Guest Editorial

For quite some time, libraries, document and historical centers from opposite corners of the world have been the caretakers of our rich and assorted social legacy. They have protected and furnished access to the testimonies of knowledge, beauty and inspiration, such as sculptures, paintings, music and literature. The new information technologies have created unbelievable opportunities to make this common heritage more accessible for all. Culture is following the digital path and “memory institutions” are adapting the way in which they communicate with their public. Multimedia technologies have recently created the conditions for a true revolution in the cultural heritage area, with reference to the study, valorization, and fruition of artistic works. New multimedia technologies shall be able to be utilized to plan unique approaches to the perception and fulfillment of the masterful legacy, for instance, through smart cultural objects and new interfaces with the backing of items such as story-telling, gaming and learning. All the plurality of masterpieces (paintings, books, manuscripts, even photos of sculptures and architecture) can be effectively embedded into a unique ``paradigm'' through digitization. This allows a significant reduction in costs, an enormous expansion of public accessibility (and therefore income), and at the same time a tremendous freedom for data elaboration. In brief, digitization enhances pleasure for the public and usefulness to experts on cultural heritage assets. This special issue was organized following the success of the First International Workshop on Multimedia for Cultural Heritage (MM4CH 2011) which was held on May 2011 in Modena, Italy, with the aim of creating a profitable informal working day to discuss hot topics in multimedia, with specific application to cultural heritage. After the workshop an open call for paper was distributed and we collected 18 submission, of which 7 were extended versions of the originating workshop. After two rounds of review 11 papers were accepted for the special issue, 8 as full