7 ANSWERS TO 7 QUESTIONS
An introduction to Videomuseum
1. What is Videomuseum ?
2. What are the collections in Videomuseum ?
3. Who is (or may become) member of Videomuseum ?
4. How the association Videomuseum is organized ?
5. How the computerization of the collection is organized ?
6. How to consult Videomuseum ?
7. What is the future ?
January 2010
1. What is Videomuseum ?
http://www.videomuseum.fr
page 1
Videomuseum is a consortium of museums and other public structures managing modern and
contemporary art collections (national museums, town, county or regional authority museums, Fnac, Frac,
foundations) which gathered to develop methods and tools using new technologies to inventory and
diffuse the knowledge of the heritage of modern and contemporary art.
Videomuseum was formed in 1991 as a non-profit organization so that the participating organizations could
collectively control the management and the development of the project, and optimize technical and financial
resources. Its members are the museums and public organizations taking part to the project and so far represent
59 collections. New organizations join this network every year and there is a growing interest from foreign
countries.
It's in this cooperative context that tools and procedures are developed responding to the local needs of each
institution, as well as to the general program which serves as a structure for the main principles of managing :
-
-
A cataloguing method adapted to modern and contemporary art and a software for
registration and documentation which were developed with all the members allowing local
automation of each collection,
a collection documenting modern and contemporary art by gathering all the local databases
associated with a multi-criterion research software in a common database combining text and
images (today this database contains more than 256.000 works and 151.800 images).
A permanent team (7 persons) co-ordinates and assists all the members of the association.
Videomuseum also develops products edited on CD-ROM and Internet sites for its members.
http://www.videomuseum.fr
page 2
2. WHAT ARE THE COLLECTIONS IN VIDEOMUSEUM ?
Videomuseum currently encompasses 59 institutions engaged to standardize the inventory of their collections and
presently includes more than 21.100 artists, 256 000 works and 151.800 images :
France :
- Antibes, Musée Picasso
- Biot, Musée national Fernand Léger
- Bobigny, Collections publiques d’art contemporain du Conseil général de la Seine-Saint-Denis
- Bordeaux, capcMusée d'art contemporain
- Céret, Musée départemental d’art moderne
- Dole, Musée des Beaux-Arts
- Grenoble, Musée
- La Roche-sur-Yon, Musée
- Le Cateau-Cambresis, Musée Matisse
- Lyon, Musée d'art contemporain
- Marseille, [MAC], musée d’art contemporain
- Marseille, Musée Cantini
- Menton, Musée Jean Cocteau – Collection Severin Wunderman
- Nantes, Musée des Beaux-Arts
- Nice, Musée d’art moderne et d’art contemporain
- Nice, Musée des Beaux-Arts (collection XXe)
- Nice, Musée national du Message Biblique Marc Chagall
- Nîmes, Carré d’Art
- Paris, Centre national des arts plastiques/Fonds national d'art contemporain
- Paris, Musée national d'art moderne - Centre Pompidou
- Paris, Musée Picasso
- Paris, Musée de l'Orangerie
- Paris (Ville de), Musée d'art moderne
- Paris( Ville de), Musée Bourdelle
- Paris (Ville de), Fonds municipal d’art contemporain
- Paris (Ville de), Musée des Beaux-Arts - Petit Palais
- Paris (Ville de), Musée Zadkine
- Paris, Fondation Albert Gleizes
- Rochechouart, Musée départemental d’art contemporain
- Roubaix, La Piscine, Musée d’art et d’industrie André Diligent
- Saint-Etienne Métropole, Musée d'art moderne
- Saint-Paul, Fondation Maeght
- Strasbourg, Musée d'art moderne et contemporain
- Strasbourg, Collection Tomi Ungerer
- Toulouse, les Abattoirs, Espace d'art moderne et contemporain de Midi-Pyrénées
http://www.videomuseum.fr
page 3
- Vallauris, Musée Pablo Picasso, La Guerre et La Paix
- Villeneuve-d'Ascq, Musée d'art moderne Lille-Métropole
- Vitry-sur-Seine, Musée d’art contemporain du Val-de-Marne
Fonds régionaux d’art contemporain :
- Frac Alsace
- Frac-Collection Aquitaine
- Frac Auvergne
- Frac Basse-Normandie
- Frac Bourgogne
- Frac Bretagne
- Frac Champagne-Ardenne
- Frac Corse
- Frac Franche-Comté
- Frac Haute-Normandie
- Frac Ile-de-France
- Frac Languedoc-Roussillon
- Frac Limousin
- Frac Lorraine
- Frac Nord-Pas-de-Calais
- Frac des Pays de la Loire
- Frac Picardie
- Frac Provence-Alpes-Côte-d'Azur
- Frac Réunion
- Frac Rhône-Alpes / IAC (Institut d’art contemporain)
Belgique :
- Hornu, Musée des arts contemporains - Grand-Hornu
http://www.videomuseum.fr
page 4
3. WHO IS (OR MAY BECOME) A MEMBER OF VIDEOMUSEUM ?
Videomuseum was formed in 1991 as a non for profit structure, so that the member organizations could
collaborate on and control the management and development of the project, despite the multiplicity of their
juridical statutes (State, regions, cities), and to optimize technical and financial means.
