V. RECOMMENDATIONS

The Standards Framework for Computer Interchange of Museum Information is intended to be: a guideline for museums engaged in systems planning, acquisition and implementation; for software developers and network service providers designing museum applications; and for the profession as a strategy for the preservation of museum data and as insurance in a rapidly changing information environment. Recommendations made in this section apply to each of these three audiences.

The Standards Framework for CIMI specifies what standards should be used in what applications to best assure interchangeability of data among museum applications, migration of data across generations of museum software, and exchange of information among museums and other institutions so it can be used directly by the recipient independent of kind of software, hardware system or network service vendor.

The Standards Framework for Computer Interchange of Museum Information provides a means for museums, museum consortia, and vendors of museum services, to define interchange services and the contents of specific exchanges of data in a way which assures them that the interchanges will work today and in the future, and positions them to take advantages of information industry-wide developments in interoperability.

The foundation of the Standards Framework is the Open Systems Environment (OSE) Reference model (RM) introduced in Figure 6. The OSE RM has been applied most comprehensively in the working draft of the ISO/IEC JTC1 SC18/WG1 Technical Report on Multimedia and Hypermedia: Model and Framework (MHMF), and there provides a context for understanding how the different technologies required for open systems and applications interrelate. (ISO/IEC JTC1/SC18/WG 1 N1444 1992)

Figure 15 shows where the CIMI Standards Framework fits in the OSE context. CIMI addresses the interchange aspects of the OSE model that includes how data is represented, how various data types are identified, and how data content objects are presented.

Implicit in the OSE/MHMF model is the adoption of external standards primarily those originating with ISO, or other international organizations such as IEEE or CCITT. CIMI believes that museums will be well advised to adopt OSE/ISO standards and services whenever possible. This leads to endorsement for museum use of data representation standards for text, image and sound which conform to OSE recommendations, including the adoption of message handling, file handling, and terminal handling services which conform to lower level OSI requirements.

The CIMI Standards Framework, therefore, may be viewed as a suite of communications protocols, interchange formats and data representation schemes to support museum interchange needs. It employs preexisting and standard methods for data representation (ASCII and the ISO 7 and 8 bit sets along with extension mechanisms, MPEG, JPEG, CGM), ISO 10162/10163 for information retrieval, EDI/EDIFACT for business transactions, FTAM for file transfer, X.400/500 for messaging, ISO 9049/41 for terminal access, MHEG for multimedia. Transport services can be provided by OSI or an appropriate alternate such as TCP/IP. Database building, reference file construction, and the interchange of collections management data can be handled by ISO 2709, ISO 8879 SGML, ISO 8824 ASN.1, and ISO 9735 EDIFACT.

Figure 16 arranges in a conceptual fashion all aspects and interrelationships of museum information interchange.

Figure 15:  CIMI in the context of OSE




Figure 16:  CIMI Standards Framework

The standards framework for CIMI acknowledges that museums applications have special content and that business transactions using EDIFACT, and collections and reference database building using ISO 2709, ASN.1 and/or SGML will require agreements on data content standards still to be developed. Nevertheless it recommends adoption of appropriate carriers for application data and the beginning of data interchange service definitions.

Museum recommendations:

  1. Museums should take the Standards Framework for CIMI into account in making decisions to acquire software. They should advise offerers of products that they will weigh adherence to standards heavily in their decision making.

  2. Museums should implement systems in a fashion that will take advantage of the modularity of layers as represented in the Open Systems Environment model.

  3. Museums should adopt data value standards, such as thesauri and name lists, accepted as standards within the disciplinary community.

  4. Museums should employ standards identified in the Standard Framework for CIMI in any exchanges of information with other institutions. The ongoing CIMI Initiative will support collaborative efforts to define specific interchange services.

Vendor and Network recommendations:

  1. Software vendors and networks offering services to museums should support interchange of data using methods consistent with the Standards Framework for CIMI.

  2. Software vendors should promote the adherence of their products to CIMI standards in advertisements to the museum community.

  3. Network service providers should engage museum clients in defining interchange services employing standards identified by the Standards Framework for CIMI.

  4. Software vendors and network service providers should support access to data value standards adopted by the museum community and the disciplines which contribute to it and use it.

  5. Networks should support the on-going research and development efforts of the Consortium for CIMI and implement tested interchange methods as these are developed.

Museum profession recommendations:

  1. Museum professional associations should promote the Standards Framework for CIMI and on-going efforts of the Consortium for CIMI through publication, conference sessions and debate.

  2. The museum profession should encourage the further development of standards for data values and data content designation as represented by collaborative disciplinary efforts in thesaurus construction, biographical and geographical databases and reference files of various types.

  3. The museum profession should continue to monitor and report on developments in information systems standards and participate in standards development activities at the national and international level.

  4. The museum profession should incorporate education about information systems standards and the Standards Framework for CIMI into museum management education and museum program reviews.

  5. The museum profession should encourage museum involvement in networked communications to increase the visibility of museum resources on the Internet, to improve museum to museum communications, enhance museum service delivery and develop museum professional skills.

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