MUSEUMS IN TRANSFORMATION
integrating curatorship and digital humanities in impact assessment
Keywords:
Impact Assessment, Information Science, Digital Curation, MuseumsAbstract
Digital transformation has reconfigured museums as complex information ecosystems, exposing the shortcomings of traditional impact assessment metrics. This article analyses, from an Information Science perspective, six impact assessment approaches (Europeana Impact Playbook, ISO 16687:2025, CSIRO, SoPHIA, inDICEs, and MOI! Framework). Responding to the challenges identified in information lifecycle management and data analysis, the Impact Assessment Model with contributions from Digital Curation and Digital Humanities (MAI-CHD) is proposed. The model articulates Digital Curation principles with the analytical and participatory methods of Digital Humanities. The simulated application to two distinct museum profiles demonstrates the model's effectiveness in detecting strategic asymmetries between technological infrastructure and community engagement. It is concluded that this integration is essential to ensure informational sustainability, ethical governance, and the social relevance of memory institutions in the data age.
Downloads
References
BELFIORE, Eleonora; BENNETT, Oliver
2008 The Social impact of the arts: An intellectual history. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2008.
BOIANO, Stefania [et al.]
2024 Ethical AI and museums: Challenges and new directions. In Proceedings of EVA London 2024. [Em linha]. London: BCS Learning & Development, 2024, p. 18-25. [Consult. 12 jan. 2026]. Disponível em: https://doi.org/10.14236/ewic/EVA2024.4.
BOWKER, Geoffrey C.; STAR, Susan Leigh
1999 Sorting things out: Classification and its consequences. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 1999.
CARROLL, Stephanie Russo [et al.]
2020 The CARE principles for indigenous data governance. Data Science Journal. [Em linha]. 19 (2020) 43. [Consult. 12 jan. 2026]. Disponível em: https://doi.org/10.5334/dsj-2020-043.
CASWELL, Michelle; CIFOR, Marika
2016 From human rights to feminist ethics: Radical empathy in the archives. Archivaria. 81 (2016) 23-43.
COMMONWEALTH SCIENTIFIC AND INDUSTRIAL RESEARCH ORGANI-SATION
2024 Impact evaluation guide. [Em linha]. Camberra: Australia's National Science Agency, 2024. [Consult. 18 jan. 2026]. Disponível em: https://www.csiro.au/en/about/Corporate-governance/Ensuring-our-impact/Evaluating-our-impact.
CONSTANTOPOULOS, Panos [et al.]
2009 DCC&U: An extended digital curation lifecycle model. International Journal of Digital Curation. [Em linha]. 4:1 (2009). [Consult. 19 mar. 2025]. Disponível em: https://ijdc.net/index.php/ijdc/article/view/76.
DURANTI, Luciana
2001 The Long-term preservation of authentic electronic records. Archival Science. 1 (2001) 353-367.
EUROPEAN COMMISSION
2024 Commission Staff Working Document on Common European Data Spaces: Shaping Europe’s digital future. [Em linha]. Bruxelas: EC, 2024. [Consult. 8 jan. 2026]. Disponível em: https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/library/second-staff-working-document-data-spaces.
EUROPEANA FOUNDATION
2017-2022 Europeana Impact Playbook. [Em linha]. Haia: Europeana Foundation, 2017--2022. [Consult. 19 mar. 2025]. Disponível em: https://pro.europeana.eu/page/europeana-impact-playbook.
EUROPEANA FOUNDATION
2017 Europeana Impact Playbook: A common approach to impact assessment for cultural heritage. [Em linha]. Haia: Europeana Foundation, 2017. [Consult. 15 dez. 2024]. Disponível em: https://pro.europeana.eu/post/europeana-impact-playbook.
GORDON, Faith
2019 Book Review: Virginia Eubanks (2018) Automating Inequality: How High-Tech Tools Profile, Police, and Punish the Poor. Law, Technology and Humans. [Em linha]. 1 (2019) 162-164. [Consult. 12 jan. 2026]. Disponível em: https://doi.org/10.5204/lthj.v1i0.1386.
HAWKES, Jon
2001 The Fourth pillar of sustainability: Culture’s essential role in public planning. Melbourne: Common Ground; Cultural Development Network (Vic), 2001.
