Digital Research in the Arts and Humanities

In the past twenty years, digital technology has had a radical impact on all the associated disciplines that constitute the visual arts. Initially only of use for cataloguing and description of visual materials, as processing power, screen technology and algorithmic techniques have advanced, the visual presentation of artifacts in digital form has caused dramatic changes. This is profound and sometimes disquieting, and requires that the disciplines re-examine some of their fundamental assumptions.The current volume is conceptualized as an expert study of the impact on, and advances made possible, in art history (and associated disciplines) by the application of advanced ICT methods, and will encompass an analysis of the application of the most advanced and significant tools and technologies, from the ongoing development of the Semantic Web to 3D visualization. It will focus on the study of art in the various contexts of cultural heritage collections, digital repositories and archives. This volume will demonstrate the research developments engendered via technical advances within the academic art history community and broader visual culture community.As well as showing the current state of the art in the application of advanced methods in the field, the volume will encompass the potential of the continuing development of such methods. A critical approach, refining and consolidating findings and developing new questions, will be a particular feature of the introductory and concluding chapters that will frame the volume. Collectively the chapters will detail the impact of advanced ICT methods in art history and associated disciplines, from technical, methodological and philosophical perspectives, projecting supported theories for the future of scholarship in this field in the digital age. In essence, the volume offers a statement of where we are now, and attempts to set the groundwork for what may come next.