Documentation Systems for the conservation of Architectural Heritage. Experiences in Spain and Europe

The documentation of Cultural Heritage is the act of collecting, organizing and managing the information and documentation of the assets that prove their existence. In addition, its main function is to serve as support for protection, conservation, enhancement and dissemination actions. Using the experiences of Spain and Europe, the article analyzes the history of documentary records of Architectural Heritage and the technological and methodological progress necessary to ensure that documentation systems are accessible and useful for heritage management and conservation tasks. The incorporation of international inventory and documentation standards, as well as the use of ontologies and thesauri, favours the exchange of information between databases as well as promoting their updating and maintenance. This is intended to update the national Documentation Systems in order to promote integration with other international databases and thus share knowledge between professionals from different cultural fields.