Presentation of "HERITRACE: A User-Friendly Semantic Data Editor with Change Tracking and Provenance Management for Cultural Heritage Institutions" (Presented at the Una Europa PhD Workshop: Museums and new challenges)

This presentation, delivered at the Una Europa PhD Workshop "Museums and new challenges: virtual technologies, societal responsibility and environmental sustainability" (Bologna, May 5-10, 2025), introduces HERITRACE. HERITRACE is a web-based tool designed to bridge the gap between complex semantic technologies and the domain expertise of cultural heritage professionals. The system enables non-technical experts to intuitively manage semantic data, ensuring its integrity and richness. Key features include a user-friendly interface for interacting with RDF data, comprehensive provenance management documenting all metadata changes (leveraging the OpenCitations Data Model and PROV Ontology), robust change-tracking with snapshot capabilities and one-click restoration ("Time Machine" and "Time Vault" features), and flexible customization through standard languages like SHACL and YAML. The presentation outlines the core objectives, user interface, functionality, and real-world applications of HERITRACE, such as its use in the ParaText project at the University of Bologna and planned integration with OpenCitations. It also discusses future development, including RML integration for enhanced compatibility with non-RDF data formats and usability testing with GLAM professionals. HERITRACE aims to facilitate cultural heritage institutions in managing their digital collections more effectively, addressing challenges related to technologies and the need for transparent, auditable curatorial workflows.