Digital Repository as a Service (D-RaaS): Enhancing Access and Preservation of Cultural Heritage Artifacts

Abstract

The employment of technology and digitization is crucial for cultural organizations to establish and sustain digital repositories for their cultural heritage artifacts. This exploitation is also essential in facilitating the presentation of cultural works and exhibits to a broader audience. Consequently, in this work, we propose a custom-developed digital repository that functions as software-as-a-service (SaaS), primarily promoting the safe storage, display, and sharing of cultural materials; enhancing accessibility; and fostering a deeper understanding and appreciation of cultural heritage. The proposed digital repository service is designed as a multitenant architecture, which enables organizations to expand their reach, enhance accessibility, foster collaboration, and ensure the preservation of their content. Moreover, our technology stack incorporates robust and reliable backend technologies, such as Django, to ensure data security and efficient management. Meanwhile, the frontend is powered by Angular, which guarantees a user-friendly and engaging interface for exploring and interacting with cultural materials. Specifically, this project aims to assist each cultural institution in organizing its digital cultural assets into collections and feeding other digital platforms, including educational, museum, pedagogical, and games, through appropriate interfaces. The creation of this digital repository offers a cutting-edge and effective open-access laboratory solution. It allows organizations to have a significant influence on their audiences by fostering cultural understanding and appreciation. Additionally, it facilitates the connection between different digital repositories and national/European aggregators, promoting collaboration and information sharing. By embracing this innovative solution, cultural institutions can benefit from shared resources and features, such as system updates, backup and recovery services, and data analytics tools, attributes that are currently provided by the platform.