Interpol believes that the theft and illegal trafficking in cultural objects has become one of the most prevalent categories of iternational crime. Those engaged in combatting the illicit trade point out that an object that has been stolen or illegally exported is not likely to be recovered unless it has been photographed and adequately described. Even assuming that such precautions have been taken, it is then essential to circulate details effectively to organizations that might be able to assist in an object's recovery. Ideally, the information should be able to travel as fast of faster than the object, crossing national borders and circulating to numerous organizations.

Recognizing these needs, the Getty Information Institute has initiated a collaborative project - "International Documentation Standards for the Protection of Cultural Objects" - which encourages the compilation of adequate descriptions of objects in standardized forms. Agreement on the information content of descriptions of objects is an essential precondition to the development of the efficient information networks that are needed to combat the illicit trade. One of the problems is that the information needs of different organizations vary. For instance, police agencies will require different information from museums. But both need descriptions that will enable the object to be identified. Examples of this essential, or "core" information might include the material it consists of, its measurements, any distinguishing features, and the date of its creation.

The first step towards building a consensus on the content of the "core" has been to identify the categories of information regarded as essential by the various communities that have a role to play in the protection of cultural objects (e.g., museums, law-enforcement agencies, the insurance industry, and the art trade). These categories have been identified by a combination of background research, interviews, and, most importantly, by international questionnaire surveys. The first of these surveys was carried out between July and December 1994 by the Getty Information Institute, and was endorsed by the Council of Europe, the International Council of Museums, and UNESCO. The respondents from 43 countries included many major museums and galleries, heritage documentation centers, INTERPOL, and a number of national law-enforcement agencies.

In surveying the information needs of the museum world, this questionnaire looked not only at individual institutions, but also at existing standards and standards-making initiatives. Among the latter were included the CIDOC Data Model, CIDOC's Minimum Information Categories for Museum Objects initiative, ICOM's AFRICOM information categories, MDA's SPECTRUM, CHIN's Data Dictionary, and the Art Information Task Force's Categories for the Description of Works of Art.

The results of the survey demonstrated that there exists a broad consensus on many of the categories of information which are candidates for inclusion in the proposed standard (the findings of the survey have been published in Protecting Cultural Objects Through International Documentation Standards, The Getty Art History Information Program, 1995).

Since then two further questionnaire surveys have been conducted, the first of art insurance specialists (1995) and the second of appraisers of art and antiques (1996). These surveys show that the consensus identified by the 1994 questionnaire also exists in these two key private sector communities.

At an early stage in the project it was recognized that an object's physical condition provides one of the best means of identifying it uniquely. A mutual recognition of the value of condition information led to a collaboration between the Getty Art History Information Program and the Getty Conservation Institute. The two Getty programs organized a Conservation Specialists Working Group that has examined ways in which the recording of physical characteristics can assist the process of identification. One recommendation of this group has been that the proposed "core" should include a category called "Distinguishing Features", the purpose of which would be to record information about any features on an object that could uniquely identify it (e.g., damage, repairs, defects introduced in the manufacturing process). Taking this thinking a stage further, one member of the group has been commissioned to develop an approach to making visual documentation of distinguishing features.

Visual documentation is of great importance to the process of uniquely identifying cultural objects. Law-enforcement agencies, in particular, assert that, without an image, a stolen object is unlikely to be recovered and returned to its rightful owner. There is general agreement that images of objects should form a part of "core" records. With this in mind, the Getty Information Institute and the Getty Conservation Institute are collaborating on the preparation of a guide to photographing cultural objects, a publication that will place particular emphasis on the making of images that can be used for the purpose of assisting in uniquely identifying individual objects.

The results of the questionnaire surveys are being used to inform a series of roundtable meetings of experts drawn from the communities concerned. The first of these was a meeting of museum documentation experts, held in Edingburgh in November 1995. This was followed by a meeting of specialist art insurers, held at Lloyd's of London in March 1996. Future meetings will consult with law-enforcement agencies, national inventory experts, the art trade and organizations representing appraisers of art and antiques.

There has been a strong agreement on the content of the "core". So far, the following categories of information have been agreed upon :
     Object Type
     Medium/Material/Techniques
     Measurements
     Inscriptions/Markings
     Distinguishing Features
     Subject
     Title of Object
     Date/Period/Style
     Maker's Name
     Description
     Image

A important recommendation of the Museum Documentation Specialists Meeting was that the category "Distinguishing Features", suggested by the Conservation Working Group, should be included in the "core", a proposal that was endorsed by the Meeting of Art Insurers.

Having identified the "core", the next task will be to put it to work. The project has identified a number of ways in which use of the "core" can be encouraged, including the following :

• implementation of the "core" categories on existing systems
• inclusion of the categories in existing standards and codes of practice
• creation of new standards, where appropriate
• professional training
• collaborative campaigns to heighten public awareness of the importance of documentation in combatting the illicit trade in cultural objects.

The museum world, and CIDOC in particular, has played an important role in the process of identifying the core. The Getty Information Institute looks forward to ongoing collaboration as the "core" enters its implementation phase.

Robin Thornes
PO Box 2038
France BA11 3YD
United Kingdom