1 Scope
This International Standard establishes guidelines for the exchange of information between cultural heritage institutions. In simple terms, this can be defined as the information managed by museums, libraries, and archives.
A more detailed definition can be articulated by defining both the intended scope, a broad and maximally inclusive definition of general principles, and the practical scope, which is defined by reference to a set of specific museum documentation standards and practices.
The intended scope of this International Standard is defined as the exchange and integration of heterogeneous scientific documentation relating to museum collections. This definition requires further elaboration.
— The term “scientific documentation” is intended to convey the requirement that the depth and quality of descriptive information that can be handled by this International Standard need to be sufficient for serious academic research. This does not mean that information intended for presentation to members of the general public is excluded, but rather that this International Standard is intended to provide the level of detail and precision expected and required by museum professionals and researchers in the field.
— The term “museum collections” is intended to cover all types of material collected and displayed by museums and related institutions, as defined by ICOM 3 . This includes collections, sites, and monuments relating to fields such as social history, ethnography, archaeology, fine and applied arts, natural history, history of sciences an...
Open preview (PDF)Information and documentation. A reference ontology for the interchange of cultural heritage information