Museums are memory institutions. They serve to collect, study, preserve and mediate to the public... more Museums are memory institutions. They serve to collect, study, preserve and mediate to the public culturally valuable objects related to human beings and their living environment. They bolster the formation of social, communal and family identities; they function as public memory institutions, supporting education and scientific research and, of course, museums provide entertainment and recreation. In this article, we look at museums from the perspective of heritage studies, and for our analysis, we use the following three dimensions: heritage objects, levels of society and processes of heritage management. Our objective is to present a conceptual framework which would highlight more clearly the connections between heritage and museums and which would lay a foundation for interlinking some theoretical concepts from heritage studies and museology and help to improve practical heritage management. Museums and heritage are closely, if not inextricably, linked. A museum’s connection wit...
Ajalooline Ajakiri. The Estonian Historical Journal
The primary task of museums is to preserve museum objects in the form of physical objects. Despit... more The primary task of museums is to preserve museum objects in the form of physical objects. Despite its apparent simplicity and comprehensibility, damage to man-made objects – artefacts – is a complex and complicated field. Damage processes are grouped as being physical, chemical, mechanical, and biological. In most cases, different processes work together, damaging the materials and structure of the artefacts. A number of factors, the most important of which are the composition and structure of materials, environmental conditions, and human impacts, affect damage processes. It is very difficult, and in most cases impossible, to take all these factors into account. At the same time, modelling the aging of museum objects is especially important for their successful preservation. Modelling of damage processes makes it possible to assess the extent of such processes (which objects have been damaged and what the degree of damage is), the speed of damage processes, and thereby changes in ...
Ajalooline Ajakiri. The Estonian Historical Journal, 2020
According to the simplest and most common definition, metadata refers to a set of data that descr... more According to the simplest and most common definition, metadata refers to a set of data that describes other data. Research on metadata is focused almost exclusively on solving practical issues. There are few theories on metadata that emphasise the lack of a common theoretical foundation to handle metadata, and there is also a lack of corresponding research. This article looks at metadata from a broad perspective of information technology and seeks an answer to a question that may, at first glance, seem simple: what is the origin of metadata? The article aims to present a conceptual model that connects metadata to communication processes, thereby creating an opportunity to treat metadata in a more systematic manner. In memory institutions, different metadata schemes and standards are used to describe digital objects. In order to describe objects, libraries use bibliographical entries that correspond to valid entry and cataloguing rules. Objects are described by bibliographic entries ...
The aim of this article is to present a critical discussion of the influence of technology on hum... more The aim of this article is to present a critical discussion of the influence of technology on humans and culture in contemporary Western society. Transhumanism is a philosophical and social movement that believes that the essential features of human life could be transformed and enhanced by applications of science and technology. In this article, I will compare transhumanist ideas about perfecting humans to the views of Roger Bacon, one of the representatives of European mediaeval alchemy. Such a treatment provides a historical background for transhumanist ideas and helps answer the moral and philosophical problems that humans are faced with due to modern technological development. Despite the fact that several transhumanist theoreticians treat it as a secular alternative to religious ideas, we can see that Christian eschatology plays a major role. Both in alchemy and transhumanism, scientific and theological aspects have been inseparably intertwined. Transhumanism can be seen as a ...
In this article, I characterise the definitions of nature and culture by providing examples from ... more In this article, I characterise the definitions of nature and culture by providing examples from nature conservation and conservation of cultural heritage. I also propose how to overcome the distinction of two definitions by using the concept of common heritage. Overcoming the dilemma of nature and culture, at least in heritage management, does not mean developing more clever and ungrounded theoretical constructions but instead creating a practical combination of the two management systems that have been separate so far. Intertwined nature and culture have, therefore, created a whole new environment in which we need to cope as equal participants. Instead of one-sided relationships, either human activity harming nature or nature’s negative effects on humans (natural disasters, zoonotic diseases), we have to cope with a complicated dialogue that presumes both understanding and listening. The relationship between humans and nature, and its reflections and treatments in culture, has differed throughout history and culture. Nature, humans, and culture are constantly changing and developing, and these processes of change are happening concurrently, conditioning and creating each other.
