| CIDOC NEWSLETTER | Volume 9, August 1998 |
The number of the working groups as well as the intensity of their work has varied in the course of time, due to acute needs and developments in the field of museum documentation. It belongs to the nature of the groups that they live a certain time and make an accomplishment and then maybe cease to exist. It has also been characteristic to the groups that some of them have firm time- bound working plans with end products whereas some others have been more loosely acting like discussion or interest groups.
In the CIDOC meeting in Nuremberg the diverse character of the CIDOC Working Groups was discussed. Recognised problems included e.g. such facts that participants in the WG meetings vary from one meeting to another, the commitment of participants can be difficult due to the voluntary nature of the work and occasionally limited possibilities to take part in the meetings, and the number of participants alternates from one meeting to another, thus leading to problems in continuity in some cases.
The varying role of the groups was reflected in the discussion about the name and status of the groups - should a distinction be made between the groups with different kinds of names, e.g. Discussion Groups, Working Groups etc. The present name Working Group was then changed to a more flexible expression CIDOC Group.
In the CIDOC Board meeting in Antwerp in February 1998 the CIDOC Groups were further discussed. It was agreed that CIDOC recognises a number of subgroups which are formed in order to discuss particular issues, to undertake various tasks, or to produce specific products. The formation of a group requires the approval of the CIDOC board. For that a description is needed of the group's mission and purpose as well as a work plan and a statement of the groups constituency and conditions of membership and any obligations or responsibilities members are expected to meet. A new group is evaluated by the criteria of the usefulness and relevance of the group's work to CIDOC, and e.g. the extent of realism of its objectives, timetables and methodologies.
In the Nuremberg meeting the following groups had their meetings: Archaeological Sites Group, Documentation Standards Group, Iconography Group, Ethno Group, Multimedia Group, CIDOC Services Group, Museum Information Centres Group, Contemporary Art Group, Internet Group. In the next reports, the activity of the CIDOC Groups is described in detail.
Sirkka Valanto
Vice chair CIDOC
National Board of Antiquities
Nervanderink 13, PL 913
00 101 Helsinki
Finland
tel.: +358 9 4050303
fax: +358 9 4050300
Email: sirkka.valanto@nba.fi