news 1| 2008

NEWSLETTER OF THE NETWORK OF EUROPEAN ORGANISATIONS Digitisation in European Photo © Thorsten Siegmann Digitisation of museum objects at the bpk-images Archive, Berlin

stated in August 2006, efforts in this Libraries are leading the way in Equal access assures all area will contribute to Europe’s digitisation but in order to have a “ competitiveness and support European complete overview of our cultural European citizens oppor- Union action in the cultural field. heritage we need to include archives tunities to explore their Firstly, material from different cultures and museums in this process, too. A lot common cultural heritage. and in different languages will be avail- of museums have already created able online for citizens, and thereby fos- digitised information about the cultural ter awareness of their respective nation- heritage in their care. al cultural heritage and the heritage of Digitisation of cultural and scientific other European countries. EUROPEANA heritage is currently one of the main will contribute to presenting Europe’s Museums play a central focuses of the European Cultural rich and diverse heritage on the Internet “ Agenda. and to protecting cultural objects from role in promoting culture Member States are engaged in various irrevocable loss. and preserving European ongoing initiatives to digitise the content Secondly, the cultural heritage sector will of their archives, libraries and museums benefit from the digitisation process. cultural heritage. and make it accessible online. Contribu- Thirdly, such activities will contribute to tors have to date made varying levels of enhancing growth in related sectors progress. such as tourism, education and media. NEMO’s role in the digitisation context is EUROPEANA was conceived as a The initiative to ‘make the wealth of two-fold: it gathers and distributes news multilingual point of access to Europe’s material in Europe’s libraries, museums about EU digital initiatives that concern digital cultural heritage, capable of and archives accessible to all’ stems museums, and provides information storing data on all types of cultural from Viviane Reding, European about successful museum digitisation material (texts, audiovisual media, Commissioner for the Information projects on its website. museum objects, archival records etc.) Society and Media. The first steps to In doing so, NEMO seeks to encourage and delivering it to users. The initiative’s launch this initiative were taken following museums to take an active part in the aim is to enable all Europeans to access a recommendation on the digitisation digitisation process and make their Europe’s collective memory and use it and online accessibility of cultural treasures visible online. for education, work, leisure and material made by the European creativity. As the European Commission Commission on 24th August 2006. By | Monika Hagedorn-Saupe news 2 1| 2008

The European Agenda for Culture The first ever EU Cultural Strategy The European Agenda for Page 2 Culture In November 2007 the EU finally is the third set of objectives. As a party A Letter from the NEMO Page 3 adopted the ‘European Agenda for to the UNESCO Convention on the Chairwoman Culture’. This affirms the central role of Protection and the Promotion of the NEMO Activities culture in the process of European Diversity of Cultural Expressions, the EU The i2010-Strategy Page 4 integration and proposes a cultural is committed to developing a new and Digitisation Projects in Page 5 agenda for Europe and for Europe’s more active cultural role for Europe in Europe relations with non-European countries. It international relations, and to integrating An Interview with Viviane Page 6 was adopted in the wake of an extensive the cultural dimension as a vital Reding consultation process involving decision- component of Europe’s dealings with EUROPEANA Page 8 makers and interested parties from all partner countries and regions. over Europe. A fundamental feature of the new European Museums and Page 9 policy stance is the proposal to the ICT Three common sets of objectives introduce a more structured system of European Museum Page 10 were identified as being crucial to cooperation among Member States and Landscapes Europe’s cultural development: 1. cultural diversity and intercultural EU institutions on cultural matters, which About: Page 12 dialogue is based on the ‘open method of coordi- 2. culture as a catalyst for nation’ (OMC). This intergovernmental, creativity voluntary and flexible instrument is 3. culture as a key component in intended to stimulate Member States to international relations. NEMO – The Network of European Museum reflect, converse and exchange ideas on Organisations is an independent network Under the first set of objectives, the a number of key policy issues. representing the European museum com- Union and all other stakeholders are to In addition to experts nominated by munity. For more information about NEMO, work together to foster intercultural Member States, civil society stake- visit: www.ne-mo.org dialogue and ensure that the EU’s cultural holders were invited to Brussels on news diversity is understood, respected and 19 February 2008, to contribute to the is produced by the promoted. To do so they should, for European Agenda for Culture by German Museums Association example, seek to enhance the cross- participating in three different platforms Editor: Julia Pagel border mobility of artists and workers in covering the topics: Intercultural Picture Research: André Wipper the cultural sector and the cross-border Dialogue, Access to Culture and Contributors: Christophe Dessaux, Monika dissemination of works of art. Creative Industries. Hagedorn-Saupe, Mechtild Kronenberg, Vera Neukirchen, Maria Teresa Natale, Frank The second set of objectives focuses Maier-Solgk, Dragos Eduard Neamu, on the promotion of culture as a catalyst NEMO participates in the platform Jonathan Purday for creativity in the framework of the “Access to Culture” as a spokes- person for European museums and Design: Hannu Rinne Lisbon Strategy for growth and jobs. Proofreading an T

