Collections documentation standards

Museums in Canada that are documenting their historical collections in English generally use either Nomenclature, or the Parks Canada Classification System. This paper will provide an overview and comparison of these two North American standards, and guide museums in their choice.

Browse the Artefacts Canada database, containing approximately 5 million object records and 1 million images from Canadian museums.

Artists in Canada, compiled and maintained by the National Gallery of Canada Library, is a bilingual union list that identifies the location of documentation files on Canadian artists. Libraries and art galleries across Canada have contributed biographical information and lists of their documentation files to create this resource which contains information for more than 55,000 artists. Each record includes: - biographical information on the artist - artist technique - name variants Available in English and French.

The Canadian Heritage Information Network's Data Dictionaries for the Humanities and Natural Sciences have proven to be valuable reference tools for the management of museum and gallery collections information. A data dictionary defines all the categories or types of information in a database. 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. Each data field in the CHIN Data Dictionaries is described by a field label, a mnemonic, and a name. Fields include a definition, entry rules, related fields, a data type, examples, a discipline, authority lists, a source, and other information. The CHIN Data Dictionaries are used: - as the standard for Canadian institutions that contribute collections data to CHIN's Artefacts Canada; - as guidelines for institutions which are developing or modifying a collections management system; - to promote the consistent recording of information by cataloguers, or to provide users of collections databases with search strategies.

This guide contains basic information on why museum documentation standards are important, describes the main types of standards and how they are used in Canadian museums, and provides users with access to the standards. Users can learn about standards at a basic level, or find detailed information as required. Includes standards that are required or recommended by CHIN for Artefacts Canada contribution, as well as other standards that are commonly used by Canadian museums. This Guide includes standards for metadata, vocabulary and classification, data content, data exchange, and museum procedures. It includes standards from a wide variety of disciplines (e.g. Art & Visual Resources; History & Ethnology; Education) and includes both general standards (e.g. Dublin Core) and highly specialized standards (e.g. the ICOM Costume Classification). The following sections are included: - Introduction - Metadata (Data Structure Standards) - Vocabulary (Data Value Standards) - Cataloguing Rules (Data Content Standards) - Interchange (Data Format Standards) - Procedural Standards Available in English and French.

The course entitled Introduction to Documentation of Heritage Collections allows you to acquire a fundamental knowledge and to develop the required competency levels needed to successfully carry out a collections documentation project in your institution. This introductory course on the documentation of heritage collections will allow you to: - learn basic theoretical concepts on the documentation of heritage collections; - identify the available tools and recommended ways of documenting collections efficiently; - use appropriate criteria to make informed choices that are adapted to your specific needs. Available in French and English.

Museums are managing their collections documentation in an increasingly networked environment, and are facing ever-changing user expectations for information access and interaction. In this context, the role and importance of museum documentation standards has grown, as data standardization and sharing become key. There are many recent developments in documentation standards for museums, and Canadian museums and the Canadian Heritage Information Network (CHIN) have contributed extensively to the development of these standards. This paper provides an overview of key museum documentation standards used in Canada, and describes some new developments. Originally published in French in the journal Documentation et bibliothèques (58 : 3, July-September 2012), it has been published here with the editor’s authorization, the Association pour l’avancement des sciences techniques de la documentation (ASTED)

Various international research groups have been formed to facilitate the acquisition and long-term management of media artworks. Based in Montreal, the DOCAM Research Alliance (Documentation and Conservation of the Media Arts Heritage) is made up of researchers in cultural organizations and universities. In collaboration with the DOCAM Research Alliance, the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (MMFA) has developed documentation and conservation methods adapted to media artworks in museums and identified the ethical issues associated with them.

Parks Canada and CHIN have collaborated to create this Web version of the Parks Canada Descriptive and Visual Dictionary of Objects (Parks DVD). The Descriptive and Visual Dictionary of Objects is a bilingual museum classification system and vocabulary standard used in Canada for humanities collections. It helps museums cataloguing collections to identify, name, and classify objects using definitions and illustrations. This classification system is based on an object's original function (the purpose for which the object was created). Museums can consult the Parks Canada Descriptive and Visual Dictionary of Objects online, navigating through the hierarchical classification structure, or searching for definitions of categories, classes or object terms. Images and descriptions of many terms are included.