arXiv subjects

Silvio Peroni

Publications and source records attributed to Silvio Peroni.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2025

HERITRACE: A User-Friendly Semantic Data Editor with Change Tracking and Provenance Management for Cultural Heritage Institutions

HERITRACE is a data editor designed for galleries, libraries, archives and museums, aimed at simplifying data curation while enabling non-technical domain experts to manage data intuitively without losing its semantic integrity. While the semantic nature of RDF can pose a barrier to data curation due to its complexity, HERITRACE conceals this intricacy while preserving the advantages of semantic representation. The system natively supports provenance management and change tracking, ensuring transparency and accountability throughout the curation process. Although HERITRACE functions effectively out of the box, it offers a straightforward customization interface for technical staff, enabling adaptation to the specific data model required by a given collection. Current applications include the ParaText project, and its adoption is already planned for OpenCitations. Future developments will focus on integrating the RDF Mapping Language (RML) to enhance compatibility with non-RDF data formats, further expanding its applicability in digital heritage management.

cs.DL↗

arXiv2025

CHAD-KG: A Knowledge Graph for Representing Cultural Heritage Objects and Digitisation Paradata

This paper presents CHAD-KG, a knowledge graph designed to describe bibliographic metadata and digitisation paradata of cultural heritage objects in exhibitions, museums, and collections. It also documents the related data model and materialisation engine. Originally based on two tabular datasets, the data was converted into RDF according to CHAD-AP, an OWL application profile built on standards like CIDOC-CRM, LRMoo, CRMdig, and Getty AAT. A reproducible pipeline, developed with a Morph-KGC extension, was used to generate the graph. CHAD-KG now serves as the main metadata source for the Digital Twin of the temporary exhibition titled \emph{The Other Renaissance - Ulisse Aldrovandi and The Wonders Of The World}, and other collections related to the digitisation work under development in a nationwide funded project, i.e. Project CHANGES (https://fondazionechanges.org). To ensure accessibility and reuse, it offers a SPARQL endpoint, a user interface, open documentation, and is published on Zenodo under a CC0 license. The project improves the semantic interoperability of cultural heritage data, with future work aiming to extend the data model and materialisation pipeline to better capture the complexities of acquisition and digitisation, further enrich the dataset and broaden its relevance to similar initiatives.

cs.DL↗

arXiv2025

Validating and monitoring bibliographic and citation data in OpenCitations collections

Purpose. The increasing emphasis on data quantity in research infrastructures has highlighted the need for equally robust mechanisms ensuring data quality, particularly in bibliographic and citation datasets. This paper addresses the challenge of maintaining high-quality open research information within OpenCitations, a community-guided Open Science Infrastructure, by introducing tools for validating and monitoring bibliographic metadata and citation data. Methods. We developed a custom validation tool tailored to the OpenCitations Data Model (OCDM), designed to detect and explain ingestion errors from heterogeneous sources, whether due to upstream data inconsistencies or internal software bugs. Additionally, a quality monitoring tool was created to track known data issues post-publication. These tools were applied in two scenarios: (1) validating metadata and citations from Matilda, a potential future source, and (2) monitoring data quality in the existing OpenCitations Meta dataset. Results. The validation tool successfully identified a variety of structural and semantic issues in the Matilda dataset, demonstrating its precision. The monitoring tool enabled the detection of recurring problems in the OpenCitations Meta collection, as well as their quantification. Together, these tools proved effective in enhancing the reliability of OpenCitations' published data. Conclusion. The presented validation and monitoring tools represent a step toward ensuring high-quality bibliographic data in open research infrastructures, though they are limited to the data model adopted by OpenCitations. Future developments are aimed at expanding to additional data sources, with particular regard to crowdsourced data.

cs.DL↗

arXiv2025

A Proposal for a FAIR Management of 3D Data in Cultural Heritage: The Aldrovandi Digital Twin Case

