Affiliation:
1. Abu Dhabi University
2. University College London
3. Walk of Truth
Abstract
Abstract
Many modern cultural object collections suffer from the problem of being obtained in unethical and illegal circumstances. Additionally, information about collections, including their status, object descriptions, and other data need up-to-date information presented to users. We propose a novel blockchain tool called Salsal that enables the vetting of objects, individually or as part of more extensive collections, to meet required ethical and legal guidelines while informing users of relevant information about collections. Blockchain provides a better and more rapid way for users to know about collections using a decentralized and immutable ledger technology. We also believe that they can be used to incentivize or even pressure collections to vet their objects for ethical and legal guidelines that can benefit the public who use collections. The prototype software we have made is presented and compared to other blockchains, with code provided. We demonstrate how our blockchain can enable a useful vetting process for cultural objects, allowing a user community to contribute to this process in a transparent and secure manner.
Publisher
Research Square Platform LLC
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