Virtual Museums & Inter-Museum Collaboration

Virtual Museums

Inter-Museum Collaboration

A Pathfinder

Skye Thomsen

Information Resources in the Humanities, Dr. Loriene Roy

October 30, 2000

Virtual Museums: Inter-Museum Collaboration

Museums are historically isolationist, priding themselves on the contents of their individual institution’s collection. Over the years networks and associations created to represent multiple museums and their interests have expanded their roles as information and financial resources to encouraging inter-museum collaboration through collection sharing and, namely, expansion on the World Wide Web. Not only are associations responsible for encouraging "virtual" museum partnerships but the individual institutions are themselves joining forces to expand education or profit.

The scope of this pathfinder is to answer questions and offer resources to the members of Dr. Loriene Roy’s Information Resources in the Humanities class (Fall, 2000) about inter-museum collaboration on the Internet. Topics covered are: the involvement of multiple museum associations in web collaboration, such as the American Association of Museums and the International Council of Museums; collaborative multiple - museum projects, like the Art Museum Image Consortium; and individual museum partnerships, both forthcoming and existing, for example, MoMA-Tate and the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco.

Questions that this pathfinder can answer for the clients and patrons of an academic library are: Where can I find recent articles about inter-museum collaboration? Where can I find examples of inter-museum collaboration between individual institutions? What can I find out about associations involved in inter-museum collaboration? Are there any sites on collection sharing? What are some examples of multiple museum database projects? Is there a site that provides information on how two museums can collaborate with each other? The sources available on this topic are varied, both in format and accessibility. The web sites are available to anyone with an Internet connection whereas the journal titles are going to be located in the holdings of an academic library. The process of selecting the sources began with an article by Douglas Davis entitled "The Virtual Museum Today, Imperfect but Promising" (New York Times, Arts & Leisure, p.1 & 32, September 24, 2000). Included in Davis’ article is a list of museum web sites that I used as a springboard for research. I found many sources to be rich in links to other institution pages and divulging information on projects endemic to specific associations and museums. I evaluated these online resources by the amount and depth of the information provided and references within journals and other web sites (i.e. three different national sites referred to the International Council of Museums). Journals specific to the museum profession provided dialogues concerning current trends in museums, technology, and collaboration. I did not use standard tools or bibliographies as my starting point; I instead used web search engines such as Google <www.google.com> and the web sites in the Davis article. The search terms that I found useful were combinations of "museums," "collaboration," "partnerships," "web," "online," and "internet."

Bibliography

1) American Association of Museums (AAM) <http://www.aam-us.org/index.htm>

15 October 2000.

"The American Association of Museums is the national organization representing the museum community and addressing its needs, thereby enhancing the ability of museums to serve the public interest." (AAM Fact Sheet, Mission Statement, AAM) The AAM site contains many links about its programs and grants. It includes an index to one of its publications, Museum News, a journal that provides many articles about online museum collaboration. The site also contains information on its government involvement on behalf of American museums in areas ranging from copyright to postal rates. Finally, AAM supplies its guidelines and ethics guidelines for museums exhibiting borrowed objects, an important aspect of museum partnerships.

2) International Council of Museums (ICOM) <http://www.icom.org/> 15 October 2000.

ICOM is an international organization that maintains formal relations with UNESCO whose mission is to represent museums on an international level. Specific to patrons with inter-museum collaboration concerns is a ‘Virtual Library Museums Online’ international list including museums, libraries and galleries on the web. ICOM maintains many projects that involve museums and the Internet, such as lobbying for a new Internet domain name for museums.

3) International Partnerships Among Museums (IPAM)

<http://www.aam-us.org/international/ipam_index.htm> 15 October 2000.

"The International Partnerships Among Museums (IPAM) is an institutional linkage program that enables museums in the United States and other countries to become acquainted, develop a project together, and carry out that project during consecutive one-month visits of a staff member from each institution. IPAM helps museums lay the foundation for lasting relationships with partner museums." (What is IPAM?, AAM) The IPAM site is important for small museums seeking peer assistance in projects and for clients interested in the technical process of museum project collaboration. The IPAM site provides application forms, answers to questions from "What are the benefits to participating institutions?" to "How are the IPAM awards granted?" and links to the participating organizations.

