A History of Digitization: Dutch Museums a History of Digitization: Trilce Navarrete
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A History of Digitization: Dutch Museums A History of Digitization: Trilce Navarrete This study documented four main changes in museums’ information Dutch Museums processes brought by digitization of collections: (1) collection registration Trilce Navarrete Trilce Navarrete had a marginal and supporting role in the museum organization prior to the adoption of a digital work form, digitization positioned collection information processes at the core of the organization, overarching and supporting all other processes; (2) these processes were exclusively institutional in nature (collection information inside the museum walls), eventually expanding to become cross-institutional collaborating processes (networked information across sectors); (3) digitization Dutch Museums changed the goal of all information : processes from controlling content to communicating with the user; and (4) information production, dissemination and to a certain degree use was monopolized by professionals, digitization enabled a democratization of participation by all types of users throughout the collection information production process. A History of Digitization 2014_1022_MaxK_cover_HistDigitiz_TN_363x240.indd 1 10/22/14 2:33 PM A History of Digitization: Dutch Museums i © 2014 by Trilce Navarrete Cover design © 2014 by Max Kisman This book was printed and bound by Off Page ISBN 978-94-6182-516-2 NUR 657 A History of Digitization: Dutch Museums ACADEMISCH PROEFSCHRIFT ter verkrijging van de graad van doctor aan de University of Amsterdam op gezag van de Rector Magnificus Prof. Van den Boom ten overstaan van een door het college voor promoties ingestelde commissie, in het openbaar te verdedigen in de Aula der Universiteit op woensdag 10 december 2014, te 11:00 uur door Trilce Navarrete Hernández geboren te Mexico Stad, Mexico. Promotores: Prof. dr. J.S. Mackenzie Owen Prof. dr. T.H.P.M. Thomassen Overige leden: Dr. P. Alkhoven Prof. dr. R. Boast Prof. dr. R. Ekkart Prof. dr. S. Legêne Prof. dr. C.J. Zandvliet Faculteit: Geesteswetenschapen Table of Contents LIST OF TABLES .................................................................................................................................................................. I LIST OF ACRONYMS .......................................................................................................................................................... III LIST OF MUSEUMS ............................................................................................................................................................. VI 1. INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................................................................. 1 1.1 How to read this book ......................................................................................................................................... 2 1.2 Methodology ............................................................................................................................................................ 4 2. MUSEUMS ADOPT COMPUTERS ................................................................................................................................... 8 2.1 How it all started ................................................................................................................................................... 9 2.2 The MARDOC years ............................................................................................................................................ 14 2.3 Organizational transformation ................................................................................................................... 31 2.4 Presentation of collections and exploration of the WWW .............................................................. 40 2.5 Wide use of online platforms ........................................................................................................................ 47 2.6 Public participation .......................................................................................................................................... 52 2.7 3D, AR and VR projects .................................................................................................................................... 56 2.8 Conclusions ............................................................................................................................................................ 61 3. MUSEUMS WORKING TOGETHER ............................................................................................................................. 66 3.1 SVCN and the ethnographic collections ................................................................................................... 66 3.2 SIMIN and the Museum Association Shaping the Registrar’s position ...................................... 70 3.3 MusIP and the first overview of the nation’s heritage assets ........................................................ 76 3.4 NCDD, CCDD and the protection of past investment ......................................................................... 82 3.5 Conclusions ............................................................................................................................................................ 87 4. NATIONAL EFFORTS TOWARDS DIGITIZATION OF COLLECTIONS ....................................................................... 90 4.1 The Museum Sector ........................................................................................................................................... 90 4.2 Museum policy ..................................................................................................................................................... 93 4.3 The crisis of the 1980s ...................................................................................................................................... 95 4.4 SMA, supporting national coordination .................................................................................................. 99 4.5 The PC‐Museum Project, a jump‐start ................................................................................................... 106 4.6 The Delta Plan for the Preservation of Cultural Heritage national inventory ................... 108 4.7 Policies for the new millennium ............................................................................................................... 119 4.8 Public private initiatives .............................................................................................................................. 130 4.9 Instruments of the Ministry of Culture .................................................................................................. 134 4.10 Conclusions ...................................................................................................................................................... 146 5. INTERNATIONAL INITIATIVES ............................................................................................................................... 150 5.1 Early organizations and first influences .............................................................................................. 150 5.2 The Framework Programs of the European Commission ............................................................ 155 5.3 Initiatives of the European Commission for digitization .............................................................. 168 5.4 Statistics on digital activities ..................................................................................................................... 171 5.6 Conclusions ......................................................................................................................................................... 180 6. BECOMING DIGITAL: THE HISTORY OF ADOPTING COMPUTERS IN MUSEUMS ............................................... 185 6.1 Users and technology ................................................................................................................................. 186 6.2 The variety in museums ............................................................................................................................ 191 6.3 Getting into the Network .......................................................................................................................... 194 6.4 Choosing the right technology ............................................................................................................... 201 6.5 A new heritage information space ....................................................................................................... 204 6.6 The value of information .......................................................................................................................... 210 6.7. Conclusions .................................................................................................................................................... 213 NEDERLANDSE SAMENVATTING ................................................................................................................................ 216 ENGLISH SUMMARY ..................................................................................................................................................... 223 TABLES .........................................................................................................................................................................