HIGGINS, Sarah
2018 Digital curation: The development of a discipline within information science. Journal of Documentation. [Em linha]. 74:6 (2018) 1.318-1.338. [Consult. 12 jan. 2026]. Disponível em: https://doi.org/10.1108/JD-02-2018-0024.
HOFFMAN, Kelly M.
2019 Review of Algorithms of oppression: How search engines reinforce racism, by S. U. Noble. The International Journal of Information, Diversity, & Inclusion. [Em linha]. 3:1 (2019) 138-140. [Consult. 10 jan. 2026]. Disponível em: https://www.jstor.org/stable/48644503.
INTERNATIONAL COUNCIL OF MUSEUMS
2022 Standing Committee for the Museum Definition - ICOM Define Final Report (2020-2022). [Em linha]. Praga: ICOM, 2022. [Consult. 15 dez. 2024]. Disponível em: https://icom.museum/en/resources/standards-guidelines/museum-definition/.
INTERNATIONAL COUNCIL OF MUSEUMS
2010 LIDO - Lightweight Information Describing Objects. [Em linha]. Paris: CIDOC, 2010. [Consult. 15 jan. 2026]. Disponível em: https://cidoc.mini.icom.museum/working-groups/lido/lido-overview/about-lido/what-is-lido/.
INTERNATIONAL ORGANISATION FOR STANDARDISATION
2025 ISO 14.721:2025: Space data and information transfer systems: Open archival information system (OAIS) reference model. [Em linha]. Genebra: ISO, 2025. [Consult. 15 jan. 2026]. Disponível em: https://www.iso.org/standard/87471.html.
INTERNATIONAL ORGANISATION FOR STANDARDISATION
2025 ISO 16.687:2025: Impact assessment for museums. [Em linha]. Genebra: ISO, 2025. [Consult. 15 jan. 2026]. Disponível em: https://www.iso.org/standard/84795.html.
LATHAM, Kiersten F.
2012 Museum object as document: Using Buckland’s information concepts to understand museum experiences. Journal of Documentation. [Em linha]. 68:1 (2012) 45-71. [Consult. 15 jan. 2026]. Disponível em: https://doi.org/10.1108/00220411211200329.
MAYNE, John
2012 Contribution analysis: Coming of age? Evaluation. [Em linha]. 18:3 (2012) 270-280. [Consult. 15 jan. 2026]. Disponível em: https://doi.org/10.1177/1356389012451663.
MCNEILLY, Nicole; MARCHINI, Caterina; STAEDTLER, Domenic
2024 Europeana Impact Playbook helps to develop recommendations for cultural heritage metadata. Europeana PRO. [Em linha]. (13 ago. 2024). [Consult. 19 mar. 2025]. Disponível em: https://pro.europeana.eu/post/europeana-impact-playbook-helps-to-develop-recommendations-for-cultural-heritage-metadata.
MURPHY, Oonagh; VILLAESPESA, Elena
2020 The Museums + AI network. [Em linha]. London: Goldsmiths, University of London; New York: Pratt Institute, 2020. [Consult. 18 mar. 2025]. Disponível em: https://themuseumsai.network/home/impact/.
NAVALE, Vivek; MCAULIFFE, Matthew
2018 Long-term preservation of biomedical research data. F1000Research. [Em linha]. 7 (2018) 1.353. [Consult. 15 jan. 2026]. Disponível em: https://doi.org/10.12688/f1000research.16015.1.
NETWORK OF EUROPEAN MUSEUM ORGANISATIONS
2019 MOI! Museums of Impact: Project Overview. [Em linha]. Berlim: NEMO, 2019. [Consult. 19 mar. 2025]. Disponível em: https://www.ne-mo.org/cooperation-funding/networking-cooperation/previous-projects/moi-museums-of-impact/.
NIKOLAOU, Polina
2024 Museums and the post-digital: Revisiting challenges in the digital transformation of museums. Heritage. [Em linha]. 7:3 (2024) 1.784-1.800. [Consult. 15 jan. 2026]. Disponível em: https://doi.org/10.3390/heritage7030084.
PASIKOWSKA-SCHNASS, Magdalena; LIM, Young-Shin
2023 Artificial intelligence in the context of cultural heritage and museums: Complex challenges and new opportunities. [Em linha]. Brussels: European Parliament, 2023. [Consult. 20 mar. 2025]. Disponível em: https://www.europarl.europa.eu/thinktank/en/document/EPRS_BRI(2023)747120.
