respond to user input or engagement (sensor-based artworks, participatory installations)
  • Pose challenges for traditional modes of exhibition and collection due to their interactive and experiential nature

Tools and Technologies

• Digital asset management systems (DAMS): Software platforms that enable the storage, organization, and retrieval of digital objects and their associated metadata (Collective Access, ResourceSpace)
• Digital preservation tools: Applications and services that support the long-term maintenance and accessibility of digital assets (Archivematica, Preservica)
• Metadata standards: Established frameworks for describing and structuring metadata to ensure consistency and interoperability across systems (Dublin Core, PREMIS)
• Web archiving tools: Applications and services that enable the capture, preservation, and replay of web-based content (Archive-It, Webrecorder)
• Virtual exhibition platforms: Software and tools that enable the creation and presentation of online exhibitions and digital collections (Omeka, Google Arts & Culture)
• 3D scanning and modeling: Technologies that enable the capture and representation of physical objects in digital form for preservation and access (photogrammetry, laser scanning)

Challenges in Digital Curation

• Rapid technological obsolescence: The constant evolution of hardware, software, and file formats can render digital assets inaccessible or unreadable over time
  • Requires proactive migration and emulation strategies to ensure long-term accessibility
• Copyright and intellectual property: The complex legal landscape surrounding digital content can pose challenges for curation, access, and reuse
  • Requires careful consideration of rights management and licensing issues
• Authenticity and integrity: Ensuring that digital assets remain authentic and uncorrupted over time, despite changes in technology and storage media
  • Requires robust digital preservation strategies and documentation of provenance
• Metadata creation and management: The labor-intensive process of creating and maintaining accurate, consistent, and comprehensive metadata for digital objects
  • Requires dedicated resources and expertise, as well as adherence to established standards and best practices
• Long-term sustainability: Ensuring the ongoing availability and usability of digital collections in the face of changing institutional priorities, funding models, and user needs
  • Requires strategic planning, resource allocation, and collaboration among stakeholders

Best Practices and Strategies

• Develop and implement a comprehensive digital curation policy that outlines goals, responsibilities, and procedures for managing digital collections
• Adopt and adhere to established metadata standards and best practices to ensure consistency, interoperability, and long-term accessibility of digital assets
• Implement a robust digital preservation strategy that includes regular monitoring, migration, and emulation of digital objects to address technological obsolescence
• Collaborate with stakeholders, including artists, rights holders, and user communities, to develop sustainable approaches to curation, access, and reuse of digital content
• Invest in professional development and training for staff to ensure they have the necessary skills and knowledge to effectively manage and preserve digital collections
• Regularly assess and update digital curation practices and technologies to ensure they remain aligned with evolving standards, user needs, and institutional priorities

Real-World Applications

• Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York has established a comprehensive digital conservation program to preserve and provide access to its growing collection of digital artworks
• The National Library of Australia has implemented a web archiving program to capture and preserve Australian websites and online content for future generations
• The Tate in London has developed a digital asset management system to support the curation, research, and dissemination of its extensive collection of digital artworks and documentation
• The Smithsonian Institution has launched a 3D digitization program to capture and share its vast collection of physical objects and specimens online
• The Rhizome ArtBase is an online archive of net art and digital artworks that employs a range of curation and preservation strategies to ensure long-term access and engagement

Future Trends

• Increased use of artificial intelligence and machine learning techniques for automating metadata creation, content analysis, and preservation decision-making
• Growing adoption of decentralized technologies, such as blockchain, for documenting provenance, authenticating digital assets, and enabling new models of ownership and access
• Emergence of new immersive and experiential technologies, such as virtual and augmented reality, that will require innovative approaches to curation, preservation, and display
• Expansion of collaborative and networked approaches to digital curation, involving partnerships among institutions, communities, and technology providers
• Greater emphasis on ethical and inclusive practices in digital curation, addressing issues of diversity, accessibility, and cultural sensitivity in the selection, representation, and interpretation of digital collections