Does your institution host an important Heritage Sample Archive?
If yes, then ICCROM would like to hear from you!
ICCROM is launching a call for partners to leading institutions in the heritage field to help build and shape a three-day International Workshop on Connecting Collections: Unlocking Value in Heritage Samples Archives.
Many cultural institutions around the world hold valuable samples collections, gathered from heritage objects, or collected as reference materials or even fabricated as replicas. These diverse collections represent an important knowledge resource for study and preservation of cultural heritage, and yet are often under-recognized and critically threatened. The aim of this workshop is to highlight their value and vulnerability, and provide a platform for institutions to share, discuss and resolve the challenges they face regarding the preservation, access and use of heritage samples archives.
Heritage samples archives pose very particular challenges, experienced by many institutions worldwide, such as problems with physical safeguarding, documentation, metadata selection, data access and interoperability, as well as ethical and legal issues regarding ownership and use.
To address these issues, the workshop will seek to:
- Raise awareness of the value and importance of sample collections.
- Lay the groundwork for ways to increase access to these collections.
- Identify and share practical tools, methodologies, procedures and policies for improved material sample collections management, to enhance their preservation, access and use.
This three-day international workshop will be held at Évora, Portugal, from 13 to 15 June 2022.
Get in touch
Institutions wishing to join this initiative can consult the International Workshop webpage for further information, or contact Maria Mata Caravaca (ICCROM Archivist) directly at: archive (at) iccrom.org.
