29 
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A.Sürül 3 , H. Ôzen 3 , M. Tutkun 3 
3 KTU, Department of Architecture,6 1080 Trabzon/TURKEY (ayca, ozen, m tutkun )@ktu.edu.tr 
KEY WORDS: Cultural Heritage, Recording, Documentation, Database, Digital, Web 
ABSTRACT 
Today, detailed comprehensive documentation and recording of the cultural and natural properties are the most important stage at the 
beginning of the preservation works around the world. Because of the rapid urban growth, keeping the urban identity under the 
pressure of the globalization world and the economic development has negative impacts on the cultural heritage everywhere. 
Therefore properly prepared national heritage inventory list became very important phenomenon and a social responsibility for 
preparing an acquired world cultural heritage list for developing preservation strategies and policies. 
It is knowing that broad comprehensive inventory work, interdisciplinary study group, easy accessibility in terms of sharing 
materials, producible and widespread data, definable sources, systematic and current information help to develop the sufficient and 
successful restoration works. The reliable restoration projects in the short period of time can be produced based on the concept of the 
data, methodology and with the similar or standard type of database. At the same time, the wide range usage of the computer has 
made this study avoidable nowadays. 
With the direction of the above objectives, the city of Trabzon has been selected as the case study because of its rich and diverse 
cultural heritage. The study has focused on developing an digital inventory database for documentation and recording cultural and 
natural properties. 
The results of this study help to developed reliable database can be a contribution to create the local and national digital cultural 
inventory. Further, it is an important issue to share them on the electronic or digital environment when we consider them as a 
universal cultural heritage for humanity. 
1. INTRODUCTION 
Preservation of the cultural heritage has been considered an 
important phenomenon contemporarily in many countries 
because they are collective memory of hundred years of 
civilization from the past. Objectives, techniques, methods and 
practices of the historic preservation discuss frequently at the 
national and international level last few decades as a common 
problem for many historic cities today. Thus it is important to 
define the problems and its solutions to determine how do and 
where do start a preservation work and what do protect at the 
beginning. 
The most important step at the beginning of preservation work 
is considered to have a detail documentation and recording 
process of the historic and natural heritage. Because without 
precise documentation process of the historic structure it is 
difficult to prepare a suitable restoration project for the old 
buildings and their environment. 
Today, historic cities and their cultural heritage are under the 
pressure of globalization. Identity of historic building and 
environment is cause to demolish with the rapid urban 
development and economical growth. Thus, it seems to be a 
social responsibility to create a national cultural heritage 
database to be able to create dependable historic data. So that it 
is a need to establish and to illustrate the historical significant of 
the building and of its detail. 
The objective of this study is to develop a Digital Cultural 
Heritage Database for the city of Trabzon and to provide a tool 
to share this database with other users by help of network 
facilities. Computer base inventory system will enrich various 
type of information usage about the cultural heritage both 
publicly and privately as well as individual structure and 
distinct base. 
2. DOCUMENTATION 
The short definition of documentation is to “physical recording 
of the building and its environment'’ (Kuban. 2000). According 
to another definition is “recording the visual apperance and 
assesing the realtionship of structure to near environment by 
photographic, drawing and written material” (Ahunbay, 1997). 
At the same time recording the present condition of the structure 
and its environment helps to asses the deterioration, 
demolishing, changing and threaten on the structure over the 
years and making interpretation based on this évidents. Boundry 
of documentation study depends on many factors; in what way, 
how and what percentage of it will be done and used for the 
future research. 
During the recording, the goal of historic preservation project, 
the value of the building, financial sources are take into 
consideration. Another important issue is that recording the 
present condition of the historic building without considering 
what should be (Fitch, 1990). 
The following sources can be use during the documentation and 
recording process: Old photopraph; miniature, engraving, 
sketche, painting; old maps and atlas; archeological data; local 
newspaper and other publications; tax and porperty ownership; 
personal archives; architecture drawing and project; oral 
history; travel notes; accounting, construction and repairmen! 
notebooks; site notes and observation (Ahunbay, 1999: Madran 
2001 ; Anonymous7). 
2.1. Objectives of Documentation 
“Cultural Inventory List” is aim to protect and document the 
natural and historic heritage include following objectives: 
■ Documentary value of the heritage: Architectural 
monuments are the most important evident of history.