Human societies reorganize both the surrounding environment and themselves. As a result, society ... more Human societies reorganize both the surrounding environment and themselves. As a result, society is becoming more and more artificial. The driving force behind this process is constantly renewing technologies that are developed to increase welfare. Technology has moved from the reorganization of the physical environment to man’s biological body, genome and consciousness. Transhumanist concepts concentrate on the biological and genetic amendment and improvement of the human being. By contrast, questions concerning culture have been insufficiently discussed. Culture, which greatly determines how to be a human being, is something very special to the human species, and appears to have been greatly undervalued in discussions of a possible posthuman future. Very obviously, culture is the factor that determines whether we will reach such a future and whether we will be able to use all the opportunities that it would offer to us. This study deals with culture from the viewpoint of artificia...
Preservation of objects that have social, scientific or cultural significance for the future has ... more Preservation of objects that have social, scientific or cultural significance for the future has become one of the most challenging problems of the society. The establishment of preservation priorities is one of the most complicated tasks facing the information institutions. The whole procedure entails a lot of responsibility as decisions that are made will determine the amount of information available to future generations. The article demonstrates experience and lessons gained in the project “Red Book of Estonian Publications, 1535–1850” that was conducted in 2003–2006. Growing out from the need to make decisions for preservation strategies and to establish principles for future digitization of Estonian book heritage, the project drew attention to the importance of having distinct methodology and coherent criteria for the assessment of culturally valuable objects. The project team stressed the importance of preservation quality, especially when using reformatting technologies like...
The aim of this article is to present a critical discussion of the influence of technology on hum... more The aim of this article is to present a critical discussion of the influence of technology on humans and culture in contemporary Western society. Transhumanism is a philosophical and social movement that believes that the essential features of human life could be transformed and enhanced by applications of science and technology. In this article, I will compare transhumanist ideas about perfecting humans to the views of Roger Bacon, one of the representatives of European mediaeval alchemy. Such a treatment provides a historical background for transhumanist ideas and helps answer the moral and philosophical problems that humans are faced with due to modern technological development. Despite the fact that several transhumanist theoreticians treat it as a secular alternative to religious ideas, we can see that Christian eschatology plays a major role. Both in alchemy and transhumanism, scientific and theological aspects have been inseparably intertwined. Transhumanism can be seen as a ...
The origin of metadata: a perspective on information theory According to the simplest and most co... more The origin of metadata: a perspective on information theory According to the simplest and most common definition, metadata refers to a set of data that describes other data. Research on metadata is focused almost exclusively on solving practical issues. There are few theories on metadata that emphasise the lack of a common theoretical foundation to handle metadata, and there is also a lack of corresponding research. This article looks at metadata from a broad perspective of information technology and seeks an answer to a question that may, at first glance, seem simple: what is the origin of metadata? The article aims to present a conceptual model that connects metadata to communication processes, thereby creating an opportunity to treat metadata in a more systematic manner. In memory institutions, different metadata schemes and standards are used to describe digital objects. In order to describe objects, libraries use bibliographical entries that correspond to valid entry and catalo...
In this article, I characterise the definitions of nature and culture by providing examples from ... more In this article, I characterise the definitions of nature and culture by providing examples from nature conservation and conservation of cultural heritage. I also propose how to overcome the distinction of two definitions by using the concept of common heritage. Overcoming the dilemma of nature and culture, at least in heritage management, does not mean developing more clever and ungrounded theoretical constructions but instead creating a practical combination of the two management systems that have been separate so far. Intertwined nature and culture have, therefore, created a whole new environment in which we need to cope as equal participants. Instead of one-sided relationships, either human activity harming nature or nature’s negative effects on humans (natural disasters, zoonotic diseases), we have to cope with a complicated dialogue that presumes both understanding and listening. The relationship between humans and nature, and its reflections and treatments in culture, has dif...
