Web-GIS approach to preventive conservation of heritage buildings

Abstract The effective implementation of preventive conservation approaches demands the employment of standardized and robust tools able to integrate the data coming from multiple sources, inspection and diagnosis techniques, as well as to ensure the proper information transfer between expert and non-expert users. Aiming to make a step forward in the state of the art of current conservation approaches, a cutting edge Web-GIS technology resorting to the intuitiveness of 360° panoramas and 3D point clouds in combination with the Internet of Things is presented in this work, demonstrating how physical and digital worlds can be linked for proper documentation and management of cultural heritage. To validate such a pioneering approach, one of the most representative and complex heritage buildings of Spain is used as a case study: the General Historical Library of Salamanca.