Digital repatriation

Digital repatriation is the return of items of cultural heritage in a digital format to the communities from which they originated. The term originated from within anthropology, and typically referred to the creation of digital photographs of ethnographic material, which would then be made available to members of the originating culture.[1] However, the term has also been applied to museum, library, and archives collections,[2] and can refer not only to digital photographs of items, but also digital collections and virtual exhibits including 3D scans and audio recordings.[3] Intangible cultural heritage, which includes traditional skills and knowledge, can also be digitally repatriated to communities.[4]

Digital repatriation is becoming increasingly relevant as more cultural institutions make their collections available online.[5] This increased access is sometimes at odds with the desires of the originating culture, since it limits their ability to curate and define terms of access to their cultural materials.[6] Many cultural institutions are making efforts to involve communities in collection display and description. Recently, some cultural heritage institutions are also making the effort to return control and access of digital materials to original cultures.[7][8] This has led to the development of digital software and tools to help achieve these goals.[9]

  1. ^ "Digital Repatriation and Virtual Exhibition". Digital Partnerships with Indian Communities.
  2. ^ "Repatriation". National Museum of the American Indian.
  3. ^ Roy, Loriene; Christal, Mark (April 2002). "Digital Repatriation: Constructing a Culturally Responsive Virtual Museum Tour". 圖書館學與資訊科學 [Journal of Library and Information Science]. 28 (1): 14–18. OCLC 7180016890.
  4. ^ Wendland, Wend B (2009). "Seeking tangible benefits from linking culture, development and intellectual property". International Journal of Intangible Heritage. 4: 127–137. OCLC 1160232455.
  5. ^ Douglas, Susan; Hayes, Melanie (27 April 2019). "Giving Diligence Its Due: Accessing Digital Images in Indigenous Repatriation Efforts". Heritage. 2 (2): 1260–1273. doi:10.3390/heritage2020081.
  6. ^ Christen, Kimberly (April 2011). "Opening Archives: Respectful Repatriation". The American Archivist. 74 (1): 185–210. doi:10.17723/aarc.74.1.4233nv6nv6428521. hdl:2376/5704. JSTOR 23079006. S2CID 147056139.
  7. ^ "About". Sípnuuk.
  8. ^ "About". Passamaquoddy People.
  9. ^ Christen, Kimberly; Anderson, Jane (1 June 2019). "Toward slow archives". Archival Science. 19 (2): 87–116. doi:10.1007/s10502-019-09307-x. S2CID 195282691.