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Monash University

FIT5204 Heritage informatics - Summer semester, 2015

Informatics, the science of information, plays an increasingly central role in the work museums, libraries and other cultural heritage institutions that act to preserve, study, and promote cultural heritage. Heritage informatics for the digital humanities brings a comprehensive, cross-disciplinary approach to the challenge of managing cultural information, from data capture to analysis and dissemination.

This course is designed to respond to emerging technologies that have transformed the ways cultural heritage data can be interpreted, managed and analysed. Students will learn about perceptions of heritage and the principles and best practices of the discipline. Then, through a study of key technological innovations (mobile data, digital mapping and storytelling, 3D and augmented reality) and case studies, students will gain insight into how to build applications and digital user experiences for a variety of cultural heritage contexts.

Mode of Delivery

Prato Summer semester A (Flexible)

Workload Requirements

Minimum total expected workload equals 144 hours per semester comprising:

  1. Contact hours for on-campus students:
    • Two hours lectures per week
    • Two hours laboratories per week
  1. Contact hours for block/flexible teaching at Prato:
    • 4 hours lectures per week for 6 weeks,
    • 2 hours seminars/tutorials per week for 6 weeks
    • 4 hours per week organised field trips and excursions for 3 weeks
  1. Study schedule for off-campus students:
    • Off-campus students generally do not attend lecture, tutorial and laboratory sessions, however should plan to spend equivalent time working through resources and participating in discussions.
  1. Additional requirements (all students):
    • A minimum of 8 hours (16 hours for block teaching at Prato) of personal study per week for completing lab/tutorial activities, assignments, private study and revision.

See also Unit timetable information

Additional workload requirements

Students will be expected to take part in organised field trips during their stay at Prato. 

Chief Examiner

Tom Chandler

Campus Lecturer

Clayton

Tom Denison (Prato) -tom.denison@monash.edu

Consultation hours: To be announced at unit commencement

Dora Constantinidis (via email) - dora.constantinidis@monash.edu

Consultation hours: To be announced at unit commencement

Your feedback to Us

Monash is committed to excellence in education and regularly seeks feedback from students, employers and staff. One of the key formal ways students have to provide feedback is through the Student Evaluation of Teaching and Units (SETU) survey. The University’s student evaluation policy requires that every unit is evaluated each year. Students are strongly encouraged to complete the surveys. The feedback is anonymous and provides the Faculty with evidence of aspects that students are satisfied and areas for improvement.

For more information on Monash’s educational strategy, see:

www.monash.edu.au/about/monash-directions/ and on student evaluations, see: www.policy.monash.edu/policy-bank/academic/education/quality/student-evaluation-policy.html

Previous Student Evaluations of this Unit

There are no previous Student Evaluations of this Unit.

 

If you wish to view how previous students rated this unit, please go to
https://emuapps.monash.edu.au/unitevaluations/index.jsp

Academic Overview

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, students should be able to:
  • critically evaluate established and emerging technologies and analyse their effectiveness in relation to heritage data management;
  • assess the impact of informatics on heritage data management;
  • develop methods to investigate case studies that have applied informatics for the capture, analysis and dissemination of heritage data;
  • identify key heritage issues that informatics can be used to illuminate, interpret and reveal;
  • evaluate scenarios that extend informatics to broader heritage research/studies;
  • identify the need to adapt informatics according to heritage data management, principles and best practice;
  • analyse how informatics applications and technologies can be used to interpret diverse heritage data contexts;
  • report on the most appropriate application of informatics for specific case studies
evaluate the relevant effectiveness and impact of informatics on heritage data.

Unit Schedule

Week Activities Assessment
0 Information session prior to departure for Prato No formal assessment or activities are undertaken in week 0
1 Heritage informatics: Communication, Interpretation and Preservation  
2 Best Practices and Analytics in an Emerging Discipline Evaluation of Software for Heritage professionals: GROUP Assignment (30%)
3 Overview of Technologies for Heritage Informatics  
4 Heritage Informatics on the Web Your Heritage Blog or Website: INDIVIDUAL Assignment (40%)
5 On-Line Discussion Forum: Overview of Emerging Technologies in Heritage Informatics  
6 On-Line Discussion Forum: Key Case studies in Heritage Informatics Evaluation of an existing Heritage Informatics project: INDIVIDUAL Assignment (30%)
7    
8    
9    
10    
11    
12    
    No formal assessment is undertaken during SWOT VAC
  Examination period LINK to Assessment Policy: http://policy.monash.edu.au/policy-bank/
academic/education/assessment/
assessment-in-coursework-policy.html

*Unit Schedule details will be maintained and communicated to you via your learning system.

