Towards Digital Heritage

1
Towards Digital Heritage

• Strategic Technology Office
• National Heritage Board
• 7th June 2005

2
Agenda

• Introduction
• The National Heritage Board (NHB)
• The Digital Heritage Industry
• Digitization Programme
• Need for Digitization
• 3 Levels of Digitization
• Some Applications
• Basic Digitization
• Storage Application Systems
• Metadata Taxonomy Development
• Packaged Content for Museum Display Systems,
  Interactive Tour Guides eLearning Objects
• The Singapore Family Tree (SFT) Portal
• Culture, Recreation Sports eTown (CRS)
• Future Developments
• Collaborations in Content Development
• Conclusion

3
The National Heritage Board, Singapore
National Heritage Board
Chief Information and
CEO
National Archives of Singapore
Heritage Conservation Centre
The National Museums
NHB HQ Divisions
Asian Civilisation Museum I II
Singapore History Museum
Singapore Arts Museum
Singapore Philatelic Museum
Vision Making Heritage A Part of Everyones
Life
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Digital Heritage Industry
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Need for Digitization

• Primary need is for long-term preservation
• Due to change in formats and obsolesce of
  equipment, digital formats are the easiest to use
  and to deploy
• Digital Content Exchange (DCX) is rapidly being
  adopted across the government and private sector

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3 Levels of Digitization

• 1st Level
• Basic digitization for long-term preservation
• Storage Application Systems A2O IMCMS
• 2nd Level
• Metadata taxonomy development
• Packaged content for museum display systems,
  e-learning objects for schools research
• 3rd Level
• Creation of new heritage / cultural services
• Creative industry online games, virtual
  mixed-reality exhibits, etc
• eLearning courses in museum cultural studies

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1st Level Basic Digitization of Artefacts

• Image capture in RAW (.NEF) and then saved as
  16-bit RGB TIFF format
• Cumulus embeds metadata into the TIFF image as
  IPTC information.
• TIFF image is then processed using Adobe
  Photoshop to attach colour profiles and to create
  JPEG image.
• TIFF and JPEG images are then added to separate
  catalogs in Cumulus. These files reside in
  Firewire hard disks on the Cumulus Server at HCC.
  

• Files backed up daily off site at NAS
  Computer room are also stored on DVD-ROMas
  using PeerSync software

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1st LevelStorage Application Systems

• Integrated Museum Collection Management System
  (IMCMS)
• Zetcoms MuseumPlus System
• Museum Collections Management System
• Data consolidation and conversion
• Application Service Provider (ASP) component
• Access to Archives Online (A2O)
• Online repositories of archival material
• Separate application systems for pictures,
• audio, video, maps, posters, oral history
• Access via www.a2o.com.sg

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2nd LevelMetadata Taxonomy Development
Solution Overview
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2nd LevelMetadata Taxonomy Development

• Search without Metadata

• Search with Metadata
• Nknsd
• Zlvmpmv
• sdfmvosm

metadata
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2nd LevelPackaged Content for

• Interactive Museum Display System (IMDS)
• Mobile multimedia handheld displays
• Personalized Internet Portal delivery
• Interactive Tour Guide
• eLearning objects for schools

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3rd Level Creation of New Heritage / Cultural
Services

• The Singapore Family Tree (SFT)
• A one-stop genealogy portal
• Record their family histories and store their
  digital artifacts
• Connecting Singaporeans locally and abroad, past
  and present
• Access via www.sft.com.sg
• Culture, Recreation Sports (CRS) eTown
• An eCitizen portal providing culture, recreation
  sports information e-services
• Partner agencies National Arts Council, National
  Library Board, Singapore Sports Council, Peoples
  Association, National Parks Singapore Touris
  Board
• Access via http//livelife.ecitizen.gov.sg

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Future DevelopmentsCollaborations in Content
Development

• eLearning
• Creation of learning objects for e-learning.
• Learning objects could be packaged into modules
  that can be delivered online with or without
  instructor interaction.
• Extended to a certificate / diploma with the
  collaboration of NTU for formal museum studies.
• Creative industries
• Jointly develop 3-D animation, virtual
  mixed-reality objects, online games and virtual
  museums
• Jointly develop content packages for advertising
  and publishing industries.
• Packaged content for tourism on the move, 3D
  animation, etc.

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Conclusion

• Digitization plays a major part in NHBs call to
  preserve the Nations Heritage
• Metadata taxonomy development complements the
  digitization effort to allow easier access to
  NHBs collection
• Accessible collection brings increase in business
  value in terms of content packages and new
  e-services
• Contribute to Digital Heritage