Many digital collections lie underused if not used at all in the repositories of Sapienza University. These collections are mostly the result of research activities and therefore they are characterized by variety. Such a variety makes it very difficult to consider these sources as a whole and hinders their integration into a common system. This project aims to develop a mockup environment for managing and accessing the present and future digital collections at Sapienza University. Such an environment will be both a framework of policies, guidelines, standards and rules for managing the process; and a system for managing the digital objects. The former will support the creation of digital objects according to a set of shared directives, the latter will provide the digital representation and documentation of the cultural heritage. In other words, the environment we aim to create is not just an application: it is rather the combination of the technical dimension together with the procedural and operational dimension.
Digitization is more than just scanning a physical object, it is rather a migration of an object from physical to digital environment, which means transforming the object according to a set of predefined rules. Once the objects are ingested into the system, the platform can be used as a tool for research: users will not need to go in and out from different information silos, they will move smoothly from one collection to another, from one format to another, across objects and subject areas. In addition, managing different collections in a common framework will allow for planning long term preservation: all digital collections along with the applications needed to access them will be obsolete soon, so a common strategy is needed to face obsolescence. To this aim the platform will integrate a workflow for guaranteeing the sustainability of the long term preservation and the reusability of digital research objects for the next generations of scholars.
The mockup system that will be created aims to provide not only an environment for managing (i.e., accessioning, indexing, storing, etc.) and preserving the digital data resulting from the research activities carried out at Sapienza University, but also a set of tools that on the one hand will allow the searchability of the contents stored into the digital archiving structure, on the other hand will give the possibility of performing queries through database APIs or database hierarchies, granting direct access in a scalable way to a set of collections that would be otherwise confined into their silos. The mockup system will look like a digital repository, but it will provide an aggregator functionality that will make it work as a sort of middleware system, capable of interpreting and redirecting requests for consultation and use. The hybrid nature of such solution guarantees a high degree of scalability and adaptability to both existing and future digital collections, which can be easily inserted at any time after the implementation of the system: the number of items in the system can be increased at any time, no matter of the medium, format, typology, provenance and any other feature as long as it is consistent with the criteria and rules established in the design phase. The infrastructure will be designed to respond to Web services so that it can be easily queried by external systems through protocols for mobile and web-based applications. In addition, a network monitoring system will be set up to ensure that the performance of the IT platform is not slowed by the growth of data traffic, otherwise any service offered through the system will deteriorate causing a decrease in the number of users.
The costs and benefits of Linked Open Data (LOD) will be investigated in order to possibly adopt such a paradigm and adhere to the logics and architecture of the Semantic Web. Such an approach would enhance the role of the system as a mediator between the digital collections and a broad community of users, projecting the collections outwards and linking them to large aggregators such as ICCD's Catalogo Generale dei Beni Culturali, so increasing the visibility and the impact of the University's collections outside their native environment.
The adoption of the IIIF standards (International Image Interoperability Framework) will further improve interoperability, between both internal and external systems. The IIIF standards will guarantee not only the possibility of comparing images and photographs stored into different systems, but also the capability of performing more complex actions, such as recomposition of the documentary context disseminated and preserved in different repositories.
The system will offer an innovative feature, that is, it will be capable of managing, displaying and allowing the manipulation of three-dimensional elements, whether they are single or complex objects (e.g., archaeological objects taken with advanced survey technologies such as laser scanning). This possibility is made concrete by the existing collaboration between the DigiLab Interdepartmental Research Center and CNR ISPC (Istituto di scienze del patrimonio culturale), which is leading to the development of a tool that can guarantee a high usability of 3D elements.
The ADA project aims to provide a tool that responds to the challenge of the Third Mission, combining the traditional missions of training and research with the goal of spreading knowledge among the scientific community and citizens, as well as designing and providing a set of tools for enhanced sharing with institutional, academic, economic and territorial stakeholders. To this aim, the project will adopt a SaaS (Software as a Service) approach, that is, a peculiar model of distribution of functionalities to the other project partners and stakeholders as identified: for example, services may be offered by the system through GIS (Geographical Information System) functionalities thanks to the geolocation of the projects and their territorial impact (e.g., their presence in certain sectors), hence strengthening the points of access to information in the territory. Thanks to the GIS platform, it will be possible to carry out research not only thematically but also geographically, immediately identifying all the resources connected to a territory or a specific location: this would be a valuable tool for planning activities focused on the promotion of the territory and the involvement of communities. It also would foster knowledge of the different communities' cultural heritage, and would allow for a systematic and efficient management of the outcomes resulting from research carried out within the academic community.
The GIS and 3D functions can be combined to create displays of digital elements placed within a virtual space, possibly immersive, or arranged along territorial paths and accessible through the use of sensors or augmented reality tools.