One key objective of current European Another topic that NEMO is focusing policy is to make the content and on is the role of museums regarding digitally preserved material of archives, the Lifelong Learning. Many institutions museums and libraries more widely are already dealing with this issue as available – thereby taking into account opportunities for informal learning are the right of all European citizens to becoming increasingly important. A equal access to their cultural heritage. general introduction to adult learning, In support of this policy, cultural presentations of case studies and institutions throughout Europe have examples of good practice, and an In addition, various internal NEMO started to convert their ‘analogue’ overview of the funding opportunities issues and other subjects relevant to collections into digital form. So, in available to museums in the framework European museums will be discussed. March 2008, as a means of encouraging of the European Union’s Grundtvig NEMO is also looking forward to museums in particular to participate in Programme will be the focus of this presenting an account of its European this digitisation process and facilitate year’s NEMO annual meeting, to be activities during the last year. An direct access to Europe’s cultural held in Ljubljana/Slovenia from 28th to important step was its participation in heritage, NEMO published the brochure 30th November 2008. In keeping with the EU Structured Dialogue via the “Digitisation in European Museums”. this topic, the meeting will open its Civil Society Platforms, which As well as outlining the advantages of doors to the public for the first time contribute to shaping European cultural digitisation for museums, the brochure ever, the idea being to let the European policy. NEMO will continue to draw on lists a number of ongoing projects and – or, in this case, Slovenian – museum the expertise and experience of the initiatives that museums can join in community benefit from the experience European museum community it order to actively take part in the and debate of the meeting’s represents to inject vital input into these digitisation of heritage objects. participants. debates. By | Mechtild Kronenberg

NEMO Activities NEMO Standard Loan Agreement Online-Toolkit

After two years of work the NEMO Standard Loan Agreement was officially launched at the Annual Meeting in Riga/Latvia in November 2007. It is applicable to all kinds of museums and seeks to encourage them to increase their activities regarding the lending and borrowing of works of arts throughout Europe. To facilitate use of the document by every museum in Europe, NEMO has developed an online-toolkit that will enable museums – both as lenders and borrowers – to create their individual loan document online, in accordance with the specific conditions and requirements of each museum and each object. To help users work with the standard English version, NEMO will provide convenient translations of the document into most European languages. At present the document is available in Danish, Dutch, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Italian, Latvian, Polish, Romanian, Russian and Spanish. The online-toolkit and the loan document are available at: www.ne-mo.org

NEMO Brochure on “Digitisation in European Museums”

NEMO has undertaken to promote the digitisation of cultural and scientific heritage in European museums and therefore produced an information brochure for museums, which was published in March 2008. It contains up-to-date information on the progress of various digitisation projects and on national and European Union digitisation policies and funding opportunities.

The brochure is available at www.ne-mo.org in pdf-format. A print version can be ordered at [email protected] news 4 1| 2008 The i2010-Strategy A European policy framework for digitisation of cultural heritage in Europe

The i2010 strategy, presented by the 1. to create a ‘Single European The third aim promotes an inclusive European Commission in June 2005, Information Space’ that promotes an European Information Society, supported sets out the EU policy framework for the open and competitive internal by efficient and user-friendly ICT-enabled information society and media up to the market for information society and public services. This includes proposals year 2010. It promotes the contribution media services, to make online access to and use of of information and communication 2. to strengthen investment and Europe’s diverse cultural and scientific technologies (ICT) to the economy, innovation in ICT research, heritage easier and more interesting. In society and personal quality of life. The 3. to support inclusion, better public this context, the European Commission i2010 strategy has three aims: services and quality of life through published a “Recommendation on the the use of ICT. digitisation and online accessibility of cultural material and digital preservation” in August 2006, which calls on EU Member States to take the lead in developing a more coordinated approach to key issues for digitisation, for example by setting up large-scale digitisation facilities for online access to Europe’s cultural heritage, or by addressing copyright issues. As a sequel to the Recommendation, the Commission adopted a “Communi- cation on Europe’s cultural heritage at the click of a mouse” in August 2008, which describes progress made in creating the European digital library and in actions deployed by Member States to address the organisational, financial, technical and legal issues, that are essential for making cultural material available on the internet. Further information: http://ec.europa.eu/information_society Photo © Wipper Museum visitor looking at the exhibition, Museum für Naturkunde, Berlin By | Vera Neukirchen

