EMII European Standards Survey - Information Management Standards

European Standards Survey

Information Management Standards - Germany

3. Information Management Standards

Contents
	3.1	Content and Resource Description Standards - Terminology and Vocabulary Standards: Term Lists, Classification Systems, Thesauri Content and Structure Description Standards Data Content Metadata Biblographic Description Archive Description
	3.2	Technological Standards & Protocols Data Presentation and Encoding Image Format Searching Distributed Databases Protection of Intellectual Property

3.1 Content and Resource Description Standards

3.1.1 Terminology and Vocabulary Standards
This section is concerned with standards providing lists of terms, either in alphabetical listings (e.g. term lists), or structures (e.g. classification systems or thesauri) which can be used to describe and provide access to cultural heritage

3.1.1.1 Term Lists
'Controlled indexing vocabularies, usually organised alphabetically with no relationships expressed between terms.' 'Guide to Cataloguing Using the Collections Information System', Victoria & Albert Museum, 1998

i. Overall Comments:

Dictionarium Museologicum is to some degree known in the German museum world, but does not seem to have its emphasis on collection description. Also, its use seems to be restricted partly because of lacking terms, partly because some term translations are challenged. ISO 5127-3 is a carefully done (though not exhaustive) classification and a defining tool but does not seem to be widespread yet in German museums. A German translation to be officially released had been envisaged but this has not yet materialized. Valuable and very comprehensive foreign-language sources like the "Vocabulaires" accompanying the Inventaire Génrale, or the AAT can be taken to be known, and are discussed, to some degree but do not yet seem to be used on a regular basis in German museums, to some degree because of the language barrier. Translation of some such sources as a major undertaking has been discussed, without any known results by now. LCSH does not seem to be used in German museums.

Term List Details
Name:
Dictionarium Museologicum
Type:
De jure
Number of Terms:
[to be confirmed]
Number of Museums:
0 (figures are: Actual)
Number of Objects Covered:
0
Usage by Significant Collections:
(figures are: Actual)

Term List Details
Name:
Reyniès' Le Mobilier Domestique
Type:
De jure
Number of Terms:
[to be confirmed]
Number of Museums:
0 (figures are: Actual)
Number of Objects Covered:
0 (figures are: Actual)
Usage by Significant Collections:

Term List Details
Name:
ISO 5127-3: Iconic Documents
Type:
De jure
Number of Terms:
[to be confirmed]
Number of Museums:
0 (figures are: Actual)
Number of Objects Covered:
(ObjNoEg3'} (figures are: Actual)
Usage by Significant Collections:

Term List Details
Name:
Library of Congress Subject Headings
Type:
De jure
Number of Terms:
[to be confirmed]
Number of Museums:
0 (figures are: )
Number of Objects Covered:
0 (figures are: Actual)
Usage by Significant Collections

Term List Details
Name:
Gefe und Formen: eine Typologie für Museen und Sammlungen / Werner Endres, München 1996
Type:
Evolving
Number of Terms:
c860
Number of Museums:
0 (figures are: Actual)
Number of Objects Covered:
0 (figures are: Actual)
Usage by Significant Collections
Formal shapes, and a grouping of vessels into some 23 main groups are offered, together with definitions for each of the some 860 types and pictures for many. The list was produced in conjunction with the "Oberbegriffsdatei" and contains special hints for users of the HIDA software.

Term List Details
Name:
Gefe und Formen: eine Typologie für Museen und Sammlungen / Werner Endres, München 1996
Type:
Evolving
Number of Terms:
c160
Number of Museums:
0 (figures are: Actual)
Number of Objects Covered:
0 (figures are: Actual)
Usage by Significant Collections
The object names are accompanied by a data sheet for each which in 14 categories (data fields) supplies information, and sometimes pictures, for the objects.

Term List Details
Name:
Schlagwortnormdatei (SWD)
Type:
Evolving
Number of Terms:
c943,000
Number of Museums:
0 (figures are: Actual)
Number of Objects Covered:
0 (figures are: Actual)
Usage by Significant Collections
The SWD is a coperative project of the Deutsche Bibliothek together with important partners since 1982 and is used in inexing books from all subject areas. It is held in electronic form, as CDROM and on microfiche. It comprises 135,000 subject headings, 154,000 person names, 102,000 geographical headings, 60,000 corporate body headings. 473,000 terms are synonyms. A discussion, and testing attempts, are going on with some German museums to determine whether the vocabulary can also be used for museum purposes.

