Collecting in the Twenty-First Century
From Museums to the Web
Contributions by Boris Groys, Professor Michael Knoche, Peter M. McIsaac, Professor Dr Nikolaus Wegmann, Clifford B. Anderson, Erin L. Thompson, Dr Jessica Walthew, Professor emeritus Rolf J. Goebel, Edward Dawson, Roberto Simanowski, Douglas C. Schmidt Edited by Professor Johannes Endres, Professor Christoph Zeller
Publication date:
13 May 2022Length of book:
242 pagesPublisher
Camden HouseDimensions:
228x152mmISBN-13: 9781800103399
An interdisciplinary volume of essays identifying the impact of technology on the age-old cultural practice of collecting as well as the opportunities and pitfalls of collecting in the digital era.
Seminal to the rise of human cultures, the practice of collecting is an expression of individual and societal self-understanding. Through collections, cultures learn and grow. The introduction of digital technology has accelerated this process and at the same time changed how, what, and why we collect. Ever-expanding storage capacities and the accumulation of unprecedented amounts of data are part of a highly complex information economy in which collecting has become even more important for the formation of the past, present, and future. Museums, libraries, and archives have adapted to the requirements of a digital environment, as has anyone who browses the internet and stores information on hard drives or cloud servers. In turn, companies follow the digital footprint we leave behind. Today, collecting includes not only physical objects but also the binary code that allows for their virtual representation on screen. Collecting in the Twenty-First Century identifies the impact of technology, both new and old, on the cultural practice of collecting as well as the challenges and opportunities of collecting in the digital era. Scholars from German Studies, Media Studies, Museum Studies, Sound Studies, Information Technology, and Art History as well as librarians and preservationists offer insights into the most recent developments in collecting practices.
Seminal to the rise of human cultures, the practice of collecting is an expression of individual and societal self-understanding. Through collections, cultures learn and grow. The introduction of digital technology has accelerated this process and at the same time changed how, what, and why we collect. Ever-expanding storage capacities and the accumulation of unprecedented amounts of data are part of a highly complex information economy in which collecting has become even more important for the formation of the past, present, and future. Museums, libraries, and archives have adapted to the requirements of a digital environment, as has anyone who browses the internet and stores information on hard drives or cloud servers. In turn, companies follow the digital footprint we leave behind. Today, collecting includes not only physical objects but also the binary code that allows for their virtual representation on screen. Collecting in the Twenty-First Century identifies the impact of technology, both new and old, on the cultural practice of collecting as well as the challenges and opportunities of collecting in the digital era. Scholars from German Studies, Media Studies, Museum Studies, Sound Studies, Information Technology, and Art History as well as librarians and preservationists offer insights into the most recent developments in collecting practices.
[T]he theoretical underpinnings, issues raised, and points made throughout the volume are useful beyond their immediate applications. They pose questions of access, data collection, ethics, and economics that will interest scholars of the history of collections, museum studies, digital humanities, library and information sciences, and related fields of literary theory and criticism and media studies.