Throughout the Netherlands there is a lot of attention for heritage in local history circles and small museums. 'Heritage plays a role in local identity, in feeling connected to the environment. “Connected by heritage“ is not only a reference to our collaboration, but is also about the role of heritage in a society where connection is badly needed,” explains Johan Oosterman (director Radboud Erfgoed).
That perspective on heritage also ties in with the Faro Convention, which the Netherlands signed early this year: in that treaty, people's relationship with heritage is central.
Training program and knowledge point
And more connections are being made, because 'Connected by Heritage' is not only about university heritage, says Odin Essers (curator of Special Collections Maastricht University). 'The activities we will undertake must also have added value outside our institutions. For example, we are working on training and knowledge development in the field of Linked Open Data (LOD). This is a way of making heritage digitally available that contributes to making source material findable, usable and sustainable. Too often you see that after a few years a website is no longer maintained or removed and everything that was on it can no longer be found. References from other websites also become dead ends. LOD is a way of sharing and linking data on the Internet and prevents you from being unable to find anything anymore in such cases. With LOD, in which we in Maastricht have already built up a pioneering role in the Netherlands, you avoid throwing the baby out with the bathwater.’
The ambition of this subproject of 'Connected by Heritage' is for Maastricht University and Radboud University to develop into a joint knowledge center, with a training offer and a questioning function.