Term List Details
Name:
Gefe und Formen: eine Typologie für Museen und Sammlungen / Werner Endres, München 1996
Type:
De jure
Number of Terms:
0
Number of Museums:
0 (figures are: Actual)
Number of Objects Covered:
0 (figures are: Actual)
Usage by Significant Collections
[?]

Term List Details
Name:
Allgemeines Künstler-Kexikon (AKL) / München: Saur, 1996
Type:
Evolving
Number of Terms:
c30,000
Number of Museums:
0 (figures are: Actual)
Number of Objects Covered:
0 (figures are: Actual)
Usage by Significant Collections
Along with the ULAN, the authoritative and most comprehensive file of artists' names. A completely revised version of the older Thieme-Becker Künstlerlexikon and the IKD. Available in print and on CD-ROM.

Term List Details
Name:
Oberbegriffsdatei / Landesstelle für die nichtstaaatlichen Museen in Bayern
Type:
Evolving
Number of Terms:
c6,000 + 2,500
Number of Museums:
c70 (figures are: Actual)
Number of Objects Covered:
0 (figures are: Actual)
Usage by Significant Collections
A pool of some 6,000 + 2,500 upper level description terms (a more hierarchical/thesaurus structuring consecutively for partial fields is underway), having emerged in the German Federal Länder Bayern, Westfalen and Sachsen in the course of applying the software HIDA. Available in electronic form.

Term List Details
Name:
Müllers großes deutsches Ortsbuch / Wuppertal: Post- und Ortsbuchverlag Müller, 27th ed., 1999
Type:
De jure
Number of Terms:
0
Number of Museums:
0 (figures are: Actual)
Number of Objects Covered:
0 (figures are: Actual)
Usage by Significant Collections
As a standard name book for settlement places of Germany, this is the foremost authority file consulted in cataloguing. Does not contain historical place names, though.

Term List Details
Name:
Müllers großes deutsches Ortsbuch / Wuppertal: Post- und Ortsbuchverlag Müller, 27th ed., 1999
Type:
De jure
Number of Terms:
0
Number of Museums:
0 (figures are: Actual)
Number of Objects Covered:
0 (figures are: Actual)
Usage by Significant Collections
[?]

3.1.1.2 Classification Systems
'The aim of Classification is to make relationships between objects, etc via their context.' 'Social History and Industrial Classification [SHIC]', 2nd Edition, mda, 1993

i. Overall Comments:

While of the "Glass index" no implementation in German museums is presently known, the other 4 systems mentioned hereafter can be taken as known to many museum professionals. ICONCLASS is being used in a number of collections and is referred to for use by the HIDA/MIDAS system. The use of "Costume Vocabulary" and of SHIC can be assumed for some museums while none of "Nomenclature" is presently known.

Classification Details
Name:
Glass Subject Index for the Visual Arts
Type:
De jure
Number of Terms:
3,300
Number of Museums:
0 (figures are: Actual)
Number of Objects Covered:
0 (figures are: Actual)
Usage by Significant Collections:

Classification Details
Name:
Vocabulary of Basic Terms for Cataloguing Costume, ICOM Costume Committee
Type:
De jure
Number of Terms:
[to be confirmed]
Number of Museums:
0 (figures are: Actual)
Number of Objects Covered:
0 (figures are: Actual)
Usage by Significant Collections:

Classification Details
Name:
Iconclass
Type:
De jure
Number of Terms:
24,000
Number of Museums:
0 (figures are: Actual)
Number of Objects Covered:
0 (figures are: Actual)
Usage by Significant Collections:

Classification Details
Name:
Revised Nomenclature
Type:
De jure
Number of Terms:
[to be confirmed]
Number of Museums:
0 (figures are: Actual)
Number of Objects Covered:
0 (figures are: Actual)
Usage by Significant Collections:

Classification Details
Name:
Social History and Industrial Classification, [SHIC]
Type:
De jure
Number of Terms:
100,000
Number of Museums:
0 (figures are: Actual)
Number of Objects Covered:
0 (figures are: Actual)
Usage by Significant Collections:

Classification Details
Name:
Systematik zur Inventarisierung kulturgeschichtlicher Bestnde in Museen / ed. by Hessischer Museumsverband, Kassel 1993
Type:
De jure
Number of Terms:
0
Number of Museums:
0 (figures are: Actual)
Number of Objects Covered:
0 (figures are: Actual)
Usage by Significant Collections
A broad system of ordering, with 18 main groups, 132 subgroups, and a correspondingly higher number of classes is offered, for the grouping of objects of cultural history, accompanied by a model object card for use in manual systems.