With the Conclusions on the Digitisation and Online Accessibility of Cultural Material, and Digital Preservation, published by the Council of Europe in December 2006, the following priority actions and a schedule for the years until 2010 were set for the Member States and the Commission: Activities and goals for Member States: 1. To reinforce national strategies and targets for digitisation and digital preservation 2. To reinforce co-ordination within and between Member States 3. To contribute to the European digital library 4. To contribute to an effective overview of progress at European level 5. To improve framework conditions for digitisation and online accessibility of cultural material and digital preservation Activities and goals for the Commission: 1. To stimulate and co-ordinate work towards a European digital library 2. To contribute to improved policy co-ordination on the digitisation and online accessibility of cultural material and digital preservation 3. To address framework conditions 4. To assess overall progress at European level news 1| 2008 5

Digitisation Projects in Europe

Minerva EC is a Thematic Network funded by the European Commission as a part of the eContent Plus Programme and coordinated by the Italian Ministry of Culture. Its operations focus on the coordination of national policies, programmes and institutions in the cultural sector. The general objectives of the network are to improve the accessibility to and visibility of European digital cultural resources; to support the development of the European Digital Library (EUROPEANA) for greater access to cultural resources; to reinforce the European position in global market competition; to facilitate exploitation of cultural digital resources and provide clear rules for their use and re-use, and to respect and protect creators’ rights. Minerva has produced various publications and studies that will support cultural institutions in the digitisation process: 1) Technical Guidelines for Digital Cultural Content Creation Programmes (Guidelines for the use of technical standards) www.minervaeurope.org/interoperability/technicalguidelines.htm 2) Handbook for quality in cultural web sites (Handbook for building a quality cultural website) www.minervaeurope.org/publications/qualitycriteria.htm 3) Cultural Website Quality Principles (Short explanation of the ten ‘Minerva Quality Principles’ for cultural websites) www.minervaeurope.org/publications/tenqualityprinciples.htm 4) Quality principles for cultural web sites: a handbook (Commentary and practical explanation of how to implement the ten ‘Minerva Quality Principles’) www.minervaeurope.org/publications/qualitycommentary_en.htm 5) Handbook on cultural web user interaction (Information on and tools for setting up a web project that takes serious account of users’ needs and opinions) www.minervaeurope.org/publications/handbookwebusers.htm 6) IPR Guide (Guide on the topic of intellectual property rights, especially for digitisation projects) www.minervaeurope.org/IPR/IPR_guide.html Further information: www.minervaeurope.org By | Maria Teresa Natale

organised a network of cultural institu- (now integrated in the Competitiveness tions in order to encourage the latter to and Innovation Programme – CIP), which contribute to the national catalogue. has supported trans-national new National publications make information services for European citizens. available at the national level and allow The MICHAEL Culture Association its integration in the European portal. was created in 2007 in order to take over MICHAEL has developed an inter- from the various European projects. The MICHAEL portal is the first on-line operability framework based on shared It brings together the partners involved service that allows multilingual access in MICHAEL and MICHAEL+. The to digitised cultural resources in Europe. Association aims at ensuring the sus- Launched in May 2008, it enables users tainability and development of the to find high-quality digitised collections MICHAEL European service. Through from archives, museums, libraries, the association, participation in audio-visual archives, monuments and MICHAEL is open to all European archaeological sites online: 8,000 countries willing to share their collec- digitised collections from more than tions at European level. In every 3,000 cultural institutions in Europe are participating country the national now available, and new collections are partner supports the growth of the regularly being added. overall inventory. MICHAEL is based on a decentralised MICHAEL proposes a cultural map of approach: the European portal allows the richness and diversity of digitised users to interconnect the inventories of standards (common data model and heritage across Europe. Its comprehen- digitised collections created in each of vocabularies) and Open Source tools (a sive and reliable information is easy to the 18 European partner countries: production module and a publication access or to integrate into other initiat- Belgium, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, module). The standard OAI-PMH ives. This is why MICHAEL is also con- Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, protocol facilitates the collection of data tributing as a partner to the construction Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Malta, in the European portal. of the European digital library EURO- the Netherlands, Poland, Slovakia, Spain, MICHAEL is one among several PEANA that will propose direct access Sweden and the United Kingdom. European initiatives for the information to digitised cultural material. MICHAEL’s national partners are society. It was developed from 2004 to For further information or participation, mainly public bodies, such as Ministries 2008 in the context of two European see: www.michael-culture.org of Culture or heritage agencies. In each projects (MICHAEL and MICHAEL+) country they have developed and funded by the former eTen Programme By | Christophe Dessaux news 6 1| 2008 An Interview with Viviane Reding Viviane Reding is Commissioner for the DG Information Society and Media of the European Commission. Since 1989 she has been a Member of the European Parliament and she became a member of the European Commission in 1999. Her political career started in 1979 as a member of the Luxembourg Parliament. After gaining a PhD in Human Sciences at the Sorbonne in Paris, Viviane Reding initially worked as a journalist in Luxembourg.

NEMO News asked her about recent developments of the Commission’s i2010-strategy and the EUROPEANA portal, which will be launched in autumn 2008.

