A Case Study for the Development of Methods to Improve User Engagement with Digital Cultural Heritage Collections

The aim of this paper is to report the results of an ongoing project that deals with the exploitation of a digital archive of drawings and illustrations of historic documents for research and educational purposes. A prototype system, called IPSA (Imaginum Patavinae Scientiae Archivum), has been developed and is currently used as a case study to provide innovative tools for researchers and scholars active in the preservation and dissemination of cultural heritage. After describing the initial user requirements that motivated the development of IPSA, we focus on the research questions that can be addressed by new system functions and on its extension to additional user groups, including students, experts in other domains, and the general public.