From 8–10 April, the Annual Conference of Estonian Humanities convened nearly 600 scholars, offering a vibrant platform for intellectual exchange across disciplines. With more than 300 presentations, the event highlighted the breadth and diversity of contemporary humanities research. Among its many thematic strands, the museology working group hosted a particularly timely panel titled “What Does the Digital Heritage User Need? What Happens to Heritage After Digitisation?”, moderated by Pille Runnel, Research Director at the Estonian National Museum, our partner in Estonia.
The panel examined digital cultural heritage as a complex and evolving field shaped by the interplay of user expectations, technological innovation, institutional frameworks, and ethical considerations. Rather than treating digitisation as a purely technical process, the presentations emphasized its transformative impact on how heritage is accessed, interpreted, and valued.
Several contributions focused on user experience and meaning-making. Greete Veesalu’s provocatively titled talk highlighted the often imperfect yet valuable nature of digital collections, while Mart Alaru explored how digital heritage communicates and resonates with audiences. The intersection of youth culture and digital heritage, addressed by Pille Pruulmann-Vengerfeldt, Pille Runnel, and Maria Murumaa-Mengel, underscored the importance of engaging younger generations in culturally meaningful ways.
Other presentations tackled broader structural and ethical questions. Jaanika Vider and Tiina Vint reflected on the layered purposes and dilemmas of digitisation, while Agnes Aljas featured perspectives of the i-Game project identifying key pressures shaping digital transformation in museums. Emerging technologies also featured prominently, with Merit Maran examining the potential of AI to enable more complex interactions with digital archives.
Complementing the panel, poster presentations explored innovative directions, from the integration of digital heritage with video games to the role of GLAM institutions in fostering digital humanities. Together, these contributions framed digital cultural heritage not merely as a repository of the past, but as a dynamic societal resource with far-reaching implications for the future.