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| Issue 4 Home | Editorial | Features | Regular Columns | News & Events | Misc. | ||
By Rosa Botterill - May 2001
Rosa Botterill describes the work of the European Museums' Information Institute (EMII), a consortium of key organisations in the cultural heritage field.
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The European Museums' Information Institute [1] is a unique consortium based on a very successful partnership of key organisations. It was established to strengthen the position of the cultural heritage sector, and more specifically the work of museums in Europe. EMII is a hosted organisation, with associates in 14 member states and 2 Economic Areas of the European Union. The EMII Secretariat currently benefits from sharing resources, technical support and professional expertise from working under the auspices of mda [2], EMII's UK partner, based in Cambridge, England.
As a project, EMII
received funding for a year, from October 1999 to September 2000,
from the previous DG X - Raphaël Programme. During that
period EMII's first achievement was the delivery of the European
Standards Survey. It was generally accepted that before embarking
on new initiatives the consortium should first identify the
current status of the use of information management standards in
museums across Europe. 10 member states participated in the
original survey, which also included information on partner's
national overview and details of their future vision for EMII.
Results of the survey can be found on the EMII Web site [3].
The EMII Survey is now seen as an important business tool by the cultural heritage sector. Updated statistical information on cultural heritage promotes improved understanding of the needs of the sector, contributes to better governmental policies, and to a more focused distribution of resources. Maintaining the survey offers EMII an excellent opportunity for further development work in the future. The consortium objective is to identify means of improving on EMII's original initiative by looking for co-operation with other relevant European networks and cultural organisations, with a view to offer comprehensive research of the cultural heritage sector in future.
EMII has evolved significantly a year on from when it was first launched in 1999. The consortium expects now to be able to take a more prominent role as a vehicle for the co-ordination of cultural digitisation programmes supported by the European Commission. Its strategic objective is to increase the existing network and to convert it into a dynamic distributed centre of expertise dedicated to:
The EMII Steering Committee has recently approved a model for the future sustainability of the consortium. Funding will be derived from two primary sources:
The approval by the Information Society Directorate of EMII's latest project proposal submission demonstrates a commitment to support further work from the EMII consortium. The new project entitled EMII Distributed Content Framework, will evaluate the issues (including standards and licensing arrangements) related to the future creation of digitised content from content holders within the cultural sector and beyond, for the use, in the first instance, for research purposes in projects funded by the European Commission.
Other project initiatives are on the way. The strength of the EMII consortium is beginning to make its mark. The work of the network has evolved and has established itself as an essential element amongst initiatives supporting cultural heritage organisations in Europe. It is clear that EMII has a role to play in Europe. It is also evident that the consortium must rise to the opportunities by carrying on working in co-operation to deliver solutions to the demands of users throughout the European Union.
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Rosa Botterill
EMII Co-ordinator
c/o mda,
Jupiter House,
Station Rd,
Cambridge
CB1 2JD, UK
Phone: + 44 (0) 1223 315 760
Fax: + 44 (0) 1223 362 521
Rosa Botterill is currently Standards Co-ordinator for the EMII Consortium. Rosa has extensive professional experience in information management and the implementation of standards in a variety of contexts. Her professional career has been developed working in libraries and museums in Brazil, USA and UK. Rosa has a BA in Librarianship and Documentation from the University of Rio de Janeiro and subsequently attained diplomas in computer studies and scientific documentation. She was awarded a Technical Co-operation Award from the British Council and came to the UK where she obtained her MA in Archives, Library, Information Studies and Education from Loughborough University. She was also awarded a UNESCO/Information Programme scholarship to undertake a programme of studies in Europe on On-line retrieval of information.
Rosa's career began as a librarian in Brazil, followed by a period of research in Texas, USA before finally settling in the UK where she worked at Plymouth City Museums and Art Gallery, the National Maritime Museum, and Oxfordshire County Council. She is currently Standards Co-ordinator for the European Museums’ Information Institute, hosted by mda and based in Cambridge, UK.
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For citation purposes:
Botterill, R. "Overview of EMII - the European Museums' Information Institute", Cultivate Interactive, issue
4, 7 May 2001
URL: <http://www.cultivate-int.org/issue4/emii/>
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