PASQUALE, Frank
2016 The Black box society: The secret algorithms that control money and information. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2016.
PENDERGRASS, Keith L. [et al.]
2019 Toward environmentally sustainable digital preservation. The American Archivist. [Em linha]. 82:1 (2019) 165-206. [Consult. 15 jan. 2026]. Disponível em: https://doi.org/10.17723/0360-9081-82.1.165.
PIMENTEL, Filipa Alexandra Santos; GOMES, Liliana Isabel Esteves
2025 Perceção do impacto, na comunidade das Beiras e Serra da Estrela, do projeto de parceria de ciência cidadã “Abeirar”. Páginas a&b: arquivos e bibliotecas. [Em linha]. 3ª série, nº especial VII WPGCI (2025) 91-105. [Consult. 15 jan. 2026]. Disponível em: https://doi.org/10.21747/21836671/pagesp2025a6.
RHEE, Hea Lim
2024 A New lifecycle model enabling optimal digital curation. Journal of Librarianship and Information Science. [Em linha]. 56:1 (2024) 241-266. [Consult. 15 jan. 2026]. Disponível em: https://doi.org/10.1177/09610006221125956.
RIBEIRO, Fernanda
2010 Da mediação passiva à mediação pós-custodial: o papel da Ciência da Informação na sociedade em rede. Informação & Sociedade: estudos. [Em linha]. 20:1 (jan.-abr. 2010) 63-70. [Consult. 15 jan. 2026]. Disponível em: http://www.ies.ufpb.br/ojs2/index.php/ies/issue/view/450.
ROBBINS, Nina [et al.]
2021 Museum studies: Bridging theory and practice. Jyväskylä: ICOFOM; Open Science Centre, 2021.
ROGERS, Patricia
2014 Theory of change: Methodological briefs: Impact evaluation 2. Florence: UNICEF Office of Research, 2014.
ROLLO, Maria Fernanda
2020. Challenges and responsibilities of digital humanities: Preserving memory, valuing heritage, promoting and disseminating knowledge: The Memory For All program. Estudos Históricos. [Em linha]. 33 (2020) 19-44. [Consult. 15 jan. 2026]. Disponível em: https://doi.org/10.1590/S2178-149420200001000003.
ROQUE, Maria Isabel [et al.]
2024 Transforming museum management through ICT adoption: an analysis of the Portuguese context during the COVID-19 pandemic. Journal of Heritage Tourism. [Em linha]. 19:5 (2024) 730-747. [Consult. 15 jan. 2026]. Disponível em: https://doi.org/10.1080/1743873X.2024.2331239.
ROWLEY, Jennifer
2007 The Wisdom hierarchy: representations of the DIKW hierarchy. Journal of Information Science. [Em linha]. 33:2 (2007) 163-180. [Consult. 15 jan. 2026]. Disponível em: https://doi.org/10.1177/0165551506070706.
SANTOS, Catarina Gonçalves Azevedo; CORUJO, Luís
2025 A Representação de “objetos” em arquivo: o caso do arquivo fotográfico. Páginas a&b: arquivos e bibliotecas. [Em linha]. 3ª série, nº especial VII WPGCI (2025) 106--126. [Consult. 15 jan. 2026]. Disponível em: https://doi.org/10.21747/21836671/pagesp2025a7.
SCHWARTZ, Joan M.; COOK, Terry
2002 Archives, records, and power: The making of modern memory. Archival Science. [Em linha]. 2 (2002) 1-19. [Consult. 15 jan. 2026]. Disponível em: https://doi.org/10.1023/a:1020826710510.
SOPHIA CONSORTIUM
2021 Social Platform for Heritage Impact Assessment (SoPHIA): Deliverable D2.3: Final version of the SoPHIA Impact Assessment Model. [S. l.]: Educult; SoPHIA Consortium, 2021.
SOUZA, Gabriela de Oliveira; JORENTE, Maria José Vicentini
2025 Folksonomia em serviços de informação: um recurso colaborativo para ambientes dígito-virtuais. Páginas a&b: arquivos e bibliotecas. [Em linha]. 3ª série, nº especial VII WPGCI (2025) 194-208. [Consult. 15 jan. 2026]. Disponível em: https://doi.org/10.21747/21836671/pagesp2025a12.