Joining Videomuseum is a voluntary choice. Each member subscribes to the “cooperative” context of the
project. Therefore, each participating institution is an actor in the process of gathering, diffusing and sharing
the information and takes part in the achievement of the project.
The members are the juridical entities (Public Institutions, Regions, Cities…) in charge of the organizations
owning public art collections (Museums, Frac, Fnac…) or private institutions such as foundations, as far as
their collections are permanent and opened to the public.
- An activ member is an organism that joins the consortium to represent its collection in the common
database and use the management software of Videomuseum.
- An associated member is an organism that joins the consortium to represent its collection in the common
database and do not use the management software of Videomuseum.
Other institutions help (or have helped) the project by financing the preliminary studies, the first versions of the
software, the digitalization or the realization of CD-Rom :
-
Le Secrétariat Général du Gouvernement : Comité Interministériel pour l'Informatique et la Bureautique dans les Administrations
(CIIBA)
La Direction de l'Administration Générale du Ministère de la Culture (DAG)
La Direction des Musées de France (DMF)
Le Centre National du Cinéma (CNC)
L'Union Européenne (Impact 2 and Telematics Programs)
La Réunion des Musées Nationaux (RMN)
Le Centre National de Documentation Pédagogique (CNDP)
In addition, honorary members (scientific VIP) assist with their evaluation of Videomuseum.
There is also a fruitful collaboration of the copyright society :
-
Société des Auteurs Dans les Arts Graphiques et Plastiques (ADAGP)
http://www.videomuseum.fr
page 5
4. HOW THE ASSOCIATION VIDEOMUSEUM IS ORGANIZED ?
Due to its mutualist principles, Videomuseum is neither a product nor a service for which a service company
would charge a monthly fee. It is a cultural project supported by several public organizations that decided to
form an association in order to cooperatively manage what one could not do alone.
An association to co-ordinate common means
The association has responsibility for management, co-ordination of the implementation and development of
the whole project, on behalf of the participating organizations, so guaranteeing its coherence.
An agreement, to spell out everyone's rights
By becoming a member, the organization has signed an agreement formalizing the relations between the
organization and the association. Each member contributes to the project with a yearly subscription calculated
in proportion to the size of its collection. All members have the same rights and benefits.
The contract guaranties a real representation for each organization and also the viability of the project.
Administrative organization of the association
All the Videomuseum members meet at least once a year for a General Assembly to validate the
management of the association and determines its direction in terms of developments.
The association is managed by a Board of Directors of 22 members representing all the members.
A Standing Committee follows through all the actions and proposes changes.
A 7 persons permanent team takes care of the general management, the technical maintenance and the
daily co-ordination between the organizations.
A Users Group serves the users of the database in each institution. It controls the cataloguing method and
computer tools and evaluates needs.
Workshops regularly carry out a review of the common cataloguing method and the development of the
software. Other workshops are organized depending on the needs of various topics such as accessibility or
international exchanges.
page 6
5. HOW THE COMPUTERIZATION OF THE COLLECTION IS ORGANIZED ?
The general organization of Videomuseum is based on two levels:
-
each organization collects all the available documents (documentation and procedures on
management of its collection) and enters the information required in the database with the
software, cataloguing method and the assistance brought by the association, thus constituting a
local database of its collection,
-
the common database is constitued by the consolidation of the extractions of the descriptive and
documentary informations of all the local databases. The confidential informations (purchase
price, insurance value, file of restoration, etc.) remain local.
A common cataloguing method
The cataloguing of the information proceeds from a method that is especially adapted to modern and
contemporary art as well as to the needs of each of the members.
To help all institutions in collecting and organizing the informations, the cataloguing method provided
describes how the information should be structured and distributed. This cataloguing method proceeds from
analyses and determination by all Videomuseum members.
It is compatible with the standards described in the cataloguing method of the Direction des Musées de
France.
A documentation and management software for each collection : GCOLL
The software was developed for the museums and french public collections of modern and contemporary art
to ensure the documentation and management of their collection. It allows each organization to develop and
directly manage all the available documents on their collections with an adapted tool set.
The two modules comprising the software-documentation and management are fully complementary. For
example, the incoming and outgoing loans management tools enable automatic consolidation of exhibition
histories.
