Call to action: Travelling Memories

“Travelling Memories” – PhD research study on Local Time Machine projects

Call for Local Time Machine project coordinators to participate

Zane Putnina from the PhD Programme in Heritage Studies at the Brandenburg University of Technology Cottbus-Senftenberg, conducts an ongoing study on the concept of “Travelling Memories” in the Local Time Machine ecosystem. She warmly invites the coordinators of our Local Time Machine projects to participate in this study by filling out an online survey questionnaire and possibly being available for semi-structural interviews.

Call to participate

Zane Putnina has been in touch with the Time Machine team for a while now and presented her PhD research project on the Local Time Machine project network at the Time Machine Conference 2021. Within this context she presented her survey questionnaire for the first time: This questionnaire is tailored specifically to our Local Time Machine project coordinators – not only for her to gather information crucial for the accuracy of her research project but the provided information will in turn also inform our Local Time Machine ecosystem on where it stands in comparison to other similar ecosystems and provide more detailed insight into the Local Time Machine landscape.

About the survey

This dissertation project aims to create an overview. In practical terms – what kind of projects are part of the Local Time Machine (LTM) project network in the early years of the Time Machine Organisation. On the conceptual level – what is digital Cultural Heritage as practiced within the LTM project network and how are the memories of cultural heritage traveling from analogue into the digital world of LTM projects. Using Prof. Dr. Astrid Erlls’ “Travelling Memories” concept (2011), this survey specifically aims to inspect the memory travels in the framework of individual LTM projects in order to find out what has remained of the source memory and what has significantly altered. As defined by Erll, the five dimensions within which memories can travel are – their carriers, their media, their content stories, their practices of access and the forms used within. 

You can reach the online survey questionnaire via the button below.

Interview with Zane Putnina on her research study

Research question – Conceptual framework

Zane Putnina summarises her academic endeavour as follows:

“To the best of my knowledge, there is yet a comprehensive account of the history and contemporary uses, characteristics, and key players of the concept of digital Cultural Heritage to be conducted. It is also crucially important to map and document exactly how this slow revolution from analogue to a world of digital Cultural Heritage is happening to be conscious about what is being gained as well as lost in the digital making and experiencing of heritage and the implications thereof.

Firstly, it is needed to understand the conceptual thinking thus far as to what has been and is digital Cultural Heritage, what is the Time Machine Organisation and Local Time Machine projects´ role within.
Secondly, to develop an understanding of how the move from analogue to digital heritage worlds is happening and how digital Cultural Heritage differs from previous heritage memory environments. Thirdly, to investigate how the coming digital Cultural Heritage 4D Mirror World will change the neighbouring knowledge fields of History, Memory and Media, as well as Heritage Studies.

The ensuing guiding research questions are as follows:

  1. What is the history of the digital Cultural Heritage concept? What are the fields current key characteristics and players? What is the role of TMO within the landscape?
  2. In the context of digital Cultural Heritage and LTM projects – who is doing the creating, with what kinds of tools and access practices, filled with what kind of content? How do all these aspects differ from previous media modes of heritage memory construction – their (mainly) analogue sources?
  3. What are the implications thereof from the perspective of the neighbouring knowledge fields of History, Memory and Media, as well as Heritage Studies?”

Read the full abstract “Digital Cultural Heritage and the Local Time Machine Project Network. A Conceptual Framework” for further information by clicking on the button below.


Contact details

For more information on Zane’s PhD research project and/or the survey questionnaire, please see her presentation from the Time Machine Conference 2021 and/or our most recent interview on her updated research perspective.  

Zane Putnina can also be reached via e-mail: Zane.Putnina[at]b-tu.de
She is happy to answer any questions there might be and is looking forward to engaging in discussions on Local Time Machine projects.