| CIDOC NEWSLETTER | Volume 9, August 1998 |
A piece of Indonesian textile, a Japanese tea cup, audio CDs, a small box from India, some photographs, a painting by the Albanian artist Zamfira, a chair from a rubbish dump, a chair that belonged to my grandparents, a table that was a gift from my father and books, books, books.
What do these objects have in common ? They are objects that I can see when sitting at my desk at home. I am sure most of you can make such a list of items when you just look around from behind your computer. The objects come from different cultures and they are often gifts or bought at bric-à-brac shops. Their only connection is that they are there because I like them: because I think they are beautiful and/or because they have a meaning to me. I associate the objects with people, events and travels. They can be seen as a collection, but only through my eyes and when I tell the stories that go with them. One day I will no longer be there and I would like to think that some items will start new lives accidentally (as did the chair from the rubbish heap) or - much better - through gifts (as did the table). But if I have not informed anyone about the object's meaning, I miss the opportunity to not only pass on the object but also part of its history.
That brings me to the role CIDOC members play in their museums: we are there to document objects. To record their physical aspects and the way we take care of them, but also to record the stories they tell. And we must realise that an object can tell different stories in different stages of its life. Again an example form my own room: the piece of Indonesian textile was produced in a culture where the creatures and patterns on it meant something specific and its shape made it suitable to be worn at specific occasions. However, it was only for aesthetic reasons and its fine technique that it became part of a "collection" in Holland. With this example of 'old cultures' and 'new worlds' in mind, I do hope that when CIDOC members meet at the ICOM Triennial Conference in Melbourne this year, the theme of Cultural Diversity will find its way into the professional museum documentation discussions. The sessions are certainly set up in a way that encourages such discussions and the meeting place, as well as the truly international context of ICOM/CIDOC meetings should stimulate the topic of "cultural diversity in documentation." Last year we had a very interesting conference in Nuremberg, Germany. Attended by over 400 people in the course of several days, the conference was well-organised and CIDOC owes special thanks to the organising team, sponsors and the hosting Germanisches Nationalmuseum.
For an insight in the conference papers - that the organisers managed to have ready on the spot in a handsome printed version! - I recommend that you order a copy from the CIDOC Editor. Otherwise you can have a look at the CIDOC web site, from which the papers can be downloaded. It was decided at the conference that the workload of editing the web pages was to be transferred from Andrew Roberts (thank you for those first years, Andrew!) to Leonard Will. It was also decided that the CIDOC web pages will be seen as document resources mainly, with reference links to relevant web pages of other organisations (like ITEM). So far I have been able to pass on our web pages to many colleagues that needed some of our publications on museum documentation issues and I hope that other CIDOC members will do the same! I also hope, however, that we will be able to continue publishing hard copies as well, as I think we should try to reach as many museums as possible. Those of you that followed a heated discussion lately on ICOM-L about the web version of the AFRICOM Handbook of Standards, will know why! As it turned out ironically, it was very complicated - if not impossible - for many users from African countries to download the 'fancy' web version of the publication properly! So they will either use the hardcopy or a very simple text version from the web. As we work in a field where documents can get out of date quite fast, the CIDOC board agreed that the CIDOC web-pages will be developed as the CIDOC archives, where old and new documents will remain accessible. Also, CIDOC Groups that want to continue working on the documents, are welcome to keep updating their publications.
Another outcome of the conference Board meeting (and a later Board meeting in February 1998 in Antwerp) was the decision to have the CIDOC Vice chair take specific responsibility for the co-ordination of group activities. This was part of the discussion the board has had to reorganise the committee to a certain extent. CIDOC is becoming one of the largest ICOM committees (we are the 5th largest committee with over 900 members!) and therefore needs to pay much more attention to organisational matters than in the past. Also, ICOM and bodies like European Union DG's are asking more frequently for CIDOC's point of view on aspects of cultural information exchange. The Board needs more time to work on this. We might come back to the membership for approval of having two Vice-chairs to share the workload with the Chair and to split Secretary responsibilities, while we may also seek approval of developing a project management mechanism.
The 3rd outcome of the 1997 conference to be mentioned here, is related to the above and to CIDOC paying attention to its own future. Spontaneously, CIDOC Treasurer Alice Grant, assembled a small discussion group to start pinning down CIDOC's position and future goals. This resulted in a document called 'A Voice for CIDOC', that is under review of the board and will be presented to you for approval in Melbourne. Basically, we think CIDOC can be positioned (under ICOM flag, of course) right between museums, the 'Inside' and the fields of politics and technical developments as the 'Outside'. We try to keep track of what goes on Outside and will inform and perhaps guide the Inside as well as possible on important developments. On the other hand, we keep track of what goes on 'Inside' and try to inform or perhaps even influence developments in the 'Outside'. The 'Voice for CIDOC' document lists the fields of action CIDOC can cover to play its important role in the international museum documentation field. I sincerely hope you will participate in the discussion on the 'Voice for CIDOC' and that you will approve a final version, thereby giving the new CIDOC Board a clear framework to carry out its task.
This brings me to the final subject of this Chair's report, that will be my last one. Already 3 years have passed since I became Chair of CIDOC. They were hectic, but rewarding years. As our Secretary Pat Young informed you in her letter on the nominations forms, I had a baby earlier this year. As expected the little girl takes up much of my time (or rather: focus of interest) and I am working 4 days a week now. Under these circumstances, spending approximately 1 day a week on CIDOC has become too much for the small organisation Bureau IMC is. This has resulted in my decision to step down. I enjoyed being CIDOC Chair, but will be quite happy to be an 'ordinary' CIDOC person once more: if only to be able to have proper talks with individual colleagues again at conferences! I want to thank all those that I worked with in the past years, particularly colleagues from the Board and organisers of conferences. You all made these years something to look back on with warmth. I also want to thank CIDOC members, for the trust that was put in me, especially since my work in the museum documentation field is mostly commercial. I hope I lived (and worked) up to it. I expect that the coming elections will run smoothly and that at the 1998 meetings we will be able to welcome a renewed and once more enthusiastic Board. Via this report I would like to be the first to wish them good luck and great wisdom!
Jeanne Hogenboom