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)

THE END

www.culture.fr

‘collections’