ABSTRACT

On the positive side was digital heritage, associated with progressive politics because of its rhetoric of inclusion, greater democracy as well as the speed of communication. The passage of time however, allows for a softening of these hard positions to emerge, making space for other kinds of arguments to do with the function of digital technologies as a form of interpretation, in the management of cultural heritage and even as a tool for audience studies. Some point to the technological possibilities of ever greater realism, the ability to see into an object, more kinetic interactions, as well as the ability to know visitors’ emotional response to works through intelligent interactive. Contributions in the vein fall into a number of categories. Such contributions to discussion are essentially about the breakdown of distinctions between the human and the non-human. The extent of accessibility raised by digital archives presents new management issues not encountered before, or, at the very least, heightens existing ones.