Open Heritage Coalition reposted this
💓 NEW PUBLICATION 💓 🎉 Our article "Ensuring Equitable Access to Heritage: The Need for an International Standard under the Auspices of UNESCO" is now published in the International Journal of Documentary Heritage! 🔗 https://lnkd.in/exDj_kpU 🙏Thanks to my co-author Dee Harris and editor Jan Bos and the whole editorial team! 📖 Here's a sneak preview of the opening paragraph: "Illuminated initials can be of stunning, intricate beauty. However, beyond the ornamental, these embellished letters found in safely preserved medieval manuscripts served very practical purposes, from helping readers navigate often complex writing systems to providing exempla (images used to illustrate a moral point)... While nowadays we generally no longer rely on aesthetically striking letters to read books, social media posts, or emails, these decorated capital letters still have a place in our contemporary culture. Moreover, if we want to ensure future generations will also be able to admire, study, and understand these letters, then the manuscripts that hold them, as well as our shared documentary heritage, must be preserved and made accessible, including in digital form..." 🏛️ Key takeaways: Did you know that less than 1% of the world’s institutions share heritage in open access? With many elements of documentary heritage remaining behind paywalls and digital locks, people are denied a meaningful connection with their heritage. In this article we provide an overview of the main barriers to equitable access to public domain heritage in the digital environment, make the case for openness as a key principle in the preservation and dissemination of documentary heritage, and share examples of positive reuse enabled by open heritage. 🤓 Details: Volume 2, Number 1, Article 9, December 2025. International Journal of Documentary Heritage 2025;2(1):9. https://lnkd.in/eVwYMjZP Received on August 14, 2025, Revised on November 18, 2025, Accepted on November 20, 2025, Published on December 30, 2025. Copyright © 2025 Author(s). This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0) (https://lnkd.in/eCVK76gc). 📷 = https://lnkd.in/eeuvhx4m #OpenHeritageStatement Open Heritage Coalition