TIIAP grant for CIMI

Museum Computer Network awarded TIIAP grant for CIMI

U.S. Secretary of Commerce Ron Brown today announced funding of more
than $24 million under the Telecommunications and Information
Infrastructure assistance Program (TIIAP).

The Museum Computer Network (MCN) was one of two recipients in the Arts
& Culture category, receiving an award of $158,150 to support Cultural
Heritage Information Online (CHIO), a project of the Consortium for
Computer Interchange of Museum Information (CIMI) to create a multimedia
resource about folk art collections.  The project will create a database
of multimedia folk art available to Internet users.  This demonstration
project will create standards and formats for representing information
such as text, images, and publications and create a model for other
information providers in the cultural heritage sector.

Maxwell Anderson,  Chair of the Association of Art Museum Directors,
commented "CHIO represents a concerted effort to prepare for the
interactive future of U.S. museums, and this important grant is a first
step in the large-scale interconnection of institutions, artworks, and
audiences."

CIMI's aim in undertaking this project is to tackle the need for
standards, so that valuable cultural heritage information can truly be
shared electronically with a large number of people far into the future.
CIMI argued in its application that if standards are not implemented by
the museum community now, "while museums are in the relatively early
stages of information automation, the electronic doors to many of these
museums may be closed to the public and the rich contents hidden from
view."

As a result of several years of research and consultation, CIMI has
chosen standards for both structuring digital information and for
retrieving it. The standard CHIO will apply for structuring information
is SGML (Standard Generalized Markup Language).  The standard to be used
for information retrieval is ANSI Z39.50, which provides a standard way
for a searcher to submit a query electronically and have the resultant
data passed from where it resides back to the searcher.

Project CHIO will demonstrate access to text, images, and publications
on digital networks.  By carefully documenting the experience, and by
using publications and workshops to disseminate the knowledge and skills
gained by participants in the project, CHIO will also create a model for
other information providers to follow in their efforts at entering the
information highway.

For information about CIMI please contact:

    John Perkins, CIMI Project Manager
    16 Schooner Dr., RR1
    Boutiliers Point, Nova Scotia, Canada, B0J 1G0
    Tel: 902-826-2824  Fax: 902-826-1337
    E-mail: jperkins [at] fox__nstn__ns__ca

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                  Conservation DistList Instance 8:27
                Distributed: Saturday, October 15, 1994
                        Message Id: cdl-8-27-004
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