Medical alchemy emerged within the Western alchemical tradition in the 13th–14th centuries. Howev... more Medical alchemy emerged within the Western alchemical tradition in the 13th–14th centuries. However, well-established medical alchemy can be considered the iatrochemistry of the 16th century. In this article, I focus on the continuation of the alchemical tradition in the second half of the 19th century, using the electrohomeopathy created by Cesare Mattei as an example. Electrohomeopathy, also known as Mattei’s treatment of cancer or Matteism, is a form of homeopathy developed by Count Cesare Mattei (1809–1896) in the second half of the 19th century. Because the drugs invented by Mattei had such strength and rate of action that allowed them to be compared to electric current, he called the method electrohomeopathy. They had no other connection to electricity. It is important to emphasize this again, as later interpretations and explanations of electrohomeopathy link the effects of drugs to plant electricity or bioenergy (Odyle energy, organ energy, prana). Electrohomeopathy created ...
The purpose of this article is to look at the ways in which heritage isapproached, based on the c... more The purpose of this article is to look at the ways in which heritage isapproached, based on the conceptual framework of critical inheritanceresearch. In case of approaches to inheritance, I distinguish betweenobject-based, value-based, and people-centered approaches –depending on which aspects of the heritage are at the heart of theinheritance management process. I use different case studies fromthe Estonian context as examples. I am particularly interested in thechanges in heritage management in the time frame of the 1970s and1980s to the present day.In order to describe object-based heritage management, I willuse Kalvi Aluve’s book “The story about architectural monuments”(1983). It is a popular work targeted for the general public, which iswhy many of the views and concepts that are obviously used on adaily basis by those involved in the matter and have often becomean invisible part of the work culture, are explained in detail anddefined. Value-based inheritance management sets a...
Museums are memory institutions. They serve to collect, study, preserve and mediate to the public... more Museums are memory institutions. They serve to collect, study, preserve and mediate to the public culturally valuable objects related to human beings and their living environment. They bolster the formation of social, communal and family identities; they function as public memory institutions, supporting education and scientific research and, of course, museums provide entertainment and recreation. In this article, we look at museums from the perspective of heritage studies, and for our analysis, we use the following three dimensions: heritage objects, levels of society and processes of heritage management. Our objective is to present a conceptual framework which would highlight more clearly the connections between heritage and museums and which would lay a foundation for interlinking some theoretical concepts from heritage studies and museology and help to improve practical heritage management. Museums and heritage are closely, if not inextricably, linked. A museum’s connection wit...
Ajalooline Ajakiri. The Estonian Historical Journal
The primary task of museums is to preserve museum objects in the form of physical objects. Despit... more The primary task of museums is to preserve museum objects in the form of physical objects. Despite its apparent simplicity and comprehensibility, damage to man-made objects – artefacts – is a complex and complicated field. Damage processes are grouped as being physical, chemical, mechanical, and biological. In most cases, different processes work together, damaging the materials and structure of the artefacts. A number of factors, the most important of which are the composition and structure of materials, environmental conditions, and human impacts, affect damage processes. It is very difficult, and in most cases impossible, to take all these factors into account. At the same time, modelling the aging of museum objects is especially important for their successful preservation. Modelling of damage processes makes it possible to assess the extent of such processes (which objects have been damaged and what the degree of damage is), the speed of damage processes, and thereby changes in ...