Teaching Approach

Field trips
There will be several half day or full day field trips over the course of the unit in Prato, please check the unit's
Moodle Page for updates on dates, times and destinations 

Assessment Summary

In-semester assessment: 100%

Assessment Task Value Due Date
Evaluation of open source software for heritage professionals 30% (20% written component -1500 words, 10% presentation) Group Presentation (10%) in Seminar 4, week 2 = 3rd December. Written report (20%) by Friday at the end of week 2 = 4th December
Perceptions of Heritage: Blog or Website 40% (30% Website or Blog - 1500 words online and a 500 written report, 10% presentation) Presentation (10%) in Seminar 8, week 4 = 17th December. website/blog & Written report (30%) end of week 4 = 18th December
Heritage Informatics Project Evaluation 30% (10% for project identification and justification, 20% for project evaluation and recommendations for improvement). Written report (30%) by the end of week 6- exact date will be confirmed.

Assessment Requirements

Assessment Policy

Assessment Tasks

Participation

  • Assessment task 1
    Title:
    Evaluation of open source software for heritage professionals
    Description:
    Assignment 1 is a group assignment. Your group can consist of two or up to three students at the most. You will select from the list on Moodle or find by yourself appropriate [open source] software that can be used to either capture, analyse or share digital cultural heritage (tangible or intangible). You will prepare a brief demo to show the class how this software can be used for digital cultural heritage. If there are any already existing examples of how the software is currently used by a digital heritage project present this as well as suggest ways how this can be used for other digital cultural heritage projects for either tangible or intangible heritage. Further details will be provided and posted on Moodle.

    Assignment 1 addresses the following learning outcomes for the unit -
    critically evaluate established and emerging technologies and analyse their effectiveness in relation to heritage data management;
    assess the impact of informatics on heritage data management;
    identify key heritage issues that informatics can be used to illuminate, interpret and reveal;

    Weighting:
    30% (20% written component -1500 words, 10% presentation)
    Criteria for assessment:

    All students in the group will be given the same mark unless an adjustment is made by the lecturer based on feedback from the group. This assignment will assess how clearly you describe and how well you evaluate the software in the written report. The presentation assessment will be based on how well you organise the demo and the overall clarity of the presentation, reflecting group coherence and planning. Group presentations will take place in class on the due date stated below.

    Due date:
    Group Presentation (10%) in Seminar 4, week 2 = 3rd December. Written report (20%) by Friday at the end of week 2 = 4th December
    Remarks:
    If you find other software you wish to evaluate please confirm this with your lecturer before you commence this assignment.
  • Assessment task 2
    Title:
    Perceptions of Heritage: Blog or Website
    Description:
    Assignment 2 is designed to provide you with the practical experience of curating digital heritage and designing an engaging interface for its dissemination. There are two components to this assignment: 1. you will create a blog or website on a local heritage theme of your choice, and 2. a presentation of your blog/website to the class. The written report component (500 words) will be about how and why you decided to include the text and images/audio on your heritage theme.Further details will be provided and posted on Moodle.

    Assignment 2 addresses the following learning outcomes for the unit -
    develop methods to investigate case studies that have applied informatics for the capture, analysis and dissemination of heritage data;
    identify key heritage issues that informatics can be used to illuminate, interpret and reveal;
    evaluate scenarios that extend informatics to broader heritage research/studies;

    Weighting:
    40% (30% Website or Blog - 1500 words online and a 500 written report, 10% presentation)
    Criteria for assessment:

    The overall quality of the website/blog design will be assessed on how well you have curated, analysed and designed your digital heritage collection. In the 500 word report you will be assessed for original insights into the perception of this heritage theme, with links to other websites or historical, literary or travel writing references and your justification for the design.

    Assessment of the presentation will be based on how well you organise your slides and the overall clarity of the presentation that provides an explanation of your design decisions and background research on the heritage theme you select. The presentation will be assessed on the quality of the presentation and the delivery, the content selected for the presentation and its relevance.

