Museum Archive Group Presentation Art Documentation Pratt Institute School of Information
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Net Art Commissions The New York Museum of Art Sanam Aarabi & Jenny Korns December 7, 2016 LIS 661 Art Documentation, Fall 2016 Pratt Institute - School of Information
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Transcript of Museum Archive Group Presentation Art Documentation Pratt Institute School of Information
Net Art Commissions The New York Museum of Art
Sanam Aarabi & Jenny KornsDecember 7, 2016LIS 661 Art Documentation, Fall 2016Pratt Institute - School of Information
Historical Background of New York Museum of Art
❖ Founded in 1967 by philanthropists whose mission was to provide a space to
showcase the work of established contemporary artists and emerging artists.
❖ NYMA collects and exhibits modern and contemporary art, in line with the
founder’s vision to make the collection accessible to the public.
❖ The current permanent collection is comprised of photography, painting,
sculpture, drawings, prints, video, and new media art. The collection contains
more than 20,000 works by over 2,000 artists.
Net Art Collection at NYMA
❖ Began commissioning net art in 2006 ❖ Works are commissioned under the
leadership of curator Dana Peze❖ Net art works are only acquired as
commissions❖ More than 50 net art works in the
Collection ❖ All works are publicly accessible
through NYMA’s websitePhoto from Surian Soosay on Flickr Commons. Licensed under CC 2.0
Collection Materials
Artwork Components Documentation Preservation Materials
❖ Source code and scripting languages
❖ Commission agreements
❖ Artist questionnaires❖ Non-exclusive license
agreements❖ Images
❖ Artwork questionnaires
❖ Artist interviews❖ Web ARChive
(WARC) files
Web ARChive (WARC) Files
❖ In addition to bit-level preservation of the source code and
scripts that comprise the artworks, NYMA creates WARC files
of net art using Archive-It or Rhizome’s Webrecorder.
❖ “The WARC (Web ARChive) format specifies a method for
combining multiple digital resources into an aggregate
archival file together with related information.” - WARC, Web
ARChive file format, digitalpreservation.gov
❖ WARC file format is an ISO standard (ISO 28500:2009)
Status of Materials
❖ All analog materials are located in the office of the curator❖ Digital documents are housed on NYMA’s network share drive on the server❖ Source code and scripts are hosted online via web server
Issues to address:
❖ Inconsistent cataloging❖ Conservation measures have not been taken
Scope of Work
This project proposes a systematic approach for properly organizing and processing net art commissions and related documentation.
Methodology of Work:
1. Organization and processing of the Collection2. Application of a new naming convention and numbering scheme3. Creation of individual records in xDams
a. Describe net art works and related documentation to the item levelb. Author a cataloging guide
4. Creation of a vocabulary guide
Organization & Processing of Net Art Collection
❖ Transfer all analog files to NYMA archives, where they will be appraised and processed
❖ Processing entails: inventory materials and related documentation, undertake conservation steps for hardcopy and born-digital materials, as needed ➢ Re-housing materials in acid-free folders➢ Assess file formats for sustainability
Naming Convention and Numbering Scheme
❖ A new numbering scheme has been developed to ensure that each item in the Net Art Collection has a unique identifier.
❖ This numbering scheme will be used to label and identify analog materials and will also be applied as a filenaming convention to digital materials
❖ These unique identifiers will be cataloged as “inventory number” in xDams
Components of Naming Convention
Works of Net Art
acronym for net art
NA.2006.001
year of commission
number in sequence of commissions
Components and Documentation
acronym for net art
NA.2006.001-01
year of commission
number in sequence of commissions
number assigned to each document associated with a
work of net art
Creating Records in xDams
Net Art Works - Individually described, on item level, in xDams
❖ xDams: used by NYMA to describe and manage collections
➢ Open source platform: allows users to share information, interoperability between systems and platforms, budget friendly
❖ Data in xDams structured in accordance to LIDO (Lightweight Information Describing Objects) standard
➢ LIDO: XML schema for describing cultural heritage items; designed to courier metadata from
database to linking portals (like web applications)
Conceptual Map for organization of materials in xDams
Example: xDams Record for an Image File
Example: xDams Hierarchy for an Image File
Cataloging Guide
Develop a guide containing in-house cataloging rules for describing common forms of net art documentation in xDams:
❖ Source code and scripts❖ Commission agreements❖ Artist Questionnaires❖ Artwork Questionnaires❖ Artist Interview❖ Non-exclusive license agreements❖ Web ARChive (WARC) files❖ Images
Vocabulary Guide
❖ Develop a controlled local vocabulary for describing net art that includes terms from established standard vocabularies
❖ Terms from the following established standard vocabularies will be incorporated in the vocabulary guide:➢ Art & Architecture Thesaurus (AAT)➢ The Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names (TGN)➢ Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH)
❖ Customized terms will be incorporated when established standards fall short
Controlled Vocabulary: Excerpted list of terms
Controlled Vocabulary: Sample of faceted terms
BT/NT/RT Term Controlled Vocabulary
Broader term Art and the internet LCSH
Narrower term Net Art NYMA
Related term Interactive Art Getty AAT
Technologies
❖ Desktop Computer running: Adobe Photoshop CC, Adobe Photoshop
Lightroom CC
❖ xDams will be the collections management system, utilizing LIDO standards
❖ Network Server: store born digital and digitized materials
➢ Password protected directory - set up on the server to house digital materials from Net Art
Collection
Staff
Staff will include:
❖ Museum’s Permanent Collection Documentation Manager, who oversees -
❖ Processing Archivist
❖ Metadata Specialist
Supplies
❖ Acid-free folders, archival storage boxes, etc.
❖ Workstation - to process materials
❖ Computer- Windows, Photoshop, Lightroom
-Timeline for Completion-
Conclusion
The proposed project offers a systematic approach for organizing and processing files and related documentation in NYMA’s Net Art Collection.
Project Outcomes
● Net Art Collection materials will be prepared for long-term preservation and items in the Collection will be described consistently
● NYMA will be able to manage these Collection materials more efficiently● Access to Collection materials will be improved for NYMA staff and
researchers● Methodology and guides developed will be available to other institutions with
net art collections