Ajalooline Ajakiri. The Estonian Historical Journal, 2020
According to the simplest and most common definition, metadata refers to a set of data that descr... more According to the simplest and most common definition, metadata refers to a set of data that describes other data. Research on metadata is focused almost exclusively on solving practical issues. There are few theories on metadata that emphasise the lack of a common theoretical foundation to handle metadata, and there is also a lack of corresponding research. This article looks at metadata from a broad perspective of information technology and seeks an answer to a question that may, at first glance, seem simple: what is the origin of metadata? The article aims to present a conceptual model that connects metadata to communication processes, thereby creating an opportunity to treat metadata in a more systematic manner. In memory institutions, different metadata schemes and standards are used to describe digital objects. In order to describe objects, libraries use bibliographical entries that correspond to valid entry and cataloguing rules. Objects are described by bibliographic entries ...
The aim of this article is to present a critical discussion of the influence of technology on hum... more The aim of this article is to present a critical discussion of the influence of technology on humans and culture in contemporary Western society. Transhumanism is a philosophical and social movement that believes that the essential features of human life could be transformed and enhanced by applications of science and technology. In this article, I will compare transhumanist ideas about perfecting humans to the views of Roger Bacon, one of the representatives of European mediaeval alchemy. Such a treatment provides a historical background for transhumanist ideas and helps answer the moral and philosophical problems that humans are faced with due to modern technological development. Despite the fact that several transhumanist theoreticians treat it as a secular alternative to religious ideas, we can see that Christian eschatology plays a major role. Both in alchemy and transhumanism, scientific and theological aspects have been inseparably intertwined. Transhumanism can be seen as a ...
In this article, I characterise the definitions of nature and culture by providing examples from ... more In this article, I characterise the definitions of nature and culture by providing examples from nature conservation and conservation of cultural heritage. I also propose how to overcome the distinction of two definitions by using the concept of common heritage. Overcoming the dilemma of nature and culture, at least in heritage management, does not mean developing more clever and ungrounded theoretical constructions but instead creating a practical combination of the two management systems that have been separate so far. Intertwined nature and culture have, therefore, created a whole new environment in which we need to cope as equal participants. Instead of one-sided relationships, either human activity harming nature or nature’s negative effects on humans (natural disasters, zoonotic diseases), we have to cope with a complicated dialogue that presumes both understanding and listening. The relationship between humans and nature, and its reflections and treatments in culture, has differed throughout history and culture. Nature, humans, and culture are constantly changing and developing, and these processes of change are happening concurrently, conditioning and creating each other.
Human societies reorganize both the surrounding environment and themselves. As a result, society ... more Human societies reorganize both the surrounding environment and themselves. As a result, society is becoming more and more artificial. The driving force behind this process is constantly renewing technologies that are developed to increase welfare. Technology has moved from the reorganization of the physical environment to man’s biological body, genome and consciousness. Transhumanist concepts concentrate on the biological and genetic amendment and improvement of the human being. By contrast, questions concerning culture have been insufficiently discussed. Culture, which greatly determines how to be a human being, is something very special to the human species, and appears to have been greatly undervalued in discussions of a possible posthuman future. Very obviously, culture is the factor that determines whether we will reach such a future and whether we will be able to use all the opportunities that it would offer to us. This study deals with culture from the viewpoint of artificia...
Preservation of objects that have social, scientific or cultural significance for the future has ... more Preservation of objects that have social, scientific or cultural significance for the future has become one of the most challenging problems of the society. The establishment of preservation priorities is one of the most complicated tasks facing the information institutions. The whole procedure entails a lot of responsibility as decisions that are made will determine the amount of information available to future generations. The article demonstrates experience and lessons gained in the project “Red Book of Estonian Publications, 1535–1850” that was conducted in 2003–2006. Growing out from the need to make decisions for preservation strategies and to establish principles for future digitization of Estonian book heritage, the project drew attention to the importance of having distinct methodology and coherent criteria for the assessment of culturally valuable objects. The project team stressed the importance of preservation quality, especially when using reformatting technologies like...
