Skip to content

‹H/RADIOSA›: Recommended Approaches for the Development of Interoperable Open Semantic Artefacts in the Heritage Domain

‹H/RADIOSA› is an initiative that provides actionable guidelines and best practices for the development of Semantic Artefacts in the Heritage field(1). It aims to support both domain experts and non-specialists in creating and using high-quality, interoperable resources that comply with FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) and Linked Data principles. Inspired by the OBO Foundry—a community of biological and biomedical experts dedicated to harmonizing domain ontologies and promoting good practices—RADIOSA seeks to address similar needs within the Heritage sector.

  1. Semantic Artefacts (SAs) comprise ontologies, thesauri, metadata standards, and any resources that sit at the crossroads of these categories. The term Heritage Semantic Artefact (HSA) is used here to denote those SAs that are specifically developed for the Heritage domain.

Why It Matters

Heritage Semantic Artefacts are often created in isolation and exhibit uneven quality standards, with many lacking long-term maintenance or basic features (such as derefenceable URIs). Fragmentation makes it difficult for Heritage professionals to keep pace with the ever‑growing array of initiatives, networks, and outputs emerging in and outsite the field, as well as with the increasing demand for interoperable and sustainable digital products—an essential element of the data‑driven science agenda promoted by recent European programmes such as the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC).

The H‑SeTIS survey(1) highlighted the urgency of addressing this gap. In response, ‹H/RADIOSA› is taking the first concrete steps. By translating these critical issues into actionable recommendations, ‹H/RADIOSA› invites researchers and end‑users alike to adopt best practices and accelerate the creation of high‑quality, standards‑compliant Semantic Artefacts. This project leverages data collected through our broader initiative portfolio to offer tools that mitigate fragmentation and help Heritage professionals stay abreast of emerging trends in Semantic Artefact development.

  1. On the results of our survey and the description of H-SeTIS, see Scarpa and Valente (2024), “A Resource Hub for Interoperability and Data Integration in Heritage Research: The H-SeTIS Database”, Archeologia e Calcolatori 35, 543–62, (10.19282/ac.35.1.2024.32), and Scarpa, Valente, and Rossi (2025), “Modeling an Ontology for Heritage Science: Challenges and Key Strategies.” in Proceedings Del XIV Convegno Annuale AIUCD2025 (10.6092/unibo/amsacta/8380).

Authors

The ‹H/RADIOSA› initiative is currently led by Erica Scarpa(1), Riccardo Valente(2), and Irene Rossi(3). If you would like to contribute, share suggestions, or provide feedback, please open an issue in the GitLab repository.

  1. ORCID, GitLab.
  2. ORCID, GitLab.
  3. ORCID.

How to Cite

You can cite the paper we wrote to promote the initiative(1) or the PDF version of this website(2).

  1. Scarpa, E., Valente, R., & Rossi, I. (2025). H/RADIOSA: Recommended Approaches for the Development of Interoperable Open Semantic Artefacts in the Heritage Domain. DH2025 - Digital Heritage International Congress 2025. https://doi.org/10.2312/dh.20253041
  2. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17119160.