For the inventory and documentation, the software ensures the recording of standard informations for the
artists
and
their
works
within
the
field
of
modern
and
contemporary
art
:
-
biographical artists file,
partners,
bibliography,
history of the exhibitions,
former owners,
art thesaurus on materials, processes and technics, disciplines
page 7
Regarding the management of the collections, the software was conceived to ensure the management and
recording of all kinds of events that happen in the life of a collection :
- mode of entrance,
- storage tracking,
- conservation reports,
- external and internal movements (loans, deposits, removal, location tracking),
- inventory of the collection,
- work of the registrar and workshops (framing, packing, etc.),
- technical files for assembly, conservation and storage of the works,
- photographic library,
- …
Those functionalities are recorded in files containing a general level of information (general characteristic,
works involved) and an operational level (shipping, condition reports, packing, etc.).
All the procedures in a file can be registered as 'to be done' and 'done', which allows the various workshops to
plan workflow and to track the needs for each art work.
All information reported in a file or an operation is reflected for the particular set of works.
All files and operations are registered, constituting a detailed history of each work in the collection.
Since the software was designed to be customizable for each user, procedural reports can be used to express
specific needs and expectations for management of each institution.
Finally, the technical as well as the organizing procedures, allow for the shared and coherent management of
numerous common files :
- modern and contemporary artists file - surname and pseudonym, birth and death dates,
nationality, working and living address, copyright information,
- partners file includes : sellers, loans and deposits locations, lenders and borrowers, galleries,
shippers, restorers, insurance companies, photographers, etc,
- other files of authority : countries, cities, lexicon organised into a hierarchy for the types of
works, etc.
This software is being rewritten (see 7 “What is the future ?”).
A common database : NAVIGART
This software allows access to all artists and artworks in the common or local databases with a multi-criterion
search.
Initially, the software contained images stored on videodisks, inspiring the name of the association
VIDEOMUSEUM.
In 1998, a new version of the software was developed by using the web technology.
It is a browser that allows extensive tools (numbers of criteria, full text, selection of display, multi-criteria
queries, exports) and uses digitized files for the whole image database.
In 2002, a technical, functional and graphic revision of Navigart was realized (Navigart V2). This version
presents the following characteristics :
- Technical characteristics :
- server Windows, Linux or Unix
- Apache or IIS + PHP
- MySQL
- Navigators IE > 5.5, Firefox (PC and Mac)
page 8
- Functional characteristics :
- multicriteria search (more than 50 possible criteria) with simple criterion, thesaurus,
complete text research, boolean combinations,
- assisted research,
- posting of the results by list (with or without images) or mosaic of images,
- detailed posting of the notes works and artists with or without images,
- manual or automatic slide show,
- constitution of files of personal choices,
- protection, export and printing (HTML and PDF),
- management of the images and the other numeric media (videos, sound)
This software is also used as "core" to publish catalogs of collections on Internet and CD-ROM.
Role of Videomuseum association
The association assists each members in numerous ways :
- advice and assistance in the purchase of the hardware used to record and search the information,
- advice and assistance in the organization and collection of the information (cataloguing method,
procedures, etc.),
- training and assistance in using the databases,
- follow-up and co-ordination in the collection of information,
- organization and follow-up of the digitalization of the image database,
- collection and analyses of new needs,
- development of dissemination tools and associated products.
Videomuseum also provides technical assistance to its members for :
- the installation of updated software Gcoll and Navigart,
- the archiving of digitized common data and the maintenance of its format,
- the periodic gathering of the descriptive and documentary information about artworks and artists,
as well as the associated digitized images, in order to make up the common database,
- general information about new technologies,
- the technical specifications request and the follow-up of in-house and outsource development.
Responsibilities of the members
Active members of the association, each institution :
-
-
handles the complete photographic documentation of its modern and contemporary art collection
according to the established guidelines,
collects and enters the information of its collection, thus constituting a local database,
controls the quality of digitalization,
purchases the hardware according to technical requirements provided by the association. The
institution can benefit from prices negotiated by Videomuseum for all its members (a document is
available regarding this point near Videomuseum),
can export its datas in Joconde (National Database of the Direction des Musées de France)
is a place for public consultation of the common database
An associated member that does not use the management software is only involved by exporting the datas of
its own system to represent its collection in the common database.
This common database, with collections of all members, is accessible on the Internet with login and password
for these type of members.
page 9
6. HOW TO CONSULT VIDEOMUSEUM ?
Professional consultation of the common database
The common database includes 59 collections representing about 21.100 artists,
256.000 works and 151.800 images.
The consultation of Videomuseum is mainly intended for art professionals : curators, information specialists,
artists, galleries, teachers, researchers, students…
The access is not possible on Internet due to important financial cost for the payment of copyrights.
At present, the complete consultation is possible, on meeting, in Videomuseum’s place, but also in the
resource centers of other organizations equipped (see list in appendix).
