Cultural Heritage Informatics: Past, Present, and Future
Abstract
This paper briefly traces the informational history and contemporary formal establishment of Cultural Heritage Informatics as a distinct domain within IS/LIS, motivated by recent calls for more critical, ethical, and community-oriented interrogations of IS/LIS practices and professional identity. We unpack the conceptual history and disciplinary intellectual geography of cultural heritage and informatics to recount prior interpretations of the field. Next, we articulate a holistic domain-specific informatics model to guide the study of cultural heritage within IS/LIS. We conclude by articulating ethical imperatives and new directions for Cultural Heritage Informatics in research, teaching, and practice.
Date
May 28, 2025 10:30 ADT — 10:55 ADT
Location
Rowe 1014 and Zoom
School of Information Studies, Syracuse University
Tyler Youngman is a Ph.D. Candidate at the Syracuse University School of Information Studies. His current research examines how document acts enable destruction and erasure––and consequently––how memory institutions can better support reparative identity maintenance practices. Tyler currently works on projects related to LIS education, epistemicide and epistemic injustice, philosophy of information, and cultural heritage informatics.
School of Information Studies, Syracuse University
Sebastian Modrow is an assistant professor at Syracuse University’s iSchool and a former special collections curator, archivist, and lecturer for Latin. His research sits at the nexus of three interrelated areas: 1) the History of Information, 2) Cultural Heritage Informatics and GLAMs, 3) edition and translation work of historic primary sources with a special focus on the Doctrine of Christian Discovery. At Syracuse University, Sebastian teaches courses on special collections and archival processing as well as broad survey courses on GLAMs and cultural heritage preservation.
School of Information Studies, Syracuse University
Isaac Meth is a Ph.D. student at the Syracuse University iSchool. Focusing his research on archival theory and practice, Isaac explores the construction and subsequent management of archives and their advancement. Receiving his bachelor’s in history from George Washington University, Isaac seeks to understand archival theory and practice from a historical perspective. Additional research interests include connecting cultural heritage and memory to the archive while advocating for representation and community archiving goals.