Understanding Objects in Online Museum Collections by Means of Narratives

2012 Workshop on Computational Models of Narrative

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Agora (1/2)

• Department of Computer Science, VU University Amsterdam• Department of History, VU University Amsterdam• Rijksmuseum Amsterdam• Sound & Vision, Hilversum• blog: http://agora.cs.vu.nl/• Demonstrator: http://agora.cs.vu.nl/agoratouch/• Funded by NWO as part of the CATCH-program

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Agora (2/2)

Problem:• how to support the interpretation of objects in online museum collection?

Approach:• (automatically) enrich object-metadata with events• facilitate event-driven browsing and facet search• establish object-event-relations • enable creation of event-event-relations, i.e. narratives

-> How to model narratives in the history/heritage domain?

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objects and events

• event-properties: time, place, actor, and type

• object-event-relations:- an object represents an event- an object is used in/functions in an event

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modeling historical narratives (1/4)

“Any term which can sensible be taken as a value for x in the expression ‘the history of x’ designates a temporal structure. Our criteria for identifying a, if a be a value of x, determines which events are to be mentioned in our history. Not to have a criterion for picking out some happenings as relevant and others as irrelevant is simply not to be in a position to write history at all.”Arthur Danto, Narration and Knowledge, (1985, p.167)

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modeling historical narratives (2/4)

“Any term which can sensible be taken as a value for x in the expression ‘the history of x’ designates a temporal structure. Our criteria for identifying a, if a be a value of x, determines which events are to be mentioned in our history. Not to have a criterion for picking out some happenings as relevant and others as irrelevant is simply not to be in a position to write history at all.”Arthur Danto, Narration and Knowledge, (1985, p.167)

history of x = temporal structure, a narrative of x

x = topic => three proto-narratives:- actor: biographical proto-narrative- concept: conceptual proto-narrative- place: topological proto-narrative

a = event property (actor, type (concept), place) corresponding to the topic -> first dimension of ordering events and their related objects

All events belonging to a narrative can be reordered on the basis of their event-properties -> second dimension of ordering events and their related objects

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modeling historical narratives (3/4)

actor event time place type Netherlands Attack Yogyakarta 19-12-1948 Indonesia DecolonizationKNIL Java Military ConflictIndon. Rep. Yogyakarta Operation Crow

Attack

Netherlands Operation Crow 19-12-1948- Indonesia DecolonizationKNIL 5-1-1949 Java Military ConflictIndon. Rep Sumatra

Netherlands Big Attack 1-3-1949 Indonesia Decolonization KNIL Java Military ConflictIndon. Rep Yogyakarta Attack

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modeling historical narratives (4/4)

• historical periods - as names of complex events/series of events- as projects-> as conceptual narratives

• structures- structures as event-types- particular events as instances of event-types-> as conceptual narratives

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Thank You

http://agora.cs.vu.nl/