WWW.CULTURE.FR/COLLECTIONS… Single Entrance for Access to Cultural Data (Archives, Museums, Libraries, Heritage) at the French Ministry of Culture Knowledge by Networking International Conference, Berlin, 21-22 June 2007 Paul Smith Direction de l’Architecture et du Patrimoine Ministère de la Culture et de la Communication
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A Single Entrance for Access to Cultural Data (Archives, Museums, Libraries, Heritage) at the French Ministry of Culture Knowledge
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WWW.CULTURE.FR/COLLECTIONS…
A Single Entrance for Access to Cultural Data(Archives, Museums, Libraries, Heritage)
at the French Ministry of Culture
Knowledge by Networking
International Conference, Berlin, 21-22 June 2007
Paul SmithDirection de l’Architecture et du Patrimoine
Ministère de la Culture et de la Communication
HISTORYFrench Ministry of Culture pioneered computerised data baseson the heritage and on museum collections
1974: ‘Mérimée’ - notices on the architectural heritage (buildingsstudied by Inventory services or protected as historic monuments)1975: ‘Joconde’ - catalogue of museum collections (paintings, objects,sculpture... )
Mérimée and Joconde on-line, first on ‘minitel’, in 1993, then on the Internet in 1996.
1996: plan for digitizing cultural documentation (archives, libraries,museums, built and movable heritage): enriches existing textualdata bases
Mémoire: data base of graphic and photographic documents
HISTORY
2002: report on the digital diffusion of the heritage: recommendation for better interoperability between differentdatabases: simultaneous consultation through a single question
2005: this project given priority in the Ministry’s information system master plan.
Working group identifies 250 separate on-line documentarysources, managed directly by the Ministry or by public cultural establishments; different technologies and software programmes
2006: operation ‘guichet unique’, a single entrance for accessing digitised cultural information
ORGANISATION AT THE MINISTRY OF CULTURE
Project piloted by the transversal documentation service at theMinistry of Culture; project group comprising representatives the Ministry’s different directions:
central administration,archives, architecture and heritage directorate, museums, books and reading, research mission, delegation for the French language, department of information and communication
July 2006: call for proposals, based on technical specificationsdrawn up by this project group; project starts in November 2006
OBJECTIVES
On-line access to cultural information presently held in 14 different data bases, covering archives, libraries, museums andthe built and movable heritage
Access via the Ministry’s portal at
www.culture.fr and the ‘Collections’ tab
Offer the public a unique and transversal entrance which is user-friendlyand easily identifiable
Version 1 (on-line since April 2007) aims at the non-specialist public
Version 2 (July 2007) will allow for more advanced researchand 17 more data bases
DATA ACCESSIBLEA broad range of domains:architecture, archaeology, movable objects, painting, sculpture, engravings, drawings, illuminated manuscripts,arts of the spectacle, ethnology, plans, maps, archives, geneology, photography…
Also, the French catalogue of digital collections (Frenchparticipation in the Michael project)
Also…. cultural events
The sources are varied:data bases, static and dynamic web sites, electronic reviews, virtual visits and exhibitions…
Two million documents are presently accessible, and one million pictures (!)
TECHNICAL IMPLEMENTATION
Use of a semantic search engine, based not on existing dataorganisation (fields) but on full text research with specificfunctionalities:
- morpho-syntactical analysis of word (words in all forms, avoidance of ambiguities)
- linguistic analysis: phonetical and spelling correction
- semantic analysis in order to prioritise presentation ofanswers
- other extensions for synonyms, lists of terms…
This ‘Intuition’ search engine developed by Sinéqua
THE FUTURE
Version 2 (incorporating a total of 32 information sources) planned for July 2007
Version 3, planned for 2008, will comprise other sources (Museumof Music, Musée d’Orsay…); study of interoperability with regionalcultural portals
Will include: - cross-linguistic interface (Spanish and English in addition toFrench)- advanced research capacities (specific thesauri, who, what, when fields…)- personalised services (research history, favourites, results basket for downloading or mailing)