Leveraging collective intelligence: from univocal to multivocal representation of cultural heritage

TLDR: It is argued that to support vibrant and effective crowdsourcing communities while ensuring the quality of the work of crowdsourcing project volunteers it is essential to reevaluate and transform the traditional univocal, top-down approach to representation and organization.

Abstract: Purpose After reviewing cultural heritage institutions; crowdsourcing initiatives and tension between univocal and multivocal views of those who interact with cultural expressions, this paper argues that to support vibrant and effective crowdsourcing communities while ensuring the quality of the work of crowdsourcing project volunteers it is essential to reevaluate and transform the traditional univocal, top-down approach to representation and organization. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach This conceptual paper applies Foucault’s power–knowledge construct and theories of representation to the processes and practices employed in cultural heritage crowdsourcing projects. Findings Viewed through the Foucauldian lens, cultural heritage professionals are regarded as active parts of the power–knowledge relationship due to their direct engagement in the representation, organization and dissemination of knowledge, exercised not only through the traditional role of cultural heritage institutions as gatekeepers of knowledge but, more importantly, through the power of representation and organization of the cultural heritage. Originality/value This paper provides a theoretical understanding of cultural heritage crowdsourcing initiatives and proposes a framework for multivocal representation of cultural heritage expressions in which the voices of volunteers have the same validity as the voices of cultural heritage professionals.