Good start Diane.
The IBM report follows on an earlier
IBM-sponsored conference at The Metropolitan
Museum of Art, papers published as:
The Metropolitan Museum of Art. (1968). Computers
and their potential applications in museums : a
conference. New York: Published for the Museum by
Arno Press.
Then there's
Ellin, E. (1969). Museums and the Computer, an
appraisal of new potentials. Computers and the
Humanities, 4(1), 25-30.
where he says (and yes there's a strong echo!):
Computerised information systems that encompass the full spectrum of
museum resources will create the opportunity of restructuring the
museum environment itself. To illustrate, the museum's computer could
be programmed to direct the operation of an orientation gallery where
the visitor's prospective encounter with the institution's
bewildering assortment of material might be individually styled. One
could then choose an itinerary designed to his unique requirements.
.... new communications technology will be conscripted in an effort to
enhance the worth of these institutions" ... Museums "must be
prepared to distinguish between their traditional function in
gathering and preserving the objects significant to our civilization
and their more recently acquired responsibility to marshal and
disseminate the information pertaining to these collections"
and
Calo, M. A. (1974). The Computer and the Art
Museum, A Newly Formed Friendship. Syarcuse, New
York: Syracuse University, School of Library
Science.
There is also the significant early output of the
Canadian Heritage Information Network (CHIN)
under Peter Homulous, and CIDOC and MDA when
Andrew Roberts was involved with both, the early
Getty / AHIP work, and the Scuola Normale survey
report.
Ross Parry at the University of Leicester and I
have had several long discussions about this
topic -- within the context of his book on the
subject -- as we worked to identify the people
who 'lived' this history. It's still close
enough, and many of the actors are still around;
we're waiting to see the results of Ross's
research.
jennifer
At 8:26 AM -0400 10/24/06, Diane M. Zorich wrote:
>Seth,
>
>The Smithsonian Institution Archives hold the
>records of the Museum Computer Network, which
>began the push towards computerizing museum
>collections here in the States in the 1960s.
>You can see the finding aids for these records by
>searching for "Museum Computer Network" at
>http://siarchives.si.edu/.
>
>Also check out Kathy Jones-Garmil's article
>entitled, "Laying the Foundation: Three Decades
>of Computer Technology in Museums," in "The Wired
>Museum", Kathy-Jones Garmil, ed. 1997. American
>Association of Museums: Washington, DC. pp.
>35-62. This article presents a sweeping view of
>cultural heritage computing in museums (not just
>US based).
>
>Two other early articles I know of are:
>
>Vance, David and Jack Heller, "Structure and
>Content of a Museum Data Bank", in "Computers and
>the Humanities", published by Queens College
>Press in Flushing, NY. There is no date on the
>reprint I have, but it is probably from the late
>1960s or early 1970s.
>
>IBM. "Computers in the Museum" March 1973.
>This is listed as a manual written by David Vance
>based on a symposium of the same name sponsored
>by IBM. You might be particularly interested in
>its appendix, which summarizes museum computing
>initiatives in a number of museums (US and
>international). The reprint I have says that
>copies can be obtained by contacting an IBM
>representative in your area. (Wonder if that
>still holds true 36 years after publication!)
>IBM seems to have published it, and owns the
>copyright.
>
>Hope this helps. Where will your article appear?
>
>Diane
>
>
>> am currently writing an article on the history of the use of ICT
>>within the domain of cultural heritage (archives, museums,
>>libraries). In this context, I'm searching for documents from the
>>'70s onwards (books, articles, internal reports, etc) which
> >illustrate the discussion and implementation of computer applications
>>to document cultural collections (electronic cataloging, thesaurus
>>management, etc). Does anyone has some interesting archives regarding
>>these issues? Or do you know of publications on this subject?
>>
>>Kind regards,
>>
>>Seth van Hooland
>>ULB - Facult? de philosophie et lettres
>>Dpt SIC - fili?re STIC
>>Av. F.D. Roosevelt, 50 CP 123
>>1050 Bruxelles
>>B?t. DC.11.203
>>+32 2 650 40 80
>>http://homepages.ulb.ac.be/~svhoolan/
>>
>>
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>
>--
>Diane M. Zorich
>113 Gallup Road
>Princeton, NJ 08542 USA
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>Email: dzorich at mindspring.com
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