Search Results (4)

Herbaria remain the primary means of documenting plant life on earth, and the number of herbaria worldwide and the number of specimens they hold continues to grow. Digitization of herbarium specimens, though far from complete, has increased the discoverability of herbarium holdings and has increased the range of studies from which data from herbarium specimens can be used. The rather large number of herbaria about which no current information is available is a source of concern, as is herbarium consolidation and removal of herbaria to offsite storage facilities. Partnerships are key to the future health of herbaria. Benefits could accrue from the reimagining of the world’s herbaria as a global resource rather than a collection of independent, often competing institutions. Herbaria can extend the reach of their specimens by joining the nascent effort to link the species occurrence data they manage to other biological and environmental data sources to deepen our ability to understand the interrelationships of earth’s biota. To assure that data held by herbaria contribute to the range of conservation-related projects for which they are relevant, herbaria should embrace the tenets of Team Science and play a more proactive role in promoting their holdings for relevant research and conservation projects. Full article

National Cultural Heritage is the memorable synthesis of events and interactions within human society, and, at the same time, the imprint left by human civilization in relation to the irrational and impersonal dimensions of reality. The importance of this imprint is not only outlined by the role of landmarks or sources of history and civilization, but also by the fact that it has the power to support and strengthen society, crystallizing group, local, national, or global values. By placing themselves at the same cultural landmarks, the members of a society are aware that they are participating in their own history, and protecting the values of their own history as well as the continuity of these values, is, or should be, a priority that is as importance as continuing their own existence. Thus, the appearance of the first specialized institutions for the preservation and capitalization of cultural heritage and the development of auxiliary sciences in museology was a single step. In Romania, the conservation and restoration of cultural assets began 1975 and was initially carried out by a limited number of Zonal Laboratories, with almost every museum institution having a conservation and restoration department today. The evolution of this field in the last 20 years has been colossal, both from the point of view of the equipment and the inventory that enters the laboratories, but also from the point of view of how these specialists are professionally trained. More and more often, the words interdisciplinarity and archaeometry are used in the field of the conservation and restoration of national cultural heritage. What is certain is that hyperspecialized and high-performance devices appear every two minutes, and the field of cultural heritage cannot keep up with funding them. To this end, the interdisciplinarity of the team has led to colossal performances in terms of the conservation, restoration, and capitalization of mobile national cultural heritage and historical monuments. Full article

The connection with textiles is one of the oldest traditions in humanity, and in the historical scenario, textiles and clothing deal with material culture. Therefore, preservation is of the utmost importance to keep this important heritage. Packaging and protection of museological textiles is imperative due to the risks that these articles suffer, mainly concerning the attack of microorganisms that promote the acceleration of their degradation, and it is still necessary to create a proper packing material. In the present work we describe a bibliographic review about the museological scenario, focused on the packaging for preservation of textile articles, as well as the techniques usually used in preventive material conservation. Future perpsctives for the improvement in the conservation of museological textiles are also given. This research aims to produce a sustainable material based on polycaprolactone (PCL), with and without antimicrobial function by incorporating Lavandula luisieri essential oil (EO), in the form of a non-woven substrate for museological packaging. A comparison was made with the most frequently used materials, such as raw cotton and a non-woven polyester. The results demonstrated that both PCL and PCL + EO obtained a good characterization for museological application with good breaking strength and excellent whiteness index. In addition, PCL + EO showed a high bacterial reduction when compared with other protective materials frequently used in museums. Therefore, these findings emphasize the potential use of this material as an innovative protective antibacterial museological packaging solution, able to safeguard and preserve textile museum and clothing collections for longer and for future generations. Full article

The recording, documentation and promotion of local cultural heritage has been the subject of significant research from scientists from various fields such as architecture, anthropology, history, folklore, ethnomusicology, and museology. This paper argues that digital technologies could have a catalytic role concerning the operational part of a holistic–interdisciplinary approach to the maintenance of cultural heritage. Simultaneous and bidirectional recording, documentation and promotion of human histories, material elements of space, personal and collective memories, music, dance, singing and other performances, customs, traditions etc. has the effect of improving the understanding of each place and, therefore, contributing to the establishment of sustainable living conditions and environmental balance. At the same time, it facilitates the process of presenting the place’s local identity as well as its tangible and intangible cultural heritage. The paper proposes the design, the creation and the pilot operation of a glocal hybrid (physical and digital) participatory system for monitoring cultural heritage, which consists of (a) spatial recording and projection constructions (open micro-labs); (b) research and documentation centers; and (c) digital databases and mobile applications for interconnection and diffusion of digital content. The system’s implementation domain is considered to be “historic urban landscapes”, i.e., geographical areas with particular cultural features such as traditional settlements, monuments and historical centers, regarded as exceptional universal heritage. In particular, the project’s prime exemplary pilot setup is considered to be operated in specific Greek areas of cultural importance. Full article