Between policy and practice: a scoping review of the literature on national strategies for digital cultural heritage in the GLAM sector

Purpose This study examines how national strategies for digital cultural heritage are conceptualised and implemented across the GLAM sector, and whether European policy ambitions concerning access, interoperability, shared infrastructures and coordinated governance are reflected in academic research and institutional practice. Design/methodology/approach The study combines a qualitative documentary analysis of key European policy documents published between 2005 and 2025 with a scoping review conducted according to PRISMA-ScR guidelines. Searches in Scopus and Web of Science identified 501 records, of which 44 publications were included. Findings European policy frameworks converge around four strategic axes, namely cultural rights and people-centred access, digitisation, access and reuse, interoperability and metadata quality, and coordinated governance. However, the literature lacks a stable definition of national strategy. Two governance approaches are identified, ranging from top-down regulation to participatory and community-oriented governance, alongside an aggregation-based infrastructural model through which national coordination is translated into shared access. These dimensions are not mutually exclusive, since aggregation infrastructures may operate under centralised, participatory or hybrid arrangements. Implementation is constrained by legal barriers, unstable funding, limited organisational capacity and digital skills, fragmentation across GLAM sectors and technical and interoperability challenges. Standards, linked data and emerging technologies are widely promoted, but their practical adoption remains uneven. Originality/value By integrating policy analysis with a scoping review, the study provides an integrated analytical synthesis of national digital cultural heritage strategies. It connects governance, infrastructures, standards and institutional capacity and explains why technological progress alone has not produced coherent, sustainable and inclusive national digital heritage ecosystems.