CIDOC Documentation Standards Group

This page introduces the Documentation Standards Group of the International Committee for Documentation of the International Council of Museums (ICOM-CIDOC ). This is one of nine active Groups. See also the Group's Homepage.

The CIDOC Documentation standards group meeting in London, 1999

The meeting was attended by more than thirty people. Many of them new members. Topics under discussion included:

Presentation of the Conceptual Reference Model

Nick Crofts explained the current status of the model and the implications of its submission to ISO. Martin Doerr explained some of the theoretical background to the model, its role and uses as a domain ontology.

A number of proposed modifications to the model were approved by the group. After further discussion, mostly concerning distribution rights and CIDOC's continued participation in developing the model, the group unanimously approved submission of the model to ISO. This has since taken place and the model is currently in the initial stages of evaluation under ISO's 'fast track' procedure.

Role and organisation of the group

As its name indicates, the group is concerned with all aspects of documentation standards relating to museums. However, partly for the benefit of members attending the meeting for the first time, the group reiterated and discussed its role and mode of operation. Four key points are worth underlining
  1. The group aims to provide a forum for discussion to promote the exchange of ideas and information about museum documentation standards.
  2. The group aims to identify and, where possible, provide access to sources of reference material.
  3. The group aims to participate in and when necessary undertake the development of new standards relevant to the field.
  4. Productive projects are generally handled by motivated sub groups who report back to the main group.

Future plans and projects

The group decided to set up a mailing list, cidoc-docustrd, which will be hosted by ICS FORTH. Although primarily intended for members of the group, the list will also be open to interested outsiders who may not be members of CIDOC.

Martin Doerr is leading a testbed project to look at correlation of the CRM with existing database applications and standards such as Spectrum. The anticipated benefits of this project are better comprehension of the model and enhanced interoperability and integration. Several group members are now committed to working on this project.

The group is intending to work on an updated list of terminology resources, based on the CHIN terminology resource guide This will be based on an online registry, providing users with references to documents, as well as the possibility of submitting and updating references, and writing comments. CHIN and MDA have offered to co-host the resource, though overall responsibility will remain with CIDOC. A sub group will manage the registry and deal with editorial tasks. As befits a terminology project, the editorial group is currently engaged in defining basic meta terminology to help ensure consistent use of the registry.

Other plans ...

Integration of the International Terminology Working Group as part of the Documentation Standards Group was discussed and finally rejected after an impassioned defence of the need for the group's autonomy from Matthew Stiff. The ITWG will most likely become a new CIDOC group and meet during CIDOC conferences.

Plans for a volume of essays on terminology and for the development of terminology for sub collections and groups of objects were brought up but not sufficiently discussed.

Nick Crofts
Chair, Documentation Standards Group

Documentation Standards Group Report, Nuremberg 1997

The documentation standards group is one of the most active in CIDOC. Following last year's conference in Nairobi, several interim meetings took place. One in London at the V&A, (reported in the August issue of the CIDOC Newsletter) and two other informal meetings in Washington and Crete. As a result we were able to meet all the major objectives set in Nairobi.

Three meetings were held during the Nuremberg conference, each drawing a massive response (nearly 50 people) which we hope was only partly due to the promise of Swiss chocolate. Due to the size of the group, and the number of new members, it was agreed that in future a distinction would be made between 'voting' and 'non-voting' members, along the same lines as that used by ICOM for committee membership. Voting members will be expected to participate in the group's activities on a regular basis. It was also agreed that constructive work could best be carried out by assigning specific tasks to small 'project-groups', who would then submit the results of their efforts for discussion and approval by the group as a whole.

The Group's mission, as defined during the Nuremberg conference, is "the identification, creation, maintenance and diffusion of standards relating to museum documentation". Most of the group's recent work has been devoted to developing the Object-Oriented Reference Data Model. However, now that the end of this work is in sight we aim to set up a number of other project groups to undertake work on terminology, revising the current 'Guidelines for Information Categories', and for compiling a resource document identifying existing standards relevant to museum documentation. Work on the reference model will, of course, continue. Several of the group's members have also expressed interest in setting up a testbed project to evaluate the feasibility of using the reference model as a practical basis for information exchange and interoperability.

