Arches: An open source GIS for the inventory and management of immovable cultural heritage

Abstract

The Getty Conservation Institute (GCI) and World Monuments Fund (WMF) are collaboratively developing for the international heritage field an open source, web-based GIS purpose-built for inventorying and managing immovable cultural heritage. GCI-WMF will release an alpha version of the Arches system as an open source project in December 2012, and a more advanced beta version in spring 2013. In parallel to its development for the heritage field, Arches is being customized for use by the City of Los Angeles, USA. It incorporates widely adopted standards (for heritage inventories, heritage data, and information technology) so the core system will offer a solid foundation that heritage institutions may customize to meet their needs. As an open source system, Arches will be available at no cost, and will allow adopters to share resources to enhance it in mutually beneficial ways as well as maintain it. © 2012 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.