The Milan branch of the Institute of Heritage Science (CNR-ISPC) leads the development of the Heritage Science Ontology, fostering a more structured and interoperable approach to Heritage Science research. To achieve this goal, the team has undertaken a series of initiatives to ensure the efficient management of the ontology development process.
As an initial step, a systematic survey was conducted to analyze existing semantic artifacts in the field of Heritage. This assessment aimed to identify subdomains that have already received significant community attention, as well as those that remain underrepresented. Additionally, the survey highlighted critical challenges faced by the development community in creating and maintaining semantic artifacts.
H-SeTIS: Survey of semantic resources for the Heritage domain#
As part of the development strategy, the first step involved surveying existing semantic and interoperable tools within the Heritage domain. The primary outcome of this effort is the Heritage – Semantic Tools and Interoperability Survey (H-SeTIS) Database, an extensive catalog of semantic and interoperable resources in the Heritage field.
Launched in September 2024, H-SeTIS serves as a structured repository that organizes and documents five key resource types: ontologies, metadata standards, thesauri, application profiles, and software. Direct engagement with the authors of these resources ensures the evaluation of their level of maintenance and responsiveness. This approach aims to provide an up-to-date, comprehensive list of tools that comply with FAIR principles and interoperability guidelines, supporting the Heritage domain with reliable and well-documented semantic resources.
‹H/SORT›#
The Heritage Science Ontology RoundTable (‹H/SORT›) is a collaborative platform focused on exploring and defining the conceptual foundations of Heritage and the broader Heritage Science domain. Serving as a central hub, it supports knowledge exchange, fosters discussions, and shares working documents and ongoing developments related to the working group’s initiatives. Researchers and stakeholders dedicated to advancing structured knowledge representation in Heritage Science are encouraged to participate.
If you have suggestions, questions, or feedback regarding ‹H/SORT›’s activities, please open an issue on the GitLab repository.
An ontology for the Heritage Science domain
To cite ‹H/SORT›, use:
Scarpa, Erica, and Valente, Riccardo (2025). Heritage Science Ontology RoundTable (1.0.0). Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15166624
DOIs for individual posts can be found on their respective pages.
Data Stewardship and Good Practices#
The second objective is to develop a common set of guidelines and best practices for the use and development of semantic tools, as well as the implementation of FAIR-interoperable strategies in the Heritage domain. Analysis of the H-SeTIS database data reveals inconsistencies in adherence to established best practices and standards. We are currently preparing a preliminary document, which will serve as a foundation for discussions during the RoundTable.
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