To help co-ordinate the group's work and provide a convenient means for communication between members, we shall be making extensive use of email and a group web site. A turning point may have been reached since the vast majority of the group's participants now have Internet access.

Documentation Standards Working Group Interim Report, April 1996

At the ICOM meeting in Stavanger, the Data Model Working Group and the Data Terminology Working Group merged and became the Documentation Standards Working Group. Each of the former groups presented a product: the CIDOC Relational Data Model of the Data Model Working Group, and the International Guidelines for Museum Object Information of the Data Terminology Working Group.

Project plans of the Working Group included mapping three data standards to the CIDOC Relational Data Model: Archaeological Sites, Ethnology, and Information Categories Guidelines. The working group plans also to conduct a workshop in Nairobi, details for which are not complete at this time.

The Working Group held an interim meeting in Heraklion, Crete, Greece, March 6 - 8 to discuss object-oriented (O-O) methods and techniques for extending and enriching the CIDOC Relational Data Model. Following presentations, demonstrations, and much discussion, the group agreed to the following:

1. Future CIDOC data models will be developed using O-O methods, techniques, and formats. While this effort is under way, the current CIDOC Relational Data Model will be available, although it will not be modified or enhanced.

The O-O model will retain all the related information contained in the existing relational model, and it will provide flexibility and extensibility not possible for a relational approach. Information that is implicit in the relational model will be explicitly represented in the O-O model. Specifically, the O-O model can provide variable levels of information, from a general overview to precise detail, enabling the representation, use, and retrieval of information from multiple points of view simultaneously.

The scope of the current relational model concentrates on the documentation of museum objects and their provenance. The O-O model will enable more specific collections management and research information to be included. Communication, interchange of information, and public access to museum information will be enhanced.

2. The group intends the O-O model to be a 'Conceptual Reference Model' (CRM), which can be enriched by complementary, domain-specific models. The CRM is seen as a key product which will provide the intellectual and conceptual framework for defining and integrating formal compatible subsets and extensions. The role of the group is to provide a forum for the consolidation, validation, and integration of these CRM components.

3. A first draft of the CRM will be created by a subgroup which will analyze the current relational model and convert it to an O-O format. The subgroup will report to the larger group on problems and exceptions encountered, identify the necessary transformation rules, and make recommendations for enhancing the CRM. This first version should be completed and distributed to working group members in time for the September CIDOC meeting in Nairobi.

Future work involves testing and extending the CRM by applying it to specific applications, projects, and problem areas. This work will be entrusted to subgroups with specific interests and expertise who will report to the full working group.

4. To complement the O-O model, the group intends to provide support material to include presentation documents, guides, transformation rules, and other information needed to understand and use the new model. The O-O model requires a different mind-set for looking at museum data: although it is more flexible and extensible, it also is more complex.

Additional information

The current version of the object-oriented data model is now available. [March 2001]

Pour tous renseignements, contactez: / For more information, contact:

Martin Doerr
Chair of the CIDOC CRM Special Interest Group
ICS-FORTH Heraklion-Crete, Greece
tel:+30(81)391625
fax:+30(81)391601
e-mail: martin@ics.forth.gr

Nicholas Crofts
Convener of the ISO Working Group for the CRM
DAEL Division des système d'information
Genève, Switzerland
Tél. secrétariat:
(+41 22) 327 41 11
e-mail: nickcrofts@yahoo.com

Matthew Stiff
Co-chair CIDOC Documentation Standards Working Group
mda (Europe)
Cambridge, UK
e-mail: matthew.stiff@leander.demon.co.uk

Ifigenia Dionissiadou
Co-chair CIDOC Documentation Standards Working Group
Museum Benaki
Athens, Greece
e-mail: ifi@benaki.gr

http://cidoc.icom.museum/wgdoc1.htm
revised/dernière mise à jour: 2001-10-16
author/auteur: Nicholas Crofts and Andrew Roberts
link to/passerelle vers CIDOC home page/la page d'accueil du CIDOC or ICOM home page/la page d'accueil de l'ICOM
© the International Committee for Documentation of the International Council of Museums/Comité international pour la documentation du Conseil international des musées (ICOM-CIDOC), 1996-2001