Bart De Nil

Survey and monitoring digital heritage in Flanders

11-02-2016 | Digital Past 2016 | Llandudno (Wales)

FARO. Flemish interface cultural heritageFARO is the interface centre for the tangible and intangible cultural heritage sector in Flanders and Brussels. We support cultural heritage organisations and communities in Flanders and Brussels. • We assist collection administrators in caring for their collections, offering

both advice and practical help.• We enhance the expertise of professional and volunteer heritage workers.• We stimulate discussion and collaboration, also beyond our borders.• We develop new heritage practices.• We research, inform and publish.• We mediate between governing bodies and the field.• We promote cultural heritage to a wide audience, for example by

organising the annual Heritage Day• We contribute to a diverse, inclusive and sustainable society.

FARO is active in international networks and projects. Are you looking for partners or colleagues in Flanders for an international collaboration or exchange? If so, don’t hesitate to contact us. We would be delighted to help you in your search!FARO is accredited by UNESCO, and a member of ICA, ICOM, and CERL.

Flemish cultural heritage sector

www.erfgoedkaart.be : the cultural heritage landscape, plus our collections, organisations and societies.

Introduction and contextThe Cijferboek cultureel erfgoed (literal translation: book of numbers cultural heritage) is an initiative of the Agency for Arts and Heritage of the Flemish government and FARO. Flemish interface for cultural heritage.

It collects biannual figures on the operation of the authorized (with accreditation) museums, archives and heritage libraries, and the subsidized nationwide heritage organizations and heritage bodies.

It includes among other data about the management form, staff, volunteers, financial resources, infrastructure (depot), collection size and management, activities, access conditions, visitor numbers and services.

With this tool we want to monitor the evolution of the cultural heritage sector with accurate statistics. Thus, we underpin the (policy)support for cultural heritage.

website cijferboekcultureelerfgoed.be

Function 1 website: input and management data organisations

We collect all data via a tailor-made survey tool.

We send every two year to the authorized (with accreditation) museums, archives and heritage libraries, and the subsidized nationwide heritage organizations and heritage bodies a link to their data.

If they already have participated at the survey, they just have to update their data or provide (new) information that we don’t have.

The organizations have access to an extranet with their login: - input their own data;- generate individual benchmarking rapports (individual results compared

with totals, averages, medians of similar organizations, in tables and graphs);

- data is available in different formats (pdf, xls, ppt).

Function 2 website: rapporting

The public can consult the global rapports and rapports of the different type’s of heritage organizations (totals, averages, medians, in tables and graphs) and download them as pdf.

Rapports of the different type’s :• Archives• Heritage libraries• Museums – classified nationwide• Museums – classified regional• Museums – local en not-classified• Service organizations : centre of expertise, orgin, de partnerships CAHF en

VKC, Lukasweb, de Archiefbank, de Vlaamse Erfgoedbibliotheek and FARO• Heritage bodies (support heritage field in a region or city)

Surveys and respons

Only authorized (with accredition) museums, archives and heritage libraries, and the subsidized nationwide heritage organizations and heritage bodies can participate at the cijferboek.

• Cijferboek 2010 (survey 2011), respons: 106 of 110 organizations (96,3%)• Cijferboek 2012 (survey 2013), respons: 110 of 115 organizations (95,6%)• Cijferboek 2014 (survey 2015), respons: 127 of 131 organizations (97 %)

Since 2010, the composition of the field of authorized organizations has evolved. Some organizations lost their authorization, others were newly authorized.

Respons per type of authorized (with accreditation) organisation

Type 2014 2012 2010archives 17 8 9heritage liberary (research liberary with a special collection) 7 6 1regional heritage body 21 19 18expertise centre 9 9 5museum 65 60 59organisation for folk culture 2 2 8others 6 6 6

Collection registration (cijferboek 2012)Collection registration is essential for the management of collections: 74% of the collections is in one way or another registered or described in a collection registration system on item – or subcollection level. That’s a a prograss compared to 2010 (49%). But there’s still a large backlog with regard to the access to this information via the internet: only 38% of the collection registration is online.