4) Art Museum Image Consortium (AMICO) <http://www.amico.org/home.html> 15 October 2000.

AMICO, a non-profit organization, collaborates with museums on an individual basis (by soliciting membership) to obtain copyrighted digital images and records from the various member institutions and creates a visual and virtual library. The AMICO site provides a glimpse into a different part of museum collaboration where an organization, rather than the museums themselves, creates a collaborative project. The AMICO site contains information on how to become a member, how to subscribe to the AMICO library, procedures for the participating institutions, and even sample records.

5) Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco (FAMSF) <http://www.thinker.org/>

17 October 2000.

FAMSF is a partnership of both the deYoung Museum and the California Palace of the Legion of Honor. While the site contains the home pages for both institutions, including information on collections and exhibits, it also offers the searchable database, ImageBase, which contains images from the collections of both museums. A patron will find the FAMSF site an excellent example of online museum collaboration because it highlights the shared efforts of the institutions and their individual projects as well. FAMSF is a good representation of the unique opportunities possible on the Internet for positive museum partnership.

6) Harvard University Art Museums <http://www.artmuseums.harvard.edu/>

20 October 2000.

The Harvard University Art Museums page is a portal for the home pages for the Fogg Art Museum, the Busch-Reisinger Museum and the Arthur B. Sackler Museum. The individual institutions’ sites are not the highlights of this web page, rather you may search the collections, exhibitions, and other specific services of each museum at once. Though each museum is unique and they are physically and administratively separate, the web page brings their collections together in an on-going project to create searchable databases. It is an example of museums collaborating in the virtual world to create resources for the researcher that would be impractical in the physical world.

7) Museum International, 51.4 (October/December 1999). Oxford : Blackwell Publishing Co., 1999 (AM 1 M63 V.51 1999 Fine Arts Library, UT Austin; UT Library Online, www.lib.utexas.edu, Electronic Journals, ‘M’)

Museum International is a publication that covers the professional and institutional interests of museums and those in museum careers. In volume 51, number 4, the issue is devoted to museums and technology, including articles about online museum coordination and other examples of the growing presence of museums on the Internet. The issue is an excellent general source about museum collaboration online.

8) Museum News, 76-78 (1997-1999). New York City : American Association of Museums, 1997-1999 (AM 1 A55 V.76 -78 1997-9 Fine Arts Library, UT Austin, plus current issues shelved by title.)

AAM’s publication, Museum News, has recently implemented recurring columns on Museums and Technology, and Partnerships. Both of these columns provide overviews of current projects and information about upcoming events. This publication is good for monitoring trends in virtual museum collaboration and how museums are using technology.

9) ExCalendar.net <http://www.excalendar.net/> 20 October 2000.

ExCalendar.net is a database of current exhibits in major museums across the United States. Visitors can search by exhibit title, museum name, city, artist name, and keyword. Search results contain exhibit title, descriptions, dates, and contact information for each museum. Like AMICO, ExCalendar is an example of an organization that creates collaboration between museums through their exhibition information, creating a museum resource where visitors access museum information by topics in one place rather than individual sites.

10) Tate Partnership Scheme <http://www.tate.org.uk/home/news/13_0100.htm>

16 October 2000.

"The Tate Partnership Scheme is a joint initiative which will increase public access to the Tate Collection through a series of loans and exhibitions, and provide new opportunities for training and development." (Press Release January 13, 2000, Tate) The Tate Partnership Scheme is a collaboration with several galleries across England and this press release is an example of a museum’s proposed collaboration project including costs, works to appear in the various partner museums, and a brief timeline.

11) Nagoya/Boston Museum of Fine Arts <http://www.nagoya-boston.or.jp/english/eng1.htm> 20 October 2000.

This site is the homepage of the Japanese museum that has a partnership with the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. The collaboration is physical: the Nagoya museum displays pieces from Boston. The web site is accessible from BMFA’s page and is an example of another kind of Internet museum collaboration. Though the actual art is in Japan, viewing this web site brings the BMFA collection together in virtual space as well as explaining their Nagoya collaboration in real space.

