FIT5204 - Heritage informatics - 2017

Informatics, the science of information, plays an increasingly central role in the work museums, libraries and other cultural heritage institutions that act to preserve, study, and promote cultural heritage. Heritage informatics for the digital humanities brings a comprehensive, cross-disciplinary approach to the challenge of managing cultural information, from data capture to analysis and dissemination.

This course is designed to respond to emerging technologies that have transformed the ways cultural heritage data can be interpreted, managed and analysed. Students will learn about perceptions of heritage and the principles and best practices of the discipline. Then, through a study of key technological innovations (mobile data, digital mapping and storytelling, 3D and augmented reality) and case studies, students will gain insight into how to build applications and digital user experiences for a variety of cultural heritage contexts.

On successful completion of this unit, students should be able to:

1. critically evaluate established and emerging technologies and analyse their effectiveness in relation to heritage data management;
2. assess the impact of informatics on heritage data management;
3. develop methods to investigate case studies that have applied informatics for the capture, analysis and dissemination of heritage data;
4. identify key heritage issues that informatics can be used to illuminate, interpret and reveal;
5. evaluate scenarios that extend informatics to broader heritage research/studies;
6. identify the need to adapt informatics according to heritage data management, principles and best practice;
7. analyse how informatics applications and technologies can be used to interpret diverse heritage data contexts;
8. report on the most appropriate application of informatics for specific case studies;
9. evaluate the relevant effectiveness and impact of informatics on heritage data.

In-semester assessment: 100%

Minimum total expected workload equals 144 hours per semester comprising:

1. Contact hours for on-campus students:
   • Two hours lectures per week
   • Two hours laboratories per week
2. Contact hours for block/flexible teaching at Prato:
   • 4 hours lectures per week for 6 weeks,
   • 2 hours seminars/tutorials per week for 6 weeks
   • 4 hours per week organised field trips and excursions for 3 weeks
3. Study schedule for off-campus students:
   • Off-campus students generally do not attend lecture, tutorial and laboratory sessions, however should plan to spend equivalent time working through resources and participating in discussions.
4. Additional requirements (all students):
   • A minimum of 8 hours (16 hours for block teaching at Prato) of personal study per week for completing lab/tutorial activities, assignments, private study and revision.

See also Unit timetable information

Dr Tom Chandler

http://www.infotech.monash.edu.au/units/