Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
Open Source Tools, Landscape and Cartography:
Studies on the Cultural Heritage
at a Territorial Scale
Pilar Chias and Tomas Abad
Additional information is available at the end of the chapter
http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/48211
1. Introduction
The Task Group 2 “Open Source in use for the cultural heritage communication process" [1]
is hosted by CIPA, the International Committee for Architectural Photogrammetry, one of
the international committees of ICOMOS (International Council on Monuments and Sites).
The main targets of the Task Group are related to the study and dissemination of the
Cultural Heritage, considered from a wide perspective according to UNESCO's definition
[2], and the current EU legal framework.
This scope includes “the entire corpus of material signs -either artistic or symbolic- handed
on by the past to each culture and, therefore, to the whole of humankind” [3]. Thus, Cultural
Heritage consists of more than
monuments
(architectural works, sculpture and painting
elements, archaeological structures, ancient books, manuscripts, maps and charts), but of
groups of buildings
(historical towns, industrial heritage, historical infrastructures), and
sites
(cultural landscapes, natural values). Physical artifacts and intangible attributes inherited
from past generations must be maintained for the future generations, and accordingly, their
knowledge must be widely disseminated.
Due to the different particular types of cultural objects, different approaches, tools and
techniques must be developed to get an accurate knowledge of them. Aspects and
disciplines concomitant with the preservation and conservation of tangible and intangible
culture include archival science, art and architectural conservation, audio recording, digital
data collection, storage and management, and architectural, urban and landscape drawing,
among others. From a multidisciplinary approach, the Task Group 2 aims to develop an
intensive promotion of Open Source software as free alternate tools for all researches on
Cultural Heritage, which are useful in every stage involved in the processes of knowledge,
documentation, management, and dissemination of cultural heritage.
