Telematics in historical survey and documentation projects: a report of work in progress

This paper describes current research activities oriented towards the development of an innovative methodology for survey and documentation activities in buildings that owing to their general characteristics challenge the use of traditional survey and documentation methodologies. In particular, the specific project of the survey and documentation of the Abbey of Valmagne in southern France is presented as an example of the use of telematics for conducting geographically distributed activities within a methodology specially designed for projects in which the location and complexity of historical structures poses a dramatic challenge. The paper ends by addressing a number of conclusions that can be applied to a general framework and their relation with future research and development work in this field.