CHIN
Data Dictionaries
The CHIN Data Dictionaries (Humanities, Natural Sciences,
and Archaeological Sites) contain a description of units of
information for museum collection and archaeological site documentation
and management. Each data field in the CHIN Data Dictionaries
is described by a field label, a mnemonic, a name, a definition,
entry rules, related fields, a data type, examples, a discipline,
and a source. The CHIN Data Dictionaries are used:
- as a guideline for Canadian institutions that contribute
collections data to CHIN's Artefacts Canada and Virtual
Museum of Canada Image Gallery
- as guidelines for institutions developing or modifying a
collections management system
- to help cataloguers record information consistently, or
to help users of collections databases with search strategies.
The CHIN Data Dictionaries
are not a data structure for use in a collections management
system, but they can be used as the basis for such a structure.
They can be used by a wide range of museums to help them to
identify their institution's information needs and standardize
their documentation. They include fields for describing objects,
specimens, and archaeological sites, as well as fields for collections
management. CHIN's Data Dictionaries have been used by
Canadian museums since the 1970s and are still used by many
museums for contributing to Artefacts Canada and the
Virtual Museum of Canada, to design collections management
systems, and to standardize cataloguing. The CHIN Data Dictionaries
can be mapped to SPECTRUM or to the
CIDOC Guidelines for Museum Object Information.
CHIN has completed a mapping between
selected fields of the Humanities Data Dictionary and other
international standards. The CHIN Data Dictionaries are
also available in French.
SPECTRUM
(Standard ProcEdures for CollecTions Recording Used in Museums)
Created by the mda
(previously the Museum Documentation Association) in the UK,
SPECTRUM is a guide to "good practice for museum documentation,
established in partnership with the museum community. It contains
procedures for documenting objects and the processes they undergo,
as well as identifying and describing the information which
needs to be recorded to support the procedures"1.
It includes information on the minimum UK standard for museum
documentation. A simplified version, called SPECTRUM Essentials,
is available for smaller museums. SPECTRUM is a well-respected
standard internationally, and is increasingly used as the basis
for international interchange of museum data. An XML
DTD has
been produced for SPECTRUM which serves as a system-neutral
interchange format for museum data that is based on SPECTRUM.
The SPECTRUM XML DTD is intended to be a universal interchange format
for museum collections management systems that are based on
SPECTRUM or that can map to SPECTRUM. The SPECTRUM
XML DTD "will allow different collections management systems
to exchange complete museum records that are compliant with
the SPECTRUM standard. It will also provide a means for
testing software compliance and archiving records"2
in a system-neutral form. The mda has now completed a project to map the information requirements of several major archival description standards to SPECTRUM's units of information. Further information on SPECTRUM and archival collections is available on the mda Web site. SPECTRUM is available in English
only; it can be ordered
in paper or electronic format from mda.
CIDOC
Guidelines for Museum Object Information: The CIDOC Information
Categories
Developed by the International Committee for Documentation (CIDOC)
of the International Council of Museums (ICOM), the Guidelines
include information categories for collections management as
well as object description. The Guidelines make recommendations
for syntax or format, and controlled vocabularies. The CHIN
Humanities Data Dictionary was among many documents consulted
in the creation of the CIDOC Guidelines. The CIDOC Guidelines
are recommended as the basis for an international standard,
as the basis for new national standards if there are no current
standards in a country, and as a intermediary when comparing
(mapping between) existing museum information standards. The
CIDOC Guidelines are available only in English. An object-oriented
model called the
CIDOC Conceptual Reference Model, or CIDOC CRM) based on
the CIDOC Guidelines has been developed to facilitate
interchange of museum information.
Comment gérer vos collections ? Le guide de gestion du
Réseau Info-Muse - Deuxième édition
This guide developed by the Réseau Info-Muse of the Société
des musées québécois (SMQ) includes a description of museum
processes such as acquisition, loans in and out, and deaccessioning,
and the fields required to document these processes. Includes
fields for documentation of photographic reproductions, digital
images, and rights. Available in print
format. Available in French only.