What chances and challenges does material from before 1900 is available the European Community face in online, but very little from the 20th digitising Europe’s cultural century. Just think what that situation heritage? would imply for the youngest generation

Photo © Viviane Reding since, for many youngsters, what you Digitisation offers an enormous chance cannot find on the internet simply does to improve the way in which Europe’s not exist. Bringing 20th century material How can the digitisation of Europe’s cultural collections can be consulted online requires intensive co-operation cultural heritage contribute to and used. And it can also be a way to with the copyright owners. Over the last bringing Europe and European preserve material that might otherwise two years I have chaired a high level citizens in closer contact? be lost. This is the case with older group of stakeholders that has looked audiovisual material: tens of thousands into this issue and indeed, made Imagine a student in Denmark who of hours of film are lost every year, considerable progress in finding wants to find out more about paintings because the originals are falling apart. consensual solutions. in Italian museums or manuscripts in The cultural significance of digitisation German libraries. This can be done is obvious. It allows European citizens Which are the DG Information easily if these treasures are available to get to know in an easy way more Society’s activities in the cultural online. Information technologies allow about their own culture and that of sector? us to overcome geographical barriers, other European countries. But there are but if you want to access cultural also economic opportunities. Digitised In fact, many of the activities of DG material from another country it has to material can, for example, be used in Information Society and Media have a be available in digital format in the first services that help tourists to make the cultural dimension and for these issues place. Digitisation is therefore an most of their trips, or as a basis for my counterparts are often the national essential precondition for a better innovative learning products. Ministers responsible for culture or dissemination of cultural heritage. A first major challenge is how to audiovisual affairs. We are, for example, Neither history nor culture stops at finance digitisation. All Member States responsible for European legislation on borders. Of course we knew this, but are digitising cultural material, but the the audiovisual sector and for the once you can combine and compare scale and speed varies widely. Most MEDIA programme – the support cultural resources from different Member States will need to invest more programme for the European audio- countries, you are better able to see the if they want to have a real cultural visual industry. The same goes for the the things they have in common, as well presence on the internet. “content online” and the “digital as their differences. You get a real A second key challenge is finding libraries” initiatives. These deal with the picture of how Europe is ‘united in ways for bringing in-copyright works opportunities and challenges of the diversity’. For this reason the creation online. Copyright lasts until 70 years online environment for the cultural of Europeana, a common multilingual after the death of a creator, so it sector. access point to Europe’s cultural particularly affects material from the Then there are of course the research heritage, has great significance. It is a 20th century. We cannot limit ourselves programmes. For years, the Directorate concrete tool that makes the richness to public domain material and take the General has been active in bringing and diversity of our heritage more risk of creating a twentieth century information technologies and culture visible to all who are interested. black hole, a situation in which much together, a must in today’s internet age. ▼ news 1| 2008 7

