NEEDS FOR DIGITAL RECORDING AND DOCUMENTATION OF ECCLESIASTICAL CULTURAL TREASURES IN MONASTERIES AND TEMPLES

The primary motivation behind the NARRATE project stems from the need for the proper and scientifically documented recording of Cultural Heritage (CH), including both movable and immovable monuments of ecclesiastical cultural treasures. This project specifically focused on the systematic, organized, and well-planned documentation of ecclesiastical CH monuments, as well as the efficient organization and management of the resulting digital archive. To achieve this, we codified the recording and documentation requirements for ecclesiastical cultural treasures through a systematic study of users' needs. The study covered areas in Greece, Turkey, and Bulgaria. By designing and implementing surveys and metadata collection, this project facilitates digital transformation across the interconnected fields of religion, arts, and CH. Stakeholders from diverse backgrounds—both within and outside the clergy community—including owners and end-users of ecclesiastical cultural treasures, were actively involved in the process. The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the importance of establishing remote communication channels and advancing digital transformation.

Through NARRATE we wanted to: - Engage stakeholders from diverse backgrounds, including theologians, conservators, priests, and monks, to gather their perspectives on the needs and priorities of ecclesiastical CH documentation, through a User-Centered Survey Design methodology across both EU and non-EU Member States, including Greece, Bulgaria, and Turkey, to gain valuable insights. This methodology allowed to triangulate requirements, combining literature-based and empirical knowledge to understand how, when, and why technologies and needs successfully converge in the digital documentation of ecclesiastical cultural treasures. - Design a data model and reference ontologies to describe ecclesiastical cultural treasures, facilitating the cataloging and sharing of relevant datasets across different systems and users within the ecclesiastical domain. - Develop and implement an ecclesiastical-centered data repository and data discovery service. - Train, support stakeholders and inform broader audiences. This included creating educational materials and conducting training webinars. Courses, training materials, best-practice guides, and webinars were developed and delivered to ensure effective knowledge dissemination.

-Literature review (R2.1) on religious CH preservation. -Evaluating pertinent projects and research (R2.2) -Identification of effective user-centered practices through surveys (R2.3) -Selection of optimal tools for training program development (R2.4) -Creation of a framework for best practices (R2.5) -User-centered surveys to gather critical insights on the needs of end-users and stakeholders (R2.6) -A conceptual framework that outlines the key functionalities of the digital tools of NARRATE (R2.7) -Data models based on semantic and ontological principles (R3.1) -An open-source Ecclesiastical Data Repository (R3.2) - User Evaluation of the NARRATE Framework (R3.3) - Production of extensive course and training materials (R4.1, R4.1a) -Guides on best practices for ecclesiastical heritage documentation (R4.2) -Two training webinars and 6 Workshop Sessions (R4.3) -Online communication channels (R5.1) -Publication of 8 scientific papers in journals and conference proceedings (R5.2) -Publication of a book on the Documentation of Ecclesiastical heritage (R5.2) -Organizing an International Conference in Sofia, Bulgaria on the Documentation of Ecclesiastical heritage (R3.4) -Organizing an Educational Workshop in Istanbul, Turkey (R5.3)