Chasing the unicorn?: The quest for "essence" in digital heritage

This chapter examines one of the proclaimed goals of digital heritage development, namely the recording and preservation of the "essence" of both tangible and intangible heritage. It will argue that heritage is, by its nature, a social activity embedded in a changing contemporary context and that the challenge for digital heritage is to facilitate that activity, rather than establish a definitive simulacrum of the Past. New socioeconomic developments in the field of heritage will be described, with particular emphasis on the role of the digital technologies. The chapter will close with a cautionary example of problematic digital "authenticity.".