•A GIS Data Base about arts and culture in Mexico•Worked through a network •Over 83,000 items registred•Published Atlas, surveys, documentation center, etc.

New version

•More interaction with users•Atracting wider audiences•Furhter developing network structure

• Culture is complex and value-laden• Problem of boundaries• The broader the definition, the harder it is to

make it operational for measuring purposes• Need for comparativeness• Some things can be measured but not all, and

there are limits to what you can interpret from what you measure

• Easier to measure production and consumption of cultural goods and services than their impacts

• Data is produced... but fragmentarily, inconsistently and uncoordinated

• Need for data mediators that express informed opinions about quality and applicability of data

• The work of an observatory does not necessarily end with gathering and disseminating information

• The interest of the observatory lies more in policy than in simple understanding