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Latest revision as of 22:03, 31 July 2017

Data-based Heritage Interpretation: An Ontology Design for Interpretive Information of Korean Cultural Heritages

by Lyndsey TWINING

This thesis delves into the question of how we might maximize the potential of heritage interpretation in the digital age. It does so by looking at the way heritage interpretation is currently approached in Korea and suggesting a to-be model which may better accomplish the objectives of heritage interpretation. More specifically, the thesis presents five ideals of heritage interpretation which are based on a wide review of prior scholarship on the topic, evaluates the status of Korean cultural heritage interpretive content based on these five ideals, considers how these ideals can be approached from a data-based perspective, presents a ontology which addresses the current weaknesses and limitations of Korean cultural heritage interpretive resources while making use of the potential of digital technology to better accomplish the objectives of heritage interpretation, and demonstrates examples of such a data-based approach by implementing the ontology in a labeled property graph.

Over the years, many experts have proposed definitions and principles for heritage interpretation. However, since the turn of the century, the understanding of heritage interpretation has shifted from that of a of top-down, expert-led education of the masses, to an ever-negotiated process of participatory meaning-making by a wide variety of diverse and variously motivated stakeholders. Concurrently, computers and the Internet have changed the expectations of and possibilities for heritage interpretation. When these developments are considered, existing definitions and principles prove too narrow in scope as a tool for judging the success of heritage interpretation. Therefore, a broader way to evaluate interpretive resources long into the future needed to be developed. Thus, five ideals which heritage interpretation should strive to embody were distilled from the existing literature: clear/accurate, personal/tailored, contextualized/holistic, facilitates engagement, and sustainable/innovative.

Heritage interpretation plays a large role in South Korea, which has a massive corpus of over 13,000 cultural heritages designated or registered by the Cultural Heritage Administration (CHA) or with UNESCO. The CHA provides interpretations of its heritages in many forms, including interpretive texts on physical information panels and online, guided tours, mobile apps, and experiential events. However, the quality of the interpretations and their translations have been under fire in the past. Prior research has pointed to these flaws, but almost none have suggested a better methodological approach. Therefore, to better understand the true nature of the problems of current Korean cultural heritage interpretations, the following were surveyed and evaluated based on the five interpretive ideals: the currently available interpretive resources, the process of composing and translating interpretive texts, and the content of interpretive texts. The evaluation shows that the current method and form of interpretation provided by the CHA leaves much to be desired across all ideals.

While there are many potential ways to address such weaknesses, a data-based approach to heritage interpretation not only provides solutions to current problems, but also adds additional functionality which brings heritage interpretation closer to fulfilling the ideals of heritage interpretation. Databases facilitate the separation of content and medium which is not possible with old media or other digital technology. This means that rather than storing information about heritages in the form of expository texts about each individual heritage, the various elements which make up a heritage’s greater context, i.e. people, places, concepts, events, etc., their relationships to the heritage, and their relationships to one another can be stored in the form of linked data which can be presented via a variety of interfaces. This allows for more efficient and improvable information compilation and a level of personalization and engagement which is just not possible with current, old media practices.

To generate examples of how such an approach to interpretation may work in practice, an ontology was designed which is suitable for a labeled property graph. The ontology was based on a review of the content of interpretive texts relating to on-site heritages and prior cultural heritage-related data model and ontology case studies. The ontology design strategy keeps in mind the five interpretive ideals, the limitations of current Korean cultural heritage interpretation, and the potential future applications of the data in interpretive resources. Such strategies include favoring the use of relationships rather than node properties whenever possible to lessen translation and explanation redundancy while improving search and analysis functions, including measures for transparency of sources and contributors, as well as facilitating connections to further reading, media, and engagement opportunities, among others. Finally, using the ontology proposed in the thesis, various examples are presented which demonstrate how data-based heritage interpretation can address the current weaknesses and limitations of Korean cultural heritage interpretative content while also capitalizing on the potential of the digital age to better realized the ideals of heritage interpretation.

• Keywords: heritage interpretation, cultural heritage, Korean cultural heritage, Korean studies, ontology, digital humanities, translation, labeled property graph