Status registration and online access according to material type

Schriftmaterialen t/m 18e eeuw

Boeken tot 1899

Boeken vanaf 1900

kranten tot 1899

kranten vanaf 1900

tijdschriften tot 1899

tijdschriften, vanaf 1900

Verwerkte archiefbestanden

Statisch beeldmateriaal tot 1899

Statisch beeldmateriaal vanaf 1900

Audiovisuele dragers

Kunstobjecten en artefacten tot 1899

Kunstobjecten en artefacten vanaf 1900

Natuurhistorische specimens

TOTAAL

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90%

ontsluitingregistratie

TOTAL

Natural history specimensArt objects and artifacts from 1900

Art objects and artifacts until 1899

Audio-visual carriers

Static visual material from 1900

Static visual material until 1899

Processed archival holdings

Periodicals, from 1900

Periodicals, until 1899

Newspapers, from 1900Newspapers, until 1899

Books from 1900

Books until 1899

Manuscripts and old prints to 18th C

online access

registration

Digitization (cijferboek 2012)22% of the collections are digitized, but only 10% is online. That’s very few, that means that most of the material only can be consulted in the institution or not at all. With documentary material (books, archives) the gap much larger than for pictures or art objects. That is due to the much larger size of the to digitize documentary collections. Audiovisual media, there is a very large gap between digitized material and online accessibility of it.

Status digitization and online access according to material type

Schriftmaterialen t/m 18e eeuw

Boeken tot 1899

Boeken vanaf 1900

kranten tot 1899

kranten vanaf 1900

tijdschriften tot 1899

tijdschriften, vanaf 1900

Verwerkte archiefbestanden

Statisch beeldmateriaal tot 1899

Statisch beeldmateriaal vanaf 1900

Audiovisuele dragers

Kunstobjecten en artefacten tot 1899

Kunstobjecten en artefacten vanaf 1900

Natuurhistorische specimens

TOTAAL

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%

ontsluitingdigitalisering

TOTAL

Natural history specimensArt objects and artifacts from 1900

Art objects and artifacts until 1899

Audio-visual carriers

Static visual material from 1900

Static visual material until 1899

Processed archival holdings

Periodicals, from 1900

Periodicals, until 1899

Newspapers, from 1900Newspapers, until 1899

Books from 1900

Books until 1899

Manuscripts and old prints to 18th C

accessible

digitized

Conclusions Cijferboek 2010 and 20122 survey’s: in 2011 (about 2010) and in 2013 (about 2012).

Insufficient material to draw conclusions about long-term developments in the field.

Quality of the reported data since 2010 has improved. That means that the data in 2012 was more complete and detailed than were registered in 2010.

Monitoring is an continuing effort.

We consolidated our set of indicators.

We must look closer into the challenge how to monitor more the qualitative aspects of the work done in heritage organisations (for example: quality of digitization, etc.).

Cijferboek cultural heritage 2014 (survey 2015)Basic indicators regarding to digital heritage• Registration, digitization and online access to physical heritage

collections

New items• Data on born-digital collections (holdings, registration and

online access).• Management digital heritage:• Financing, deployment of staff / volunteers• Distribution and use• Open data• Digital archiving

-> mainly based on Enumerate survey.

Indicators ENUMERATEEuropeana ‘Thematic Network’ Observatory

Core Survey 1-3: 20 indicators, divided over 4 themes

Supply

Growth of digital collectionsProgress digitization

Policy yes/no

Economics

Costs of digitisationYearly costs

Ratio structural – incidentals costs

Demand

Usage of digital materialKinds of use

Monitoring

Sustainability

Digital preservation practicesPolicy yes/no

Standards

http://www.enumerate.eu/fileadmin/ENUMERATE/documents/ENUMERATE_Conceptual_Framework.pdf (p. 17)

2016Begin January 2016: closing survey Cijferboek 2014.

At this moment we’re processing and analyzing the data.

Spring 2016: delivery rapport Cijferboek 2014.

underpins a concept note on cultural heritage that our minister of culture shall present in late spring 2016.

Dank u - Diolch – Thank youBart De Nil – senior staff member archives, digital heritagebart.denil@faro.be

Jeroen Walterus – coordinator Cijferboekjeroen.walerus@faro.be

cijferboek@faronet.bewww.cijferboekcultureelerfgoed.bewww.faro.be