In this article we analyse 3D models of cultural heritage with the aim of answering three main questions: what processes can be put in place to create a FAIR-by-design digital twin of a temporary exhibition? What are the main challenges in applying FAIR principles to 3D data in cultural heritage studies and how are they different from other types of data (e.g. images) from a data management perspective? We begin with a comprehensive literature review touching on: FAIR principles applied to cultural heritage data; representation models; both Object Provenance Information (OPI) and Metadata Record Provenance Information (MRPI), respectively meant as, on the one hand, the detailed history and origin of an object, and - on the other hand - the detailed history and origin of the metadata itself, which describes the primary object (whether physical or digital); 3D models as cultural heritage research data and their creation, selection, publication, archival and preservation. We then describe the process of creating the Aldrovandi Digital Twin, by collecting, storing and modelling data about cultural heritage objects and processes. We detail the many steps from the acquisition of the Digital Cultural Heritage Objects (DCHO), through to the upload of the optimised DCHO onto a web-based framework (ATON), with a focus on open technologies and standards for interoperability and preservation. Using the FAIR Principles for Heritage Library, Archive and Museum Collections [1] as a framework, we look in detail at how the Digital Twin implements FAIR principles at the object and metadata level. We then describe the main challenges we encountered and we summarise what seem to be the peculiarities of 3D cultural heritage data and the possible directions for further research in this field.

cs.DL↗

arXiv2024

Recent Developments in Deep Learning-based Author Name Disambiguation

Author Name Disambiguation (AND) is a critical task for digital libraries aiming to link existing authors with their respective publications. Due to the lack of persistent identifiers used by researchers and the presence of intrinsic linguistic challenges, such as homonymy, the development of Deep Learning algorithms to address this issue has become widespread. Many AND deep learning methods have been developed, and surveys exist comparing the approaches in terms of techniques, complexity, performance. However, none explicitly addresses AND methods in the context of deep learning in the latest years (i.e. timeframe 2016-2024). In this paper, we provide a systematic review of state-of-the-art AND techniques based on deep learning, highlighting recent improvements, challenges, and open issues in the field. We find that DL methods have significantly impacted AND by enabling the integration of structured and unstructured data, and hybrid approaches effectively balance supervised and unsupervised learning.

cs.DL↗

arXiv2024

Leveraging virtual technologies to enhance museums and art collections: insights from project CHANGES

We investigated the use of virtual technologies to digitise and enhance cultural heritage (CH), aligning with Open Science and FAIR principles. Through case studies in museums, we developed reproducible workflows, 3D models, and tools fostering accessibility, inclusivity, and sustainability of CH. Applications include interdisciplinary research, educational innovation, and CH preservation.

cs.GR↗

arXiv2024

The OpenCitations Index

This article presents the OpenCitations Index, a collection of open citation data maintained by OpenCitations, an independent, not-for-profit infrastructure organisation for open scholarship dedicated to publishing open bibliographic and citation data using Semantic Web and Linked Open Data technologies. The collection involves citation data harvested from multiple sources. To address the possibility of different sources providing citation data for bibliographic entities represented with different identifiers, therefore potentially representing same citation, a deduplication mechanism has been implemented. This ensures that citations integrated into OpenCitations Index are accurately identified uniquely, even when different identifiers are used. This mechanism follows a specific workflow, which encompasses a preprocessing of the original source data, a management of the provided bibliographic metadata, and the generation of new citation data to be integrated into the OpenCitations Index. The process relies on another data collection: OpenCitations Meta, and on the use of a new globally persistent identifier, namely OMID (OpenCitations Meta Identifier). As of July 2024, OpenCitations Index stores over 2 billion unique citation links, harvest from Crossref, the National Institute of Heath Open Citation Collection (NIH-OCC), DataCite, OpenAIRE, and the Japan Link Center (JaLC). OpenCitations Index can be systematically accessed and queried through several services, including SPARQL endpoint, REST APIs, and web interfaces. Additionally, dataset dumps are available for free download and reuse (under CC0 waiver) in various formats (CSV, N-Triples, and Scholix), including provenance and change tracking information.

cs.DL↗

arXiv2024

Developing Application Profiles for Enhancing Data and Workflows in Cultural Heritage Digitisation Processes

As a result of the proliferation of 3D digitisation in the context of cultural heritage projects, digital assets and digitisation processes - being considered as proper research objects - must prioritise adherence to FAIR principles. Existing standards and ontologies, such as CIDOC CRM, play a crucial role in this regard, but they are often over-engineered for the need of a particular application context, thus making their understanding and adoption difficult. Application profiles of a given standard - defined as sets of ontological entities drawn from one or more semantic artefacts for a particular context or application - are usually proposed as tools for promoting interoperability and reuse while being tied entirely to the particular application context they refer to. In this paper, we present an adaptation and application of an ontology development methodology, i.e. SAMOD, to guide the creation of robust, semantically sound application profiles of large standard models. Using an existing pilot study we have developed in a project dedicated to leveraging virtual technologies to preserve and valorise cultural heritage, we introduce an application profile named CHAD-AP, that we have developed following our customised version of SAMOD. We reflect on the use of SAMOD and similar ontology development methodologies for this purpose, highlighting its strengths and current limitations, future developments, and possible adoption in other similar projects.

