Heritage in a digital world : Algorithms, data, and future value generation

Chiara ZuanniThis paper aims to examine the values of born-digital heritage. It focuses on the impact on museum and heritage practices of digital data as consti-tuting heritage objects. Digital technologies are now deeply entangled with human communication and social relations. If heritage is socially con-structed in the interactions between humans and objects and places, how do the algorithms that shape human experiences of it affect the production of heritage values? The characteristics of each online platform, from web-sites to social networking sites, influence the way heritage is construct-ed, discussed, and valued in online interactions. This paper will therefore first unpack the construction of heritage knowledge in the digital sphere, by analysing – with the support of posthumanist approaches – the entan-glement of human and technological processes that shape the production of contemporary heritage. Secondly, the paper will explore how big data and algorithms challenge boundaries in the heritage field, such as those between representation and simulation. The paper will question the role of these non-human actors in shaping contemporary heritage production and values. Finally, the paper will discuss how born-digital heritage is ar-chived, analysed, preserved, retrieved and represented in digital collecting projects. The paper will argue that these interactions have consequences both on the production of new social values in relation to heritage arte-facts and on the construction of new 21st century heritage. By exploring the application of posthumanism to digital heritage, this paper will consider emerging borders within cultural and digital heritage, and how heritage values and practices are affected by these developments.