Many cultural institutions – museums, (text, images, audiovisual, music) the coming years and to deal with libraries, archives - have participated through one single search operation. certain copyright issues relevant to the and are still participating in our projects. The success of Europeana will digitisation and online accessibility of In the coming two years we will spend ultimately depend on the availability of a cultural material. Finally, Member States some €120 million on digital libraries critical mass of digitised objects from or their Ministries are encouraged to through the 7th Framework Programme Europe’s cultural institutions. This will sponsor Europeana directly as for Research and Development and the not be achieved straight away at the associate members. Competitiveness and Innovation launch of the prototype in November of Programme. this year, when 2 million digitised How can different material and objects will be accessible. It is objects from different cultural When and how was the idea of the something that will have to grow over institutions be presented European Digital Library, a the years, as more museums, libraries conclusively? multilingual digital access point to and archives from all over Europe make Europe’s cultural heritage, born? their content accessible through There is no such thing as ‘the ultimate What are the aims of the project? Europeana. way of presenting cultural material’. Over time, different types of cultural The idea of bringing Europe’s cultural How does the Commission institutions have developed different material online is not new. Through its contribute to the European Digital traditions of describing and presenting funding programmes and through co- Library and what is the role of the their material and this also has an ordination actions the Commission has Member States? influence on how they want to make it been working for years to improve the available online. We see this in the visibility of cultural collections via the In our view Europeana should be owned discussions between museums, libraries internet. Of course the aim was to make and run by the cultural institutions that and archives in the context of Europeana the collections available in the most make their content available. They have – but it is equally clear that technology user-friendly way. This ambition gained organised themselves as a foundation creates new opportunities for bringing major impetus in April 2005, when six that aims to create the common access these approaches together, without Heads of State and Government sent a point to their digitised resources. losing their distinctive traditions. What letter to the Presidents of the Commission Founder members are major European is important for the user in the digital and of the European Council. The letter associations representing Europe’s age is to get direct access to the asked for the creation of a European museums, libraries and archives, as well books, films, paintings or documents he Digital Library that would give access to as individual institutions such as the or she is looking for, not what type of Europe’s cultural heritage. It is one of French ‘Institut National de l’Audiovisuel’ cultural institutions they come from. the aims of the Commission’s digital and the German ‘Bundesarchiv’. Europeana will make this integrated libraries initiative, launched in The Commission contributes in search possible. September 2005. several ways. First of all it has brought The Europeana will give citizens direct the topic of digitisation and online How can museums contribute to the access to digitised books, maps, accessibility of cultural material to the process of achieving seamless documents and films from Europe’s European political agenda. The message access to Europe’s cultural libraries, archives, museums, and to the national Ministers responsible for heritage? audiovisual archives. Users will not have culture has been clear and consistent: if to know about multiple sites to find the we want to realise the ambition of a In fact, museums are already material, but can access it through one European Digital Library, more has to be contributing. The European Museum single entry point. done across Europe. In 2006, the Forum and the International Council of Commission adopted a Recommendation Museums are founder members of the What makes Europeana better than that aims at focusing and co-ordinating European Digital Library Foundation, Google Search? the ongoing actions in the Member States and are thereby committed to making on digitisation. Of course we also put Europeana a success. And some major Let me first get one thing straight. our money where our mouth is: I already European museums such as the Louvre Europeana does not try or pretend to mentioned the considerable funding the and the Rijksmuseum are committed to be in any way a competitor to Google. Commission has earmarked for digital supplying digitised content to the It is a specialised entry point focusing libraries in the coming two years. prototype of Europeana that will be on the content of Europe’s cultural We expect the Member States to launched in November. We expect that institutions. fund basic digitisation as part of their over the coming years many other Its strength is that it gives access to policies for culture and the information museums will follow this example and quality content from a wide range of society. They also have to put into will make their digitised material trusted organisations. So it will give operation the package of measures that searchable through Europeana. This is fewer but targeted results which will they jointly agreed to in the Council in good for users, and will at the same represent the authenticity and quality November 2006. This package requires time increase the visibility and profile of that users are looking for. Another Member States for example to establish Europe’s museums on the internet. interesting feature is that it will give detailed overviews of what has been access to different types of material digitised and what will be digitised in By | Julia Pagel news 8 1| 2008 EUROPEANA Connecting cultural heritage

Europeana.eu will give between the domains. The network in ways that are familiar from the social direct access to the includes representatives of every member networking sites. So features include My digitised resources of state, together with many arts, culture Europeana and Communities, where libraries, museums, and education ministries, and a wide people can work on archives and audio-visual range of cultural institutions. Among these projects together or collections across Europe. On 20 Novem- are the British Library, the Science create interest groups ber 2008 the public prototype of Europeana Museum, the Deutsche Bundesarchiv, around subjects. will be launched by Viviane Reding, Amsterdam’s Rijksmuseum and the European Commissioner for Information Institut National d’Audiovisuel in Paris and Richer metadata Society and Media, at a meeting of the NEMO – The Network of European One issue that the Europeana developers Council of Ministers in Brussels. Museum Organisations. are dealing with is the inadequacy of Europeana will enable users to find metadata. In some cases, digitisation pro- content across Europe. Millions of Meeting users’ expectations grammes have clearly put their resources significant pictures, films, books, photo- To create a space in which all into creating high resolution files, but graphs, sounds, newspapers, manu- manifestations of Europe’s cultural and been unable to devote sufficient expertise scripts and archival records have been scientific heritage could be connected to creating substantial metadata. digitized in recent years. While they may and integrated within a single portal, in a Europeana is looking at ways of feature in the catalogues and databases multilingual environment, is an ambitious enriching metadata by linking to authority of individual institutions, they’re deep web plan. In the cultural heritage field this files, thesauri and ontologies, such as content and are not always discovered by Iconclass and the Getty art thesauri. The search engines. Thesaurus of Geographic Names The value that Europeana adds for amplifies place names given in the users is the ability to connect related metadata, adding other languages as content in diverse institutions in different well as global coordinates, so that a countries. For example, images of the place can be linked to a clickable map Rubens paintings in Paris, London, Madrid like Google Earth. Our metadata and Brussels would appear on a single standard builds on Dublin Core. results page. But in addition, his drawings, expectation was beginning to be met by sketchbooks, accounts, personal papers the cross-domain sites that were being Mapping digital resources could also be there, alongside books and pioneered in a national context. Examples Information about the digital assets films about his work. Students will be able include Britain’s Discover site, developed across Europe by means of a survey is to follow the ripples of influence as ideas by the Museums, Libraries and Archives gathered on the website to find out about spread across Europe, or track the growth Council, the French Culture Ministry’s collection types, formats and metadata of the modern city through blueprints, culture.fr and the German BAM standards. The survey helps to select adverts, articles and newsreels. [Bibliotheken, Archive, Museen] portal. contributors to the first prototypes to Interoperability is at the heart of what Europeana.eu, in partnership with these ensure that Europeana is representing the Europeana is doing: integrating access to portals, has set out to consolidate that range of formats, domains and countries. heritage materials across borders, work and extend it across national When the Europeana public prototype domains, formats and institutions. boundaries. launches in November it will have direct Museums, libraries, archives and AV Cross-domain portals meet evolving links to at least two million digital objects. collections have had different histories, user expectations while at the same time By 2010 a full service version 1.0 of user groups and purposes. These are removing their need to know or Europeana with access to at least 6 reflected in their diverse approaches to understand the arbitrary historic million items will be launched. The cataloguing and the development of development of collections. People no interface of the November varying standards. The result is that longer have to find out what type of prototype will be in English, delivering all content types in the same institution would hold material of interest – French and German. More online space requires a commitment to the location of material will no longer be interface languages in working collaboratively and an impediment to access. subsequent releases will be sharing knowledge across In order to remain relevant to new offered as well. long-established generations of users, heritage professional boundaries. organisations need to position themselves Join the partnership strongly on the web, presenting their We are always delighted to welcome One hundred network partners content in ways that people want. This is new members to the network and Europeana is being developed by a not just about creating portals that are contributors to the site. network partnership of 100 members, and cross-domain, cross-border and multi- To find out more, visit www.europeana.eu the collaborative nature of the project is format – it also means giving users the strengthening professional understanding opportunity to customise their interaction By | Jonathan Purday news 1| 2008 9 European Museums and ICT A survey in the Netherlands