Classification Details
Name:
Basisbegriffe zur Inventarisierung historischer Kleidung / ed. by Museumsverband Sachsen-Anhalt, [1998]
Type:
Evolving
Number of Terms:
0
Number of Museums:
0 (figures are: Actual)
Number of Objects Covered:
0 (figures are: Actual)
Usage by Significant Collections
German-language version largely, but not completely identical to ICOM's "Vocabulary of basic terms for cataloguing costume"

Classification Details
Name:
Systematik kulturhistorischer Sachgter / Walter Trachsler. - Bern: Haupt,
Type:
Evolving
Number of Terms:
0
Number of Museums:
0 (figures are: Actual)
Number of Objects Covered:
0 (figures are: Actual)
Usage by Significant Collections
A classification, in 10 main groups, for objects of cultural history. It has a prominent status in museums/collections of this type.

Classification Details
Name:
SHIC Social History and Industry Classification - Deutsche bersetzung / Museum der Arbeit Hamburg, 2000
Type:
Evolving
Number of Terms:
0
Number of Museums:
0 (figures are: Actual)
Number of Objects Covered:
0 (figures are: Actual)
Usage by Significant Collections
A complete German version of SHIC.

3.1.1.3 Thesauri
'Controlled indexing vocabularies that provide preferred ways of referring to concepts, linking terms whose meanings are related, bringing together synonyms and noting other relationships between terms.' Art & Architecture Thesaurus, Getty Standards Program

i. Overall Comments:

[Not yet answered]

3.2 Technological Standards and Protocols

3.1.2 Content and Structure Description (Metadata) Standards
'Content and structure description standards (also known as metadata standards, where metadata is understood to mean 'information about information') define and describe means of identifying and organising data content. Metadata describing a document can be: Included in the document itself Held in a separate document Transferred accompanying the document (e.g. as part of protocol headers).'
European Commission Memorandum of Understanding: Multi-media access to Europe's Cultural Heritage, final report of Working Group 1: Standards and Protocols for Interoperability of Systems.

3.1.2.1 Data Content Standards

i. Overall Comments:

ISO 639 and ISO 3166 are widespread in a number of communication areas (though other systems - particularly in the country code field - do exist), not the least through a number of applications through EU and EU data bases. They do not seem to be used in museums endogenously, though. The ISO yyyy/mm/dd standard is well known in many computer areas but in the other communication areas the dd/mm/yyyy format is the one mainly used (as is the case in this EMII questionnaire, too). This seems different from Austria where yy/mm/dd seems more often used. Other than these, the metric system is fully used in Germany (including length, weight applications etc.) notwithstanding traditional systems to be used in everyday practice and - thus - , of course, in museum object descriptions, especially those dating back some time.

3.1.2 Content and Structure Description (Metadata) Standards
'Content and structure description standards (also known as metadata standards, where metadata is understood to mean 'information about information') define and describe means of identifying and organising data content. Metadata describing a document can be: Included in the document itself Held in a separate document Transferred accompanying the document (e.g. as part of protocol headers).'
European Commission Memorandum of Understanding: Multi-media access to Europe's Cultural Heritage, final report of Working Group 1: Standards and Protocols for Interoperability of Systems.

3.1.2.2 Metadata Standards for Resource Discovery and Interoperability

[Not yet answered]

3.1.3 Bibliographic Description Standards
'The International Standard Bibliographic Description, ISBD, formal standard is the most suitable and widespread reference specification currently available for bibliographic description'.
European Commission Memorandum of Understanding: Multi-media access to Europe's Cultural Heritage, final report of Working Group 1: Standards and Protocols for Interoperability of Systems.

[Not yet answered]

3.1.4 Archive Description Standards
The International Standards of Archival Description, ISAD(G), is a formal standard issued by ICA (International Council of Archives). It provides general rules for archival description.

[Not yet answered]

3.2 Technological Standards and Protocols

3.2.1 Data Presentation and Encoding Standards

[Not yet answered]

3.2.2 Image Format Standards
Image format standards define ways of capturing, storing and compressing digital images.

[Not yet answered]

3.2.3 Searching Distributed Databases

[Not yet answered]

3.2.4 Protection of Intellectual Property

[Not yet answered]

Submission Details

i. Submitted by:	MHS, AE
ii. Job title:	DepDir, Res
iii. Organisation:	Institute for Museum Studies (IfM)
iv. E-mail:	m.hagedorn@smb.spk-berlin.de, a.ermert@smb.spk-berlin.de
v. Date Submitted:	28/04/2000

Funded by the European Commission - DGX - Raphaël Programme