cs.DL↗

arXiv2024

A Workflow for GLAM Metadata Crosswalk

The acquisition of physical artifacts not only involves transferring existing information into the digital ecosystem but also generates information as a process itself, underscoring the importance of meticulous management of FAIR data and metadata. In addition, the diversity of objects within the cultural heritage domain is reflected in a multitude of descriptive models. The digitization process expands the opportunities for exchange and joint utilization, granted that the descriptive schemas are made interoperable in advance. To achieve this goal, we propose a replicable workflow for metadata schema crosswalks that facilitates the preservation and accessibility of cultural heritage in the digital ecosystem. This work presents a methodology for metadata generation and management in the case study of the digital twin of the temporary exhibition "The Other Renaissance - Ulisse Aldrovandi and the Wonders of the World". The workflow delineates a systematic, step-by-step transformation of tabular data into RDF format, to enhance Linked Open Data. The methodology adopts the RDF Mapping Language (RML) technology for converting data to RDF with a human contribution involvement. This last aspect entails an interaction between digital humanists and domain experts through surveys leading to the abstraction and reformulation of domain-specific knowledge, to be exploited in the process of formalizing and converting information.

cs.DL↗

arXiv2024

HERITRACE: Tracing Evolution and Bridging Data for Streamlined Curatorial Work in the GLAM Domain

HERITRACE is a semantic data management system tailored for the GLAM sector. It is engineered to streamline data curation for non-technical users while also offering an efficient administrative interface for technical staff. The paper compares HERITRACE with other established platforms such as OmekaS, Semantic MediaWiki, Research Space, and CLEF, emphasizing its advantages in user friendliness, provenance management, change tracking, customization capabilities, and data integration. The system leverages SHACL for data modeling and employs the OpenCitations Data Model (OCDM) for provenance and change tracking, ensuring a harmonious blend of advanced technical features and user accessibility. Future developments include the integration of a robust authentication system and the expansion of data compatibility via the RDF Mapping Language (RML), enhancing HERITRACE's utility in digital heritage management.

cs.DL↗

arXiv2024

Thinking Outside the Black Box: Insights from a Digital Exhibition in the Humanities

One of the main goals of Open Science is to make research more reproducible. There is no consensus, however, on what exactly "reproducibility" is, as opposed for example to "replicability", and how it applies to different research fields. After a short review of the literature on reproducibility/replicability with a focus on the humanities, we describe how the creation of the digital twin of the temporary exhibition "The Other Renaissance" has been documented throughout, with different methods, but with constant attention to research transparency, openness and accountability. A careful documentation of the study design, data collection and analysis techniques helps reflect and make all possible influencing factors explicit, and is a fundamental tool for reliability and rigour and for opening the "black box" of research.

cs.DL↗

arXiv2024

A maturity model for catalogues of semantic artefacts

This work presents a maturity model for assessing catalogues of semantic artefacts, one of the keystones that permit semantic interoperability of systems. We defined the dimensions and related features to include in the maturity model by analysing the current literature and existing catalogues of semantic artefacts provided by experts. In addition, we assessed 26 different catalogues to demonstrate the effectiveness of the maturity model, which includes 12 different dimensions (Metadata, Openness, Quality, Availability, Statistics, PID, Governance, Community, Sustainability, Technology, Transparency, and Assessment) and 43 related features (or sub-criteria) associated with these dimensions. Such a maturity model is one of the first attempts to provide recommendations for governance and processes for preserving and maintaining semantic artefacts and helps assess/address interoperability challenges.

cs.DL↗

arXiv2023

Saving temporary exhibitions in virtual environments: the Digital Renaissance of Ulisse Aldrovandi -- acquisition and digitisation of cultural heritage objects

As per the objectives of Project CHANGES, particularly its thematic sub-project on the use of virtual technologies for museums and art collections, our goal was to obtain a digital twin of the temporary exhibition on Ulisse Aldrovandi called "The Other Renaissance", and make it accessible to users online. After a preliminary study of the exhibition, focussing on acquisition constraints and related solutions, we proceeded with the digital twin creation by acquiring, processing, modelling, optimising, exporting, and metadating the exhibition. We made hybrid use of two acquisition techniques to create new digital cultural heritage objects and environments, and we used open technologies, formats, and protocols to make available the final digital product. Here, we describe the process of collecting and curating bibliographical exhibition (meta)data and the beginning of the digital twin creation to foster its findability, accessibility, interoperability, and reusability. The creation of the digital twin is currently ongoing.