12) Getty ArtsEdNet Home Page <http://www.artsednet.getty.edu/> 20 October 2000.

Although the Getty ArtsEdNet Home Page attends to education in the arts it uses that subject as a focus for museum collaboration. On the site are virtual exhibits with works from not only the Getty but also other Los Angeles area museums as well. This program also contains collaborative efforts between the Getty and the Norton Simon Museum, the Getty and Los Angeles schools, and exhibits designed by multiple museums for children. This site is very important for patrons looking for museum collaboration for the explicit reason of education.

13) Smithsonian Center for Education and Museum Studies <http://www.si.edu/cms/> 20 October 2000.

The Smithsonian Center for Education and Museum Studies is a large resource covering several areas of museum studies. For studying inter-museum collaboration there are many guidelines, articles, and other opportunities. The CMS is an excellent starting point for specific articles and examples of museum collaboration.

14) Museum Studies Database <http://www.si.edu/cms/data.htm> 20 October 2000.

The Museum Studies Database is an online catalog of articles pertaining to the study of museums and their operations. This site can provide many citations for scholarly articles on various aspects of museums. For instance, a search performed using the term ‘collaboration’ received 48 records, both short and full records, and dates. This source is invaluable for patrons seeking articles on inter-museum collaboration online from a museum studies perspective.

15) Museum Loan Network < http://loanet.mit.edu/> 20 October 2000.

"The purpose of the Museum Loan Network is to make objects of cultural heritage more accessible and understandable to the public by encouraging collecting institutions to share these works over extended periods of time." (Mission, MLN) One of the goals of the Museum Network is "To strengthen existing museum networks, to build new ones, and to provide a vehicle for the compilation and exchange of information about objects of cultural heritage available and needed for sharing." (Goals, MLN) The Museum Loan Network is an example of an organization that seeks to create collaboration between institutions to enrich public understanding of art and the collections of participating institutions. This site provides grant information and other guidelines for institutions that wish to participate in the program.

Style Manual Used: Hacker, Diana A Pocket Style Manual Third Edition. Boston: Bedford & St. Martin’s, 2000 (MLA Style, 105-141)

Inter-Museum Collaboration & The Internet, A Pathfinder

Inter-museum collaboration and the Internet is a) Two or more museums collaborating on the World Wide Web on an individual exhibition or project, and/or collection sharing; and b) an independent organization that represents or involves multiple museums, their collections and their interests. This pathfinder has been produced to aid in answering several questions pertaining to inter-museum collaboration online.

Where can I find recent articles about inter-museum collaboration?	Museum Studies Database <http://www.si.edu/cms/data.htm> and Museum News (AM 1 A55 V.76 -78 1997-9 Fine Arts Library) both provide recent articles covering the topics of museum collaboration and technology plus informational articles on particular topics
Where can I find examples of inter-museum collaboration between individual institutions?	Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco (FAMSF) <http://www.thinker.org/> and Harvard University Art Museums <http://www.artmuseums.harvard.edu/ > both sites are excellent examples of collaborative efforts between institutions giving access to collections, exhibit information, hours, databases, etc.
What can I find out about associations involved in inter-museum collaboration?	International Partnerships Among Museums <http://www.aam-us.org/international/ipam_index.htm> IPAM is an organization that organizes partnerships between two museums on particular projects. IPAM also provides funding for both institutions involved in the partnership.
Are there any sites on collection sharing?	Museum Loan Network <http://loanet.mit.edu/ > is an organization that solicits membership from museums to encourage collection sharing between member institutions. The site is a resource for institutions interested in participating in this collaboration.
What are some examples of multiple museum database projects?	Art Museum Image Consortium <http://www.amico.org/home.html> and ExCalendar.net <http://www.excalendar.net/ > these sites are databases containing images and information from multiple museums.
Is there a site that provides information on how two museums can collaborate with each other?	International Partnerships Among Museums <http://www.aam-us.org/international/ipam_index.htm>. Again, IPAM offers forms, guidelines, and FAQ about how museums can get funding for collaboration.