The researches are made by the software of interrogation multi-criteria Navigart. This software allows every
user to execute any research on the name of an artist, its nationality, the titles of its works; the date of its
creation, its localization, its date of acquisition (about fifty criteria), its materials, processes and technics.
Additional products edited on CD-Rom and Internet
-
A World Wide Web server
(http://www.videomuseum.fr).
with
general
information
presenting
the
whole
project
-
a CD-ROM "Multimedia Dictionary of Modern and Contemporary Art" published by Hazan, Réunion
des Musées Nationaux, Thames & Hudson, Akal in 1996. Selected as a European project, it benefited
from the support of the Impact 2 Program, as well as from the Centre National de la Cinématographie and
the French Ministry of Industry.
-
a program of published catalogues is organised allowing each member to publish its collection as a
paper publication completed with a CD-Rom with the complete database available on the Internet.
Some titles have already been published :
« Panorama » Frac Bretagne
« de Dufy à Chaissac - la peinture moderne au musée des Beaux-Arts de Nantes » (édition RMN)
« La Collection - Musée d’art moderne / Saint-Etienne »,(édition RMN)
« La collection de design du Centre Georges Pompidou » (édition du Centre Pompidou),
« La collection du Fonds régional d’art contemporain d’Ile-de-France » (édition RMN),
« Frac Languedoc-Roussillon 1982-2002 » (édition du CRDP Languedoc-Roussillon)
« Sculpture contemporaine » IAC (Institut d’art contemporain) - Frac Rhône-Alpes
« La Photographie à l’épreuve » IAC-Frac Rhône-Alpes et Musée d’art moderne de Saint-Etienne
Métropole.
In complement to this last editorial program, it is also possible for every member of Videomuseum to use
Navigart to make accessible its collection on its own Web site.
The last developments of Navigart allow to parametrize the contents of the databases, the criteria of
interrogation and the modes of posting but also to personalize the interface according to every context of
collection.
This device also integrates an export automated since the base of management, what allows a regular update
of the site.
page 10
The members of Videomuseum who use this system are:
-
-
le Cnap/Fnac (http://www.fnac.culture.gouv.fr/) : publication de ses acquisitions; actuellement années
1998/2003, de la donation Albers-Honegger, du Fonds Chohreh Feyzdjou, et de 1507 objets design,
le Centre Pompidou (http://www.centrepompidou.fr/) : mise en ligne de toute la
collection,
le Frac Languedoc-Roussillon (http://www.fraclr.org/) : mise en ligne de toute la collection,
le Frac Ile-de-France (http://www.fracidf-leplateau.com) : mise en ligne de toute la collection,
le Frac Picardie (http://www.frac-picardie.org/) : mise en ligne de toute la collection,
les Abattoirs, Toulouse :(http://www.lesabattoirs.org): mise en ligne de toute la collection,
le Frac Bretagne (http://www.fracbretagne.fr/) : mise en ligne de toute la collection,
le Musée d’art moderne de Saint Etienne Métropole. (http://www.mam-st-etienne.fr/) : mise en ligne de la
collection Peinture, Sculpture et Installation
le Frac Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur (http://www.fracpaca.org/) : mise en ligne de toute la collection,
le Frac Champagne-Ardenne (http://www.frac-champagneardenne.org/) mise en ligne de toute la
collection,
le Frac Limousin (http://www.fraclimousin.fr/) : mise en ligne de toute la collection,
le Frac Basse-Normandie (http://www.frac-bn.org/) : mise en ligne de toute la collection,
le Musée Tomi Ungerer/Centre international de l’illustration (http://www.museesstrasbourg.org/F/musees/tomi/tomi.html) : mise en ligne de toute la collection,
le Frac Nord-Pas de Calais (http://www.fracnpdc.fr/) : mise en ligne de toute la collection,
le Musée d’art moderne et contemporain de Strasbourg (http://www.museesstrasbourg.org/F/musees/mamcs/mamcs.html) : mise en ligne de toute la collection.
Le Musée national Picasso, Paris (http://www.musee-picasso.fr/) : mise en ligne des chefs-d’œuvre
de la collection.
-
Le Frac Alsace (http://www.culture-alsace.org/) : mise en ligne de toute la collection.
page 11
7. WHAT IS THE FUTURE ?
-
New functionalities will be implemented in the new version of GCOLL software which is being rewritten for
an up-dated technical Internet environment. The new version is due for the middle of 2007. A file detailing
technical architecture of this new version is available on request near the association.
-
The development of the collections publications program (Paper publication + CD-Rom + Internet).
-
In order to create a database as complete as possible, Videomuseum would like to increase the number
of institutions. The project is to allow museums, with only a part of their collection concerned by modern
and contemporary art, to be represented in the common database with this part.
-
The poursuit of the digitalization of all the public collections of modern and contemporary art.
page 12