The aim of this article is to present a critical discussion of the influence of technology on hum... more The aim of this article is to present a critical discussion of the influence of technology on humans and culture in contemporary Western society. Transhumanism is a philosophical and social movement that believes that the essential features of human life could be transformed and enhanced by applications of science and technology. In this article, I will compare transhumanist ideas about perfecting humans to the views of Roger Bacon, one of the representatives of European mediaeval alchemy. Such a treatment provides a historical background for transhumanist ideas and helps answer the moral and philosophical problems that humans are faced with due to modern technological development. Despite the fact that several transhumanist theoreticians treat it as a secular alternative to religious ideas, we can see that Christian eschatology plays a major role. Both in alchemy and transhumanism, scientific and theological aspects have been inseparably intertwined. Transhumanism can be seen as a ...
The origin of metadata: a perspective on information theory According to the simplest and most co... more The origin of metadata: a perspective on information theory According to the simplest and most common definition, metadata refers to a set of data that describes other data. Research on metadata is focused almost exclusively on solving practical issues. There are few theories on metadata that emphasise the lack of a common theoretical foundation to handle metadata, and there is also a lack of corresponding research. This article looks at metadata from a broad perspective of information technology and seeks an answer to a question that may, at first glance, seem simple: what is the origin of metadata? The article aims to present a conceptual model that connects metadata to communication processes, thereby creating an opportunity to treat metadata in a more systematic manner. In memory institutions, different metadata schemes and standards are used to describe digital objects. In order to describe objects, libraries use bibliographical entries that correspond to valid entry and catalo...
In this article, I characterise the definitions of nature and culture by providing examples from ... more In this article, I characterise the definitions of nature and culture by providing examples from nature conservation and conservation of cultural heritage. I also propose how to overcome the distinction of two definitions by using the concept of common heritage. Overcoming the dilemma of nature and culture, at least in heritage management, does not mean developing more clever and ungrounded theoretical constructions but instead creating a practical combination of the two management systems that have been separate so far. Intertwined nature and culture have, therefore, created a whole new environment in which we need to cope as equal participants. Instead of one-sided relationships, either human activity harming nature or nature’s negative effects on humans (natural disasters, zoonotic diseases), we have to cope with a complicated dialogue that presumes both understanding and listening. The relationship between humans and nature, and its reflections and treatments in culture, has dif...
Medical alchemy emerged within the Western alchemical tradition in the 13th–14th centuries. Howev... more Medical alchemy emerged within the Western alchemical tradition in the 13th–14th centuries. However, well-established medical alchemy can be considered the iatrochemistry of the 16th century. In this article, I focus on the continuation of the alchemical tradition in the second half of the 19th century, using the electrohomeopathy created by Cesare Mattei as an example. Electrohomeopathy, also known as Mattei’s treatment of cancer or Matteism, is a form of homeopathy developed by Count Cesare Mattei (1809–1896) in the second half of the 19th century. Because the drugs invented by Mattei had such strength and rate of action that allowed them to be compared to electric current, he called the method electrohomeopathy. They had no other connection to electricity. It is important to emphasize this again, as later interpretations and explanations of electrohomeopathy link the effects of drugs to plant electricity or bioenergy (Odyle energy, organ energy, prana). Electrohomeopathy created ...
The purpose of this article is to look at the ways in which heritage isapproached, based on the c... more The purpose of this article is to look at the ways in which heritage isapproached, based on the conceptual framework of critical inheritanceresearch. In case of approaches to inheritance, I distinguish betweenobject-based, value-based, and people-centered approaches –depending on which aspects of the heritage are at the heart of theinheritance management process. I use different case studies fromthe Estonian context as examples. I am particularly interested in thechanges in heritage management in the time frame of the 1970s and1980s to the present day.In order to describe object-based heritage management, I willuse Kalvi Aluve’s book “The story about architectural monuments”(1983). It is a popular work targeted for the general public, which iswhy many of the views and concepts that are obviously used on adaily basis by those involved in the matter and have often becomean invisible part of the work culture, are explained in detail anddefined. Value-based inheritance management sets a...
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