To what extent do Dutch museums use ICT (Information and Communication Technology) to shape their core activities? This was the central question in a 2007 survey, initiated by the Dutch Museums Association and Digital Heritage Netherlands. The survey was intended as a sequel to a research project conducted in 2002, and aimed to monitor the developments that had ensued in the five intervening years. In total, 143 Dutch museums participated in the survey.

The results of the 2007 survey are - A topic that scored considerably higher somewhat ambiguous. On the one hand in 2007 than in 2002 is the knowledge progress is clearly visible, as virtually of ICT standards. Standardisation has every museum was participating actively been a main topic in Dutch on the web in 2007. On the other hand, governmental policy aimed at achieving it is clear that the majority of museums interoperability between digital heritage still do not regard ICT as a strategic collections, and it is rewarding to see instrument that needs to be embedded that this policy is leading to positive in their institutional policy. Less than results – although the survey in fact

30% have specified the use of ICT in an asked whether participants had heard Photo © German Museums Association overall policy or collection plan or a of ICT standards, not if they applied specific information plan. One can only them. For museums, the most known conclude that the use of ICT is ad hoc standards deal with description and and digitisation and all the processes retrieval of information, such as that come with it cannot be efficiently metadata schema (Dublin Core) and projects. Since 2006, a funding scheme embedded within the organisation. Also, thesauri (AAT, RKD Artists). supports heritage institutions by granting any investment in digitisation and new - A final striking result is the wide variety the financial means to create ICT policy media may not be durable. of staff members in museums plans. It enables institutions to either get So, although some real progress has responsible for using ICT and new help from a consultant or to compensate been made regarding their visibility in the media or bearing the final responsibilities the time invested by a staff member in digital world, museums still have to for ICT policy or services: directors, writing such a plan. organise their role in the networked curators, heads of departments for Another recent development is the society. human resources or finances, IT release of the Dutch version of Spectrum, Some figures from the survey illustrate specialists, or external companies. the standard for collections management, this: Obviously, there is not yet a clear and originally developed in the UK. This fully common approach within the Dutch translated version of Spectrum, launched - only 29% of the Dutch museums have museum community to embed the in spring 2008, was the result of close specified costs on ICT in their annual procedures that can put ICT into daily co-operation between Dutch and budget reports. Among these, the practice. Flemish museums, supporting museum amount of budget reserved for ICT is organisations, and the British Collections between 1 and 5%. This is comparable Trust. Spectrum provides overall to other public institutions. However, procedures for managing and document- since 71% of the museums did not ing all the collection-related activities of specify their budget for ICT, it is not a museum. easy to tell whether the museums are To conclude: this second survey in the really in line with trends in other Netherlands on the use of Information sectors. and Communication Technology in - The most prominent features on museums proves that the museums museum websites can still be have invested substantially in their characterised as ‘push’: contact websites, and that they have learned information, news/newsletters and more about collaboration and exchange Photo © Wipper collection descriptions. Also quite of information in the digital domain. prominently featured is the option to become a friend of the museum. This The Dutch government encourages The full survey is available at may prove that the museums are museums, archives and libraries to write www.den.nl/ictmonitor/onderzoek/ exploring the web as a marketing ICT policy plans and use them to channel. support their proposals for innovative By | Marco de Niet news 10 1| 2008 European Museum Landscapes Cities in Competition

