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Object
ID
The illicit trade in cultural objects is now widely recognised
as one of the most prevalent categories of international crime.
There is widespread agreement that documentation is crucial
to the protection of cultural objects, since stolen objects
that have not been photographed and adequately described are
rarely recoverable by their rightful owners. However, it is
one thing to encourage the compilation of descriptions of
objects as a security measure, but quite another to develop
effective means of circulating this documentation to organisations
that can assist in their recovery if stolen. Ideally, the
information that can identify a stolen or illegally exported
object should be able to travel at least as fast as the object
itself. This will mean that the information may have to cross
national borders and be circulated among a number of organisations.
The development of electronic networks makes this effort technically
possible. But the existence of digital information and computer
networks to transmit information solves only part of the problem;
also needed are standards that will make it possible to exchange
information in a form that is intelligible to both systems
and people.
Discussions between the Getty Information Institute and leading
national and international umbrella agencies and government
bodies in 1993 established that there was a consensus on the
need to collectively address issues relating to documentation
practices and the implementation of international standards.
In July of that year the Institute convened a meeting in Paris
to discuss the possibility of developing an international
collaborative project to define documentation standards for
identifying cultural objects. The meeting was attended by
representatives of the Conference for Security and Co-operation
in Europe (now the Organisation for Security and Co-operation
in Europe), the Council of Europe, the International Council
of Museums, INTERPOL, UNESCO, and the U.S. Information Agency.
The participants agreed on the need for such an initiative
and recommended that it focus on developing a standard for
the information required to identify cultural objects, and
on the mechanisms for encouraging the implementation of the
standard. As a result of these consultations, a project was
defined and initiated, with the following primary objectives:
- To provide a collaborative forum for organisations that
have demonstrated an interest in the protection of cultural
objects,
- To recommend an international "core" documentation
standard for the identification of cultural objects,
- To encourage the implementation of the standard.
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contents | foreword | introduction | standards | appendix | bibliography |
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