Geoinformatics and Crowdsourcing in Cultural Heritage: A Tool for Managing Historical Archives

• Published in: AGRIS on-line Papers in Economics and Informatics Vol. 10; no. 2; pp. 73 - 83
• Main Authors: Paclíková, Klára, Weinfurtner, Anne, Vohnoutová, Marta, Dorner, Wolfgang, Fesl, Jan, Preusz, Michal, Dostálek, Libor, Horníčková, Kateřina
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Prague Faculty of Economics and Management CULS Prague 01.06.2018
• Subjects: 19th century; Agricultural economics; Agricultural production; Archaeology; Archives & records; Construction; Crowdsourcing; Cultural heritage; Cultural resources; Data processing; Digital archives; Digitization; Documentation; Historic artifacts; Historic sites; Informatics; Land use; Landscape; Library collections; Library of Congress Subject Headings; Metadata; Museums; Public interest; Reforestation; Web 2.0; Czech Republic
• ISSN: 1804-1930; 1804-1930
• DOI: 10.7160/aol.2018.100207

Archives of historical photographs have a great potential for "geo- or spatial sciences", for they can provide highly relevant visual data on historical landscapes, populated places and settlement structures, including those now destroyed. Processing of these archives represents many challenges, among them the application of geoinformatic concepts and information technologies. The article presents the example of geo-referencing, crowdsourcing, and other computer-based technologies applied to the archival photographs of today-destroyed sites on the Czech - Bavarian border, where many villages, farm sites and monuments were destroyed in the 1950s or abandoned as a consequence of post-WWII development. In the situation of dramatically changing landscape and land use, historical photographs are an important source of documentation for both research and virtual reconstruction of disappeared places, landscape, and society.