CONTENTS
ABSTRACT V
LIST OF FIGURES VII
LIST OF TABLES IX
CHAPTER 01 INTERPRETING DIGITAL HERITAGE 1
BACKGROUND 1
INTERPRETING DIGITAL HERITAGE: END-USERS' PERSPECTIVE 4
STATEMENT OF THE RESEARCH TOPIC 7
Research questions 9
Research objectives H
Research Hypothesis 11
SCOPE OF THE STUDY 12
SIGNIFICANCE OF THE RESEARCH 13
RESEARCH FRAMEWORK 14
DISSERTATION STRUCTURE 17
TERMINOLOGY / WORKING DEFINITIONS 19
CHAPTER 02 REVIEW: LITERATURE AND CASES 23
INTRODUCTION 23
HERITAGE INTERPRETATION 24
Introduction 24
Interpretation methods: A persuasive communication with visitors 28
Interpretive principles: A comparison 35
Heritage interpretation: Charters and guidelines 39
2.3 DIGITAL HERITAGE 41
Digital heritage: Definition and domains 41
Digital heritage, Interaction and End-users 49
Discursive re-construction: Collective construction of online history 52
Digital heritage : Some experiments and researches 56
2.4 INTERPRETATION AS CULTURAL SYNTHESIS: EMBODIMENT, LEARNING AND
DIALOGIC INTERACTION 62
Embodied interaction: Towards a meaningful context 62
Place and Sense of Place 65
Cultural heritage and visual literacy 67
From I to We : Cultural learning and meaning-making 70
Dialogic Interaction : The dialogical basis of understanding 73
2.5 DISCUSSION 76CHAPTER 03 CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK : SHIFTING THE
INTERPRETATION PARADIGM 82
INTRODUCTION 82
THINKING THROUGH THE GAP: EXIGENCIES AT MEDIA-CROSSROAD 83
Knowledge gap in practice 86
Knowledge gap in literature ; 90
SETTING THE OBJECTIVES FOR DIGITAL HERITAGE INTERPRETATION 92
THE PROPOSED CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK 93
THE INDICATORS : EVALUATING THE INTERPRETIVE PROCESS 105
DISCUSSION U0
CHAPTER 04 METHODOLOGY Ill
INTRODUCTION Ill
EXPERIMENT DESIGN 111
Treatment design 112
Population and sampling 113
Group design and group task 114
Experiment overview 115
4.3 EXPERIMENT VARIABLES AND QUESTIONNAIRE 120
Dependent variables 120
Independent variables 123
DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS METHOD 124
CONSTRAINTS AND SCOPE OF THE METHODOLOGY 125
CHAPTER 05 EXPERIMENT PLATFORM CONSTRUCTION 128
INTRODUCTION 128
DESIGN REQUIREMENTS 128
Functional requirement 128
Hardware requirements 130
Software requirements 130
Platform selection and benchmarking /32
SELECTION OF REAL-WORLD HERITAGE SITE 136
CONSTRUCTION PROCESS 137
Encoding and decoding process 137
Content development and validation 138
Web hosting, Developing and Setting the platform 138
5.5 DISCUSSION 148
CHAPTER 06 DATA ANALYSIS AND EVALUATION 150
6.1 INTRODUCTION 150
PARTICIPANTS' BIBLIOGRAPHICAL PROFILE 151
EVALUATING END-USERS' SATISFACTION 154
Expectation fulfilled. 154
Appreciation of visit 156
Pleasure achieved 157
6.4 EVALUATING END-USERS' PROVOCATION AND EMPATHY 158
Self-attitudinal changes 158
Greater interest on topic 159
6.5 EVALUATING LEARNING 160
Increase consolidate knowledge 161
Link to prior knowledge and experience /63
6.6 EVALUATING MULTIPLE PERSPECTIVES OF THE PAST 163
Fill in the blank. 164
Descriptive self-report on attaining new perspective 165
DIALOGIC INTERACTION AND END-USERS 171
DISCUSSION 173
CHAPTER 07 DIGITAL HERITAGE INTERPRETATION REVISITED 179
INTRODUCTION 179
CONTEXT AND RESEARCH POSITION 179
Research approach : Who, What and How 182
Linking with research questions 183
7.3 REFLECTION : CONVERGENCE AND FRAGMENTATION 189
End-users: From consumer to content producer 189
Planning of interpretation or salvation of technology 1 91
Discursive content: Knowledge base or garbage 192
Collective construction: From partial to bigger part of the mosaic 1 94
Connected minds and Voices of the oppressed 195
Public participation: Historic events vs. specific heritage site 198
7.4 DISCUSSION 200
CHAPTER 08 CONCLUSION 201
DIGITAL HERITAGE INTERPRETATION : CONSIDERATIONS 201
IMPLICATIONS 204
CONTRIBUTION 206
Contribution to theory 206
Contribution to practice 207
8.4 OPPORTUNITIES AND FUTURE DEVELOPMENT 209
REFERENCES 211
APPENDICES 225
Appendix A : List of web based heritage site visited 225
Appendix B : List of online digital heritage projects surveyed 231
Appendix C : Web 2.0 based digital heritage sites surveyed 236
Appendix D : Questionnaire 238
Appendix E : Introductory seminar for Group-A (16th August 2010) 245
Appendix F : Getting response from Group-A (23rd August 2010) 246
Appendix G : Introductory seminar for Group-B (dated 9th December 2010) 247
Appendix H : Getting response from Group-B (dated 16th December 2010) 248
Appendix I : Written content approved by Group-E (professionals) 249
Appendix J : The poster exhibited for the experiment platform 255
Appendix K : Comparison of 3D (or 3D like) model creation platforms 256
Appendix L : Location map of Sompur Mahavihara 257
Appendix M : Glimpse of Sompur Mahavihara 258
Appendix N : Frequency of visit at Sompur Mahavihara by respondents 260
Appendix O : Frequency of browsing of the experiment platform by respondents 261
Appendix P : ANOVA test result of question 9a, 9b, 9c and 9d 262
Appendix Q : ANOVA test result of question 10a, 10b and 10c 263
Appendix R : ANOVA test result of question 9e and 11 264
Appendix S : ANOVA test result of question 14a, 14b, 14c and 14d 265
Appendix T : ANOVA test result of question 14e 266
Appendix U : Chi-Square test result of question 16,17 and 18 267
Appendix V : ANOVA test result of question 20 268
Appendix W : Survey response on new purposes learnt by respondents 269
Appendix X : Descriptive self-response on question 26 by respondents 270
Appendix Y : Screenshots of'discussion forums' from bdheritage.info 276
Appendix Z : List of publications 283