Mapping the Intellectual Structure in Cultural Heritage Conservation: Co-Occurrence Analysis

The purpose of the present research is to map the intellectual structure of the subject categories of Cultural Heritage Conservation articles indexed in the AATA online database.

This applied research was conducted using clustering and Co-occurrence Analysis. The statistical population for the research includes all subject categories of articles indexed in the AATA database from 1800 to 2020. The "Ward" method was utilized for hierarchical clustering. Data analysis was carried out using Excel and SPSS software. VOSviewer, UCINET, and RavarPrimap software were employed to visualize the co-occurrence network of topics.

The results revealed that the subject of "architectural conservation" was the most frequent topic. The topics "pigments, colors, and paintings", "archaeological conservation and "preventive conservation, and general topics" were ranked second to fourth with frequencies of 15517, 14063, and 11518, respectively. The pair "Architecture Protection**Stone and related construction materials" was the most common theme in terms of co-occurrence. Additionally, the pairs "Archaeological Conservation** Ceramics, Glass, and Glaze" and "Archaeological Conservation** Metals and Metallurgical Byproducts" were ranked second and third with 2099 and 273 repetitions, respectively. Hierarchical clustering, using the "Ward" method, resulted in the formation of 8 thematic clusters. The cluster "Studies focused on the type of protected material included 49 topics, was the largest cluster. Other clusters included "theories and history" with 8 topics, "knowledge of techniques and materials and evaluation of treatment methods" with 26 subjects, "emergency Restoration and Risk Analysis" with 20 topics, "Archaeological Conservation and Conservation Studies of Egypt" with 15 topics, "pathology and conservation of earthen architecture" with 14 topics, "Historical Concrete (Sarouj) 5 topics, and "Historical Conservation Resources" with 5 topics.

"Architectural Conservation, "Pigments, Paints, and Paintings, "Archaeological Conservation, and "Preventive Conservation" were among the topics of interest in the field of cultural heritage conservation. The results of the co-occurrence analysis showed that the clusters of "Identification techniques and materials and evaluation of treatment methods" and "Historic Conservation Resources" were considered central, mature, and well-developed. These clusters have played a central role in cultural heritage conservation research. The clusters of "Archaeological Conservation and Conservation Studies of Egypt" and "Pathology and Conservation of Earthen Architecture" were not central but considered well-developed clusters. Although the clusters "Studies focused on the type of protected materials" and "Emergency conservation and risk assessment central role in cultural heritage conservation research, they were deemed immature. The clusters "Theories and History" and "Historical Concrete" received less attention in research.The results of mapping the intellectual structure using co-occurrence analysis showed that the highest centrality degree was assigned to thematic categories of "Archaeological Conservation, "Pigments, Paints, and Paintings, and "Architectural Conservation. This means that these subject areas had the most influence on the map. Consequently, these areas were deemed crucial in the thematic structure of the field of cultural heritage conservation. Betweenness centrality also indicates the importance of a node in terms of its position on the map and information transmission in the network. According to the results, the subject categories with the highest centrality were "metals and metallurgical products, "preventive protection and general issues, and "non-cellular natural organic materials (resins, varnish, wax, gum, oils...). these thematic categories played a significant role in information transmission in the thematic network of cultural heritage conservation. Conversely, the centrality index of the issues in the field of cultural heritage conservation was very similar. This outcome suggests that different topics have a similar level of influence in the network.