Planning and Experimenting a Digitization Project for Small Cultural Institutes. The Case of the Ateneo Veneto Early-Printed Medicine Books

Abstract

The funds of the Next Generation EU Plan and the National Recovery and Resilience Plan allocated to promote the digital transformation of the cultural sector in Italy present a challenge to small-sized organizations. These tend to embrace a resourceful approach to compensate for their inherent weaknesses, especially the absence of state-of-the-art equipment, yet this adaptive approach may potentially lead to a diminution in the quality of their outputs. In searching for funding opportunities, they must surmount a labyrinth of structural impediments of economic, logistical, and HR dimensions. The thesis delves into the realm of cultural digitization planning, with a specific emphasis on small cultural institutes, using as an example a project promoted by the Ateneo Veneto in Venice, Italy. It proposes a meticulous examination of the requisite steps in digital project planning and underscores the pivotal decisions that these institutes must undertake. The dissertation comprises four chapters. The first one scrutinizes the features and objectives underpinning the digitization phenomenon. The second chapter deals with the best practices that pertain to small institutions embarking on digitization projects, elucidating the minimum standards prescribed by national guidelines. The third and fourth chapters are dedicated to the intricate processes entailed in the digitization and dissemination through a long-term repository of cultural artifacts, in particular early-printed books.