Collections documentation standards

Museums in Canada that are documenting their historical collections in English generally use either Nomenclature, or the Parks Canada Classification System. This paper will provide an overview and comparison of these two North American standards, and guide museums in their choice.

Browse the Artefacts Canada database, containing approximately 5 million object records and 1 million images from Canadian museums.

Artists in Canada, compiled and maintained by the National Gallery of Canada Library, is a bilingual union list that identifies the location of documentation files on Canadian artists. Libraries and art galleries across Canada have contributed biographical information and lists of their documentation files to create this resource which contains information for more than 55,000 artists. Each record includes biographical information on the artist, artist technique and name variants. Available in English and French.

The Canadian Heritage Information Network's (CHIN) data dictionaries for the humanities and natural sciences have proven to be valuable reference tools for the management of museum and gallery collections information. A data dictionary defines all the categories or types of information in a database. The CHIN data dictionaries are not a data structure for use in a collections management system, but they can be used as the basis for such a structure. They can be used by a wide range of museums to help them to identify their institution's information needs and standardize their documentation. Each data field in the CHIN data dictionaries is described by a field label, a mnemonic and a name. Fields include a definition, entry rules, related fields, a data type, examples, a discipline, authority lists, a source and other information. The CHIN data dictionaries are used as the standard for Canadian institutions that contribute collections data to CHIN's Artefacts Canada; as guidelines for institutions which are developing or modifying a collections management system; and to promote the consistent recording of information by cataloguers or to provide users of collections databases with search strategies.

This guide contains basic information on why museum documentation standards are important, describes the main types of standards and how they are used in Canadian museums, and provides users with access to the standards. Users can learn about standards at a basic level or find detailed information as required. It includes standards that are required or recommended by CHIN for Artefacts Canada contribution, as well as other standards that are commonly used by Canadian museums. This Guide includes standards for metadata, vocabulary and classification, data content, data exchange and museum procedures. It includes standards from a wide variety of disciplines (Art & Visual Resources, History & Ethnology, Education) and includes both general standards (such as Dublin Core) and highly specialized standards (such as the ICOM Costume Classification). The following sections are included: Introduction, Metadata (Data Structure Standards), Vocabulary (Data Value Standards), Cataloguing Rules (Data Content Standards), Interchange (Data Format Standards) and Procedural Standards. Available in English and French.

This self-paced free online course is the first of its kind to be developed by the Canadian Heritage Information Network (CHIN). The course covers a variety of topics related to documentation and data cleaning. The course consists of seven modules that cover a variety of topics, including introductions to documentation and data cleaning, documentation policies and plans, data entry, data cleanup, data migration and documentation problem solving. The first module updates and replaces the pre-existing Introduction to Documentation of Heritage Collections course.  Data cleaning is important knowledge for all staff and volunteers at an institution, and this course aims to provide introductory knowledge and tools on this important topic. Available in French and English.

Video – Introduction to museum collections documentation standards

This video provides basic information about museum collections documentation, including why it is important to document museum collections and which processes are recommended. This video was created by the Canadian Heritage Information Network.

Standards Type: Procedural (Type)
Discipline: Multidisciplinary (Discipline)

Museums are managing their collections documentation in an increasingly networked environment, and are facing ever-changing user expectations for information access and interaction. In this context, the role and importance of museum documentation standards has grown, as data standardization and sharing become key. There are many recent developments in documentation standards for museums, and Canadian museums and the Canadian Heritage Information Network (CHIN) have contributed extensively to the development of these standards. This paper provides an overview of key museum documentation standards used in Canada, and describes some new developments. Originally published in French in the journal Documentation et bibliothèques 58,3 (July-September 2012), it has been published here with the authorization of the editor, the Association pour l’avancement des sciences techniques de la documentation (ASTED).

Various international research groups have been formed to facilitate the acquisition and long-term management of media artworks. Based in Montreal, the DOCAM Research Alliance (Documentation and Conservation of the Media Arts Heritage) is made up of researchers in cultural organizations and universities. In collaboration with the DOCAM Research Alliance, the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (MMFA) has developed documentation and conservation methods adapted to media artworks in museums and identified the ethical issues associated with them.

Nomenclature for Museum Cataloging is a standard for classifying and naming objects in cultural collections. The Canadian Heritage Information Network (CHIN), Parks Canada and the Nomenclature Task Force appointed by the American Association for State and Local History (AASLH) have collaborated to produce an online version which includes the entire Nomenclature 4.0 (published in 2015); terminology, definitions, illustrations and bibliographic references from the Parks Canada Descriptive and Visual Dictionary of Objects (Parks DVD); a complete French version; and Canadian variants of Nomenclature concepts, where warranted. Nomenclature is continuously updated by the Nomenclature Task Force.

Standards Type: Vocabulary and Classification (Type)
Vocabulary and Classification: Object Naming and Classification (Vocabulary)
Discipline: Art and Visual Resources (Discipline), History and Ethnology (Discipline)

User guidelines for the transition from the Parks Canada classification system to Nomenclature for Museum Cataloging

These guidelines will assist users of the Parks Canada classification system to transition to Nomenclature for Museum Cataloging. By harmonizing the content of Nomenclature 4.0 and the Parks DVD, the most recent complete version of the Parks Canada classification system, the strengths of both have been combined to become a single, bilingual, illustrated standard. Although there are many similarities between the two, the classification structures are slightly different. In addition, some terms have been changed, moved or deleted. These guidelines will help users to easily adopt the new harmonized standard.

Standards Type: Vocabulary and Classification (Type)
Vocabulary and Classification: Object Naming and Classification (Vocabulary)
Discipline: Art and Visual Resources (Discipline), History and Ethnology (Discipline)