cs.GR↗

arXiv2023

Retractions in Arts and Humanities: an Analysis of the Retraction Notices

The aim of this work is to understand the retraction phenomenon in the arts and humanities domain through an analysis of the retraction notices: formal documents stating and describing the retraction of a particular publication. The retractions and the corresponding notices are identified using the data provided by Retraction Watch. Our methodology for the analysis combines a metadata analysis and a content analysis (mainly performed using a topic modeling process) of the retraction notices. Considering 343 cases of retraction, we found that many retraction notices are neither identifiable nor findable. In addition, these were not always separated from the original papers, introducing ambiguity in understanding how these notices were perceived by the community (i.e., cited). Also, we noticed that there is no systematic way to write a retraction notice. Indeed, some retraction notices presented a complete discussion of the reasons for retraction, while others tended to be more direct and succinct. We have also reported many notices having similar text while addressing different retractions. We think a further study with a larger collection should be done using the same methodology to confirm and investigate our findings further.

cs.DL↗

arXiv2023

A Prototype for a Controlled and Valid RDF Data Production Using SHACL

The paper introduces a tool prototype that combines SHACL's capabilities with ad-hoc validation functions to create a controlled and user-friendly form interface for producing valid RDF data. The proposed tool is developed within the context of the OpenCitations Data Model (OCDM) use case. The paper discusses the current status of the tool, outlines the future steps required for achieving full functionality, and explores the potential applications and benefits of the tool.

cs.DB↗

arXiv2023

An analysis of citing and referencing habits across all scholarly disciplines: approaches and trends in bibliographic referencing and citing practices

Purpose. In this study, we want to identify current possible causes for citing and referencing errors in scholarly literature to compare if something changed from the snapshot provided Sweetland in his 1989 paper. Design/methodology/approach. We analysed reference elements, i.e. bibliographic references, mentions, quotations, and respective in-text reference pointers, from 729 articles published in 147 journals across the 27 subject areas. Findings. The outcomes of our analysis pointed out that bibliographic errors have been perpetuated for decades and that their possible causes have increased, despite the encouraged use of technological facilities, i.e., the reference managers. Originality. As far as we know, our study is the best recent available analysis of errors in referencing and citing practices in the literature since Sweetland (1989).

cs.DL↗

arXiv2022

Approaching Digital Humanities at the University: a Cultural Challenge

The University of Bologna has a long tradition in Digital Humanities, both at the level of research and teaching. In this article, we want to introduce some experiences in developing new educational models based on the idea of transversal learning, collaborative approaches and projects-oriented outputs, together with the definition of research fields within this vast domain, accompanied by practical examples. The creation of an international master's degree (DHDK), a PhD (CHeDE) and a research centre (/DH.arc) are the results of refining our notion of Digital Humanities in a new bidirectional way: to reflect on computational methodologies and models in the cultural sphere and to suggest a cultural approach to Informatics.

cs.DL↗

arXiv2022

What do we mean by "data"? A proposed classification of data types in the arts and humanities

Purpose: This article describes the interviews we conducted in late 2021 with 19 researchers at the Department of Classical Philology and Italian Studies at the University of Bologna. The main purpose was to shed light on the definition of the word "data" in the humanities domain, as far as FAIR data management practices are concerned, and on what researchers think of the term. Methodology: We invited one researcher for each of the official disciplinary areas represented within the department and all 19 accepted to participate in the study. Participants were then divided into 5 main research areas: philology and literary criticism, language and linguistics, history of art, computer science, archival studies. The interviews were transcribed and analysed using a grounded theory approach. Findings: A list of 13 research data types has been compiled thanks to the information collected from participants. The term "data" does not emerge as especially problematic, although a good deal of confusion remains. Looking at current research management practices, methodologies and teamwork appear more central than previously reported. Originality: Our findings confirm that "data" within the FAIR framework should include all types of input and outputs humanities research work with, including publications. Also, the participants to this study appear ready for a discussion around making their research data FAIR: they do not find the terminology particularly problematic, while they rely on precise and recognised methodologies, as well as on sharing and collaboration with colleagues.

cs.DL↗