    Due date:
    Presentation (10%) in Seminar 8, week 4 = 17th December. website/blog & Written report (30%) end of week 4 = 18th December
  • Assessment task 3
    Title:
    Heritage Informatics Project Evaluation
    Description:
    Assignment 3 requires you to identify an already existing cultural heritage project (for either tangible or intangible culture) and discuss your reasons for its selection. You will then evaluate this digital heritage project discussing how well it aligns with current best practices, analyse the appropriateness of the technology or technologies used (for data collection, analysis and presentation); what its digital curation practices are and how appropriate these are for the project; what is the impact for users, for example how accessible are the digital artefacts and by whom; and finally comment on its long term preservation strategies (if any).

    Based on your evaluation you will make recommendations for improvements to this project. Your discussion on the recommendations you make needs to clearly demonstrate how this project could benefit in any (or all) of the areas of its digital lifecycle: from collection to presentation and/or digital reconstruction and long term digital preservation. Further details will be provided and posted on Moodle.

    Assignment 3 addresses the following learning outcomes for the unit -
    identify the need to adapt informatics according to heritage data management, principles and best practice;
    analyse how informatics applications and technologies can be used to interpret diverse heritage data contexts;
    report on the most appropriate application of informatics for specific case studies
    Weighting:
    30% (10% for project identification and justification, 20% for project evaluation and recommendations for improvement).
    Criteria for assessment:

    You will be assessed on the quality of the research you conducted to identify and justify your selection of an appropriate digital heritage project. How well you analysed your selected heritage project in terms of its alignment with current best practices, and the technologies it uses for data collection, analysis and presentation will be assessed along with your recommendations for this project. Assessment will be based on your justification for how this project could benefit by the recommendations you make for it. You need to demonstrate an understanding of the reading material provided in this unit.

    Due date:
    Written report (30%) by the end of week 6- exact date will be confirmed.

Learning resources

Reading list

Here are some initial readings.

Journal of Digital Cultural Heritage research:

https://furnacejournal.wordpress.com/edition-one/issue-two/

The London Charter for Best Practices:

http://www.londoncharter.org/downloads.html

Examples of recent Heritage Informatics Journals and Conference proceedings:

http://www.4d-ch-world.eu/?cat=8

http://www.4d-ch-world.eu/?cat=6

Please note additional readings will be provided on Moodle, in the meantime please also see the prescribed text listed in this unit guide.

Monash Library Unit Reading List (if applicable to the unit)
http://readinglists.lib.monash.edu/index.html

Feedback to you

Types of feedback you can expect to receive in this unit are:

  • Informal feedback on progress in labs/tutes
  • Graded assignments with comments

Extensions and penalties

Returning assignments

Assignment submission

It is a University requirement (http://www.policy.monash.edu/policy-bank/academic/education/conduct/student-academic-integrity-managing-plagiarism-collusion-procedures.html) for students to submit an assignment coversheet for each assessment item. Faculty Assignment coversheets can be found at http://www.infotech.monash.edu.au/resources/student/forms/. Please check with your Lecturer on the submission method for your assignment coversheet (e.g. attach a file to the online assignment submission, hand-in a hard copy, or use an electronic submission). Please note that it is your responsibility to retain copies of your assessments.

Online submission

If Electronic Submission has been approved for your unit, please submit your work via the learning system for this unit, which you can access via links in the my.monash portal.

Prescribed text(s)

Limited copies of prescribed texts are available for you to borrow in the library.

Ian Ruthven and G. G. Chowdhury (eds). (2015). Cultural Heritage Information: Access and Management . (First) Facet Publishing (ISBN: 978-0-8389-1347-5).

Field trips

There are four field trips planned for this unit.

Examination material or equipment

No EXAM for this unit.

Other Information

Policies

Monash has educational policies, procedures and guidelines, which are designed to ensure that staff and students are aware of the University’s academic standards, and to provide advice on how they might uphold them. You can find Monash’s Education Policies at: www.policy.monash.edu.au/policy-bank/academic/education/index.html

Faculty resources and policies

Important student resources including Faculty policies are located at http://intranet.monash.edu.au/infotech/resources/students/

Graduate Attributes Policy

Student Charter

Student services

Monash University Library

Disability Liaison Unit

Students who have a disability or medical condition are welcome to contact the Disability Liaison Unit to discuss academic support services. Disability Liaison Officers (DLOs) visit all Victorian campuses on a regular basis.

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