Information Studies Research

Introduction, Aims, and Policy

1.1 IT plays an increasingly important role in contemporary society and in particular in the work of organisations which act to conserve, preserve, and improve access to our cultural and natural heritage. Already, in some rare instances, it has been possible for the Heritage Lottery Fund to give support to IT-based projects. It has funded, for example:

• the Music Performance Research Centre to digitise its unique recordings of live performances, including some by Toscanini, Beecham, Richter, Menuhin, Callas, Sutherland, Furtwängler, and Carlos Kleiber, which were at risk of loss;
• the National Historic Ships Committee (NHSC) to develop a database containing details of roughly 3,000 ships above 40 feet/40 tons, built in the UK before 1945 and still found in the UK or its waters. The database not only provides a record of our surviving heritage of value to the general public and especially schools and museums, but is also a resource for assessing the relative merits of ship restoration projects by providing basic comparative information necessary for such assessments;
• the development of a digital image system to create a digital archive of, and provide public access to, the Kirklees photographic collections;
• the Public Monument and Sculpture Association’s National Recording Project to survey and create a national archive of the public monuments and sculptures; and
• the creation of a comprehensive archaeological and historical database to assist the understanding, protection, and management of the Forest Enterprise landholdings in Wales.

1.2 The range of possible applications of ICT in the heritage sector continues to expand and the 1997 Act extended the kinds of projects which the HLF can support. These two factors, combined with the absence of any clear national policy for ICT in the heritage sector, make it in the public interest for the HLF to establish its own policy. Any such policy must reflect the primary objectives on which the Heritage Lottery Fund was established. It should also balance the possibilities and benefits opened up by ICT against the risks and high costs associated with many ICT projects. The report recognises that its recommendations need to be considered in light of any established HLF policies.

1.3 We recommend that the HLF’s objectives in supporting the use of ICT in heritage projects should be consistent with, if not led by, its principal aims to:

• aid the better conservation and management of the heritage;
• promote the understanding, study, and enjoyment of the heritage; and
• act to assist in achieving the political priority for the creation of culturally rich information by contributing to complementary initiatives which are creating resources for use on the networks.

1.4 In order to achieve these objectives, we recommend that the Heritage Lottery Fund adopt the following strategies:

• support ICT projects which improve our understanding of the value of heritage assets through the collection, analysis, or distribution of information (e.g. content creation);
• support ICT projects which aid practical conservation and preservation work;
• support collaborative ICT projects, and especially collaborations between different heritage sector organisations (e.g. joint library and museum projects);
• only support digitisation, multimedia, and interactive projects which are backed up by the existence or creation of local raw data resources (e.g. finding aids or inventories) in digital form;
• encourage the use of ICT to foster the development of authentic data (e.g. biological or environmental data, archaeological sites and monument records) for educational purposes, including primary and secondary education and lifelong learning;
• normally not fund distribution and access infrastructure (e.g. networks to interconnect institutions);
• only support ICT projects that are sustainable after funding ceases; view digital resources as having an indefinite life and require evidence that applicants can preserve them in reusable form indefinitely;
• give a higher priority to ICT projects which arise out of local or regional activities and create resources of value to these communities; and
• only support the creation of digital resources where these resources will be freely and publicly accessible and/or bring direct heritage benefit.

The recommendations made throughout the report are all designed to make it feasible to implement these strategies in an efficient and effective way.

1.5 The HLF will not have sufficient funds to meet all the possible and attractive uses of ICT which might be proposed. It will need to prioritise projects.

Recommendation
1. We recommend that, where it is necessary to choose between heritage ICT projects, the selection should be carried out in the following order of priority:

* where the project can diminish risk of loss of a heritage asset, such as through survey and record;
* where the project can aid conservation and preservation;
* where the product of the project will itself be a heritage asset;
* where the project meets HLF education and access policy objectives; and
* where opportunities exist for public participation in the creation of new resources, or the retroconversion or digitisation of older ones where the result would have public benefit.

1.6 The emphasis in the implementation of HLF’s ICT Policy should be on the creation of a network of local information resources of national value. It should focus on information rather than technology. This focus acknowledges the value of heritage information and its essential role if we are to make accessible, preserve, and better understand our heritage assets. It also reflects the fact that information and communications technology (ICT) are enabling widespread, cost-effective, and democratic access to information resources. Recent Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) studies have produced substantial evidence of the increasing capacity of the general public to access and handle online resources.