museum of the archbishopric of Cologne, focus will be those works of the two “Today, art museums rank recently built in one of the last remaining Dadaists held in the collection of the among the most popular inner city gaps. Set in customary Hans-Arp and Sophie Taeuber-Arp Foun- cultural institutions. superstructure style above the ruins of a dation, a non-profit cultural association. church and a unique archaeological Monograph Museums: the combination excavation area, the 1,500 m2 exhibition of an internationally renowned architect As competition between cities grows ever area will house artworks related to and this famous artistic couple’s tougher, they are the hope on every city existential issues, dating from the late collection seems extremely promising. council’s horizon, a fact clearly demon- antiquity to the present. Also in Certainly, the monographic museum is a strated by the remarkable series of new September, on the mountain crest above recipe on the rise. The Paul Klee venues opened since the 1980s. How Remagen’s railway station, a few kilo- Museum, opened in Berne in 2005, much catching up there is to do may vary metres further south, the Hans-Jean-Arp comprises 4,000 of Klee’s works and from nation to nation yet belief in a repeat Museum will open: yet another building archival artefacts and presents itself as a run of the proverbial “Bilbao effect” is designed by Richard Meier, whose kind of research centre. The Franz everywhere unanimous. Whether in the museums, town halls and department Gertsch Museum opened in 2002 in provinces or the established bastions of stores seem set to become part of the Burgdorf, Switzerland, the Max Ernst the arts, all means are fair in the fight to furniture in every German city. Here, the Museum in Brühl in 2005, and the Emil be number one in the public and media eye, be it the acquisition of a spectacular collection, new thematic content or, not least, architectural elan. Photo © Binet/Kolumba 2007 Kolumba – Art museum of the Archbishopric of Cologne, Germany. Exterior view

Whilst France, in exporting the Louvre – the nation’s sanctuary – to the Emirate of Abu Dhabi has taken a controversial global approach to strengthening its domestic museum landscape, quasi by establishing an international brand name, other countries in Europe, Germany in particular, still retain a more traditional demeanour. Two new houses opened their doors in September 2007. In 1997 Swiss architect Peter Zumthor won an architectural competition for the new

Kolumba project, the diocesan art Photo © Mart Mart – Museo di Arte Moderna e Contemporanea, Italy. View to the cupola news 1| 2008 11 Photo © MUSAC MUSAC – Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Castilla y León, Spain. Exterior view

Schumacher Museum presently under – an art temple of gravitas covering the original barracks and will also construction in Hagen will in turn present almost 30,000 m2, designed by Tessin integrate the adjoining grounds in the the collection garnered from the estate of architect, Mario Botta – kicked-off the exhibition complex. the “father of the Informal”. The Ritter Renaissance of Italian museums. In 2005 Austria: Austria was already building Museum, which opened in 2006 as a two historic city palaces for contemporary new venues for contemporary art at the square structure designed by architect art were opened in Naples: the PAN, start of the decade. The first was the Max Dudler and reminiscent of Ritter’s (Palazzo delle Arti Napoli) in the restored Kunsthaus Bregenz, the artistic rank of famous chocolate bars, also devotes Palazzo Roccella and, close to the which is no longer disputed. ’s itself to a conceptually, relatively limited National Museum of Archaeology, the Museum District followed in 2001. New display of Abstract-Geometric art; and MADRE in the Palazzo Donnaregina major venues opened most recently in recently in Lower Austria, even a Her- converted by architect Álvaro Siza. A key 2003 and ‘04, when the regional cultural mann Nitsch Museum opened its doors. target of both projects is urban bastions Salzburg, Linz and Graz each In a way, what we are seeing now is a regeneration in Naples: art is here a complemented their existing cultural move away from the long predominant means to anchor future prospects in a image, quasi by adding the contemporary trend to build museums purely as exhibi- city struggling with high unemployment factor. More remarkable than their various tion venues, the orientation of which and social unrest. collection and exhibition concepts is the would manifest only in the course of time, There’s little doubt that Rome has a range of their architectural statements. prior to them acquiring an in-house sensation in store for 2008 with IL MAXXI, The Lentos in Linz – a broadly-spanned collection – and which allowed them to its premier house for contemporary art, bridge construction on the banks of the occasionally quite radically alter their currently under construction on the site Danube which is equally distinct from the profile. of the former Montello Barracks, in the Salzburg project’s minimalist reserve and Italy: Elsewhere too, big names are part Flaminio district to the north of the Villa the spectacular “bubble architecture” of the upgrade. Italy, a bit of a straggler Borghese. Zaha Hadid, an architect world revival in Graz – embodies a solution that with regard to new temples of con- renowned for extravagant design won the is formally as unusual as it is aesthetically temporary art, is now making a big effort international competition in 1998 and original. to hit the headlines with its museum created for the new 30,000 m2 art centre Spain: New museums are springing up revival. Venice can lead the field with the a range of intertwining tubular elements, in Spain too. In the provinces, above all most famous names, architect Tadao which intervenes in the linear structure of those of Northern Spain, new venues Ando and collector Francois Pinault, recently opened: in Huesca the CDAN whose joint venture has unfolded at the (Centro de Arte y Naturaleza & Fundación Punta Dogana, the seat of the historic Beulas) and in León the MUSAC art Customs Office located between the house. Yet it is in the capital that “one of Canale Grande and Canale della the world’s greatest cultural projects” (to Giudecca. Failure to submit concrete quote former Minister of Culture, Pilar del proposals for a permanent collection led Castillo) will attract the most attention. the Guggenheim Foundation (with Zaha Here, in collaboration with Pritzker Award Hadid) to be outdone by the heavy- winners Jean Nouvel, Raphael Moneo weights of the international art market so and Álvaro Siza, annexes to the Prado, the remodelled depots will instead house the Thyssen Collection and the Reina a selection of works from the legendary Sofia Foundation will be interlinked by an Pinault Collection in coming years – in art boulevard, the ‘paseo del arte’. any case for the next 30, until the In conclusion, it can be said at the contract between Ms Pinault and the City moment that competition between of Venice expires. major cities for culture vulture tourists is In 2002 in Rovereto in Northern Italy the growing tougher.