TANNER, Simon
2012 Measuring the impact of digital resources: The balanced value impact model. [Em linha]. London: King’s College London, 2012. [Consult. 15 dez. 2024]. Disponível em: https://kclpure.kcl.ac.uk/portal/en/publications/measuring-the-impact-of-digital-resources-the-balanced-value-impa.
TANSEY, Eira
2024 Environmental impact and digital preservation. [Em linha]. Glasgow: Digital Preservation Coalition, 2024. [Consult. 19 jul. 2025]. Disponível em: https://doi.org/10.7207/twgn24-01.
TARTARI, Maria [et al.]
2023 inDICEs change impact assessment framework: Measuring the impact of digital culture. [Em linha]. Brussels: Culture Action Europe, 2023. [Consult. 5 jul. 2024]. Disponível em: https://cultureactioneurope.org/knowledge/indices-change-impact-assessment-framework-measuring-the-impact-of-digital-culture/.
UCLG COMMITTEE ON CULTURE
2010 Culture, the fourth pillar of sustainability. In Culture 21. [Em linha]. 2010. [Consult. 24 mar. 2025]. Disponível em: https://www.agenda21culture.net/documents/culture-fourth-pillar-sustainability.
UZELAC, Aleksandra; HIGGINS, Barbara Lovrinić
2025 From data to impact: Assessing the value of cultural heritage in the digital age. Heritage. [Em linha]. 8:4 (2025) 117. [Consult. 15 jan. 2026]. Disponível em: https://doi.org/10.3390/heritage8040117.
VAN ES, Karin; SCHÄFER, Mirko Tobias
2017 Introduction: New brave world. In The Datafied society: Studying culture through data. Ed. Karin van Es, Mirko Tobias Schäfer. [Em linha]. Amesterdam: Amsterdam University Press, 2017, p. 13-22. [Consult. 15 jan. 2026]. Disponível em: https://doi.org/10.1515/9789048531011-003.
VASILEVA, Saiyyna; MCNEILLY, Nicole
2024 Measuring the instances and value of digital cultural heritage reuse. [Em linha]. Haia: Europeana Foundation, 2024. [Consult. 15 dez. 2024]. Disponível em: https://pro.europeana.eu/post/measuring-the-impact-of-reuse-of-digital-heritage.
WENDHAUSEN, Maria Eduarda Vieira
2025 Revolution or risk?: Exploring AI’s role in enhancing museum visitor experience. Journal of Science and Technology of the Arts. [Em linha]. 17:1 (2025) 122-135. [Consult. 15 jan. 2026]. Disponível em: https://doi.org/10.34632/jsta.2025.17586.
WHITAKER, Amy
2019 Art and blockchain: A primer, history, and taxonomy of blockchain use cases in the arts. Artivate: A Journal of Enterprise in the Arts. [Em linha]. 8:2 (2019) 21-47. [Consult. 15 jan. 2026]. Disponível em: https://doi.org/10.34053/artivate.8.2.2.
WOLLENTZ, Gustav
2023 Increasing future awareness in the cultural heritage sector using the SoPHIA model. [Em linha]. Kalmar: Linnaeus University, 2023. [Consult. 15 jan. 2026]. Disponível em: https://doi.org/10.15626/fkh.kv.2023.01.
WOUTERS, Paul
2017 Bridging the evaluation gap. Engaging Science, Technology, and Society. [Em linha]. 3 (2017) 108. [Consult. 15 jan. 2026]. Disponível em: https://doi.org/10.17351/ests2017.115.
YAMANE, Gabriela Aparecida da Cunha; CASTRO, Fabiano Ferreira de
2025 Linked data em bibliotecas digitais: uma revisão sistemática da literatura sobre a descrição de materiais raros. Páginas a&b: arquivos e bibliotecas. [Em linha]. 3ª série, nº especial VII WPGCI (2025) 24-33. [Consult. 15 jan. 2026]. Disponível em: https://doi.org/10.21747/21836671/pagesp2025a2.
ZUBOFF, Shoshana
2019 The Age of surveillance capitalism: the fight for a human future at the new frontier of power. New York: PublicAffairs, 2019.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Páginas a&b
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Authors are authorised to sign additional contracts separately for non-exclusive distribution of the version of the work published in this journal (e.g. publication in an institutional repository or as a book chapter), with acknowledgement of authorship and initial publication in this journal.
