Ari Häyrinen
Architecture of interpretation
Developing tools for culture historical documentation and reconstruction
The aim of our project is to develop new kind of documentation method for culture historical reconstruction. The area of Seminaarinmäki is used as a test case for the documentation model. We gather new information about area by modelling its buildings and storing metadata to the database. In order to achieve this, there must be a method for storing a great variety of different kind of information in the same system.
The problem is that information databases used in culture historical organisations are very limited in this sense and they doesn't provide any support for research or group work. The second problem is that traditional database design makes databases that are suitable for saving exact data. But when we have information that is not exact, it is difficult the place it in the system.
The starting point of database design assumes that information can be divided to smaller pieces without affecting the meaning of the information. However, culture historical material receives its meaning by combining different kind of information. Because this combination is unpredictable due the great variety of the source material, is is not possible the define the structure of the database that could store all possible combinations without affecting the meaning of the stored information.
The second assumption in database design is that information is valid through out the material. That is not case in culture historical documentation and especially it is not true in reconstruction. There can be controversial issues, several interpretations and uncertainties in documentation process and even more in reconstruction process. There must be a method for storing these uncertainties or alternative interpretations in the system.
By combining database approach with hyper linking where objects in the database can be joined freely to any other database objects, it is possible develop tool that supports group work and and that has room for interpretations and that tolerates contradictions. With guided hyperlinking it is possible to define the basic structure for the information. Everything beyond that can be added with free hyper links.
We also examine of using open-source software throughout every stage in our reconstruction process. Software development and 3D-modelling is made with free, open source software. That guarantees that methods and tools for similar process are available to anyone. The software developed in the project will be released under free GPL-license.