Museo di Arte Moderna e Contemporanea Photo © Hélèlne Binet/Kunsthaus Bregenz By | Frank Maier-Solgk Kunsthaus Bregenz, Austria. Facade news 12 1| 2008 About: ROMANIA

Romania, one of the former communist countries, finally gained independence in December 1989. Reforms occurred very slowly until 2004, when the economy seemed at last to have become irreversibly independent of the political system. Romania has joined the European Union on 1 January 2007.

The National Institute for Statistics resistance to adopting institutional man- recorded the activity of 557 public agement competency as the main selec- museum entities in 2005. Most of them tion criterion for skilled museum man- are funded by public budget but the agers is still remarkable; private influ- concept of a private museum is gaining ence and subjectivism play a major role ground, in theory at least, and this will in the assignment of general managers surely provoke interesting changes in the to Romanian cultural institutions, though museum sector. Multiple initiatives in this this appears to be on the decrease. regard are therefore to be expected, One of the first tasks of the National mostly due to opportunities provided by Network of Romanian Museums was to ROMANIA EU Structural Funds made available to increase the level of professional training Romania. and competence in the museum sector. The National Network of Romanian Significant expertise gaps persist among Museums (NNRM) is the only profession- representatives of the museum commu- al museum network in the country. Prior nity, mainly between the project man- to its foundation Romania had no net- agement and institutional management work to cater to the needs of museums levels. The NNRM has implemented an and cultural operators arising either from important national project for its mem- their relations with local, regional and bers, Regio.Muz, financed with the sup- process, and capacity-building amongst national authorities, or the development port of the National Cultural Fund, which the relevant personnel. Strategic objec- of effective cultural policies in the muse- aims to increase museums’ institutional tives are based on the supposition that um sector. The NNRM aims to support capacity to access a part of the EU sector-level policies will be implemented and develop all parts of the museum Structural Funds allocated to the main in line with European policies. sector, with a primary focus on cultural axes relevant to culture. These axes are Three intervention areas have been heritage, cultural tourism and profes- stipulated in the National Development defined: support of SME (small and sional training. The organization is also a Plan of Romania 2007-2013 and in the medium sized enterprises) development think-tank that generates solutions to Regional and Sector-level Operational in the cultural sector; the promotion, changes in national and European cul- Programmes. Additionally, Sibiu, a large preservation and protection of cultural tural policies and their effect on city in , was chosen as a heritage; and the contribution of con- Romanian museums. For example, European Capital of Culture in 2007. temporary creation to improving access The largest museums in Romania are to and participation in culture. located in the capital, Bucharest: the By | Dragos Eduard Neamu National Museum of Art of Romania, the National Museum of Romanian History, the National Village Museum and the (that was Romania awarded the EMYA – European Museum of the Year Award – in 1996). Other is a unitary semi-presidential important museums are located in Iasi republic. With around 22 mil- (The Moldavian National Complex lion inhabitants (2002), it is Museum), Sibiu (ASTRA Complex the largest country in South- Museum), and Cluj (Transylvanian History eastern Europe. The capital Museum). is Bucharest (pop: 2 million). At the official level, under the ministerial Romania’s population con- mandate of Adrian Iorgulescu (Minister sists of 89.5% Romanians of Culture and Religious Affairs) interven- and 6.6% Hungarians. Other significant ethnic communi- tion areas identified in the strategy for ties are German, Ukrainian the development of the cultural sector and Roma. (2007-2013) will rest on two central pillars Photo © NNRM (UNESCO world heritage), – continuation of the decentralisation Transylvania