About 2019’s Conference

Heritage Dot focuses on the ways in which heritage practitioners, professionals and researchers can work together in delivering innovative and effective digital cultural heritage

The inaugural Heritage Dot conference ‘Joining the Dots: Partnerships, Participation and Platforms’ took place on 3-4 June 2019.

Heritage Dot explores the exciting collision between the worlds of digital tools and technology and cultural heritage. This fusion is creating new relationships between past and future, tradition and innovation. It is enabling new audiences to reinterpret the past and technologies of the future to reimagine professional practice. At the same time, its continually evolving nature can be a confusing space, placing demands on people and organisations within a landscape of diminishing access to resources.

‘Joining the Dots’ proposed that partnerships are becoming ever more crucial to the success, and survival, of organisations and projects involved in the preservation of and access to cultural heritage in the digital age. As such, this first edition of the conference will explore how collaborations and the use of digital tools and technologies can be effectively employed to increase access to and participation in cultural heritage.

The conference recognises that those working in the sector often feel isolated or lacking in resources and expertise in their attempts to satisfy increasingly discerning, diverse and hard-to-reach audiences. Sometimes it is difficult to perceive what the added value of digital would, or could, be; how to define, manage and resource what is required; the opportunities, solutions and expertise available. Heritage Dot will bring together those in higher education and cultural heritage institutions to share ideas, practice and experience and to ‘join the dots’ to provide practical insights into and to move the debate forward about the role of digital in cultural heritage.

The conference therefore aimed to:

• Explore the ways in which practitioners, professionals and researchers can work in partnership across digital-cultural heritage terrains: more than ever, teamwork seems fundamental to success
• Share experiences and identify opportunities to develop confidence, skills and expertise that lead to greater participation by, and successful outcomes for, those involved in preserving, curating and using digital cultural heritage
• Identify key challenges and lessons learnt in delivering innovative and effective digital solutions and platforms that support access to cultural heritage

Heritage Dot takes a broad view of cultural heritage, from landscapes and the built environment to individual sites and collections across different media, including virtual representations. It encompasses intangible and tangible cultural heritage whether held by galleries, libraries, archives, museums or elsewhere.

Heritage Dot is an international conference focusing on digital cultural heritage and developed by the University of Lincoln. 2019’s edition was jointly hosted by University of Lincoln, the National Lottery Heritage Fund (NLHF) and the Imperial War Museums (IWM) and was supported by a number of heritage sector and academic partners.

• 2019’s Call for Participation (now closed)
• 2019’s Headline Contributors
• 2019’s Programme Highlights

Conference Organisation

The following people contributed to the preparation of 2019’s conference: