Museo della Guerra - Best Practices

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Museo della Guerra

Description

Event:

Digital archive

Target group:

Public audience

Purposes:

• Facilitating access to heritage • Protect archival heritage (documents and photographic collections) • Enhancing the archival heritage

European initiative reference:

n.a.

Info

Italy

Space Needed: Medium

Activity:

The Castello di Rovereto houses the collections of the Italian War History Museum (?Museo Storico Italiano della Guerra? in Italian), which is divided into three parts: the first is dedicated to the history of armies and wars between the 19th century and the First World War, the second focuses on the architecture of the castle and the weapons collections of the modern age, and the section 'Artillery of the Great War 1914-18'.

Contact

Email info@museodellaguerra.it Telephone 0464 438100

Website

Strengths

Increased accessibility of heritage
Reduction of management and information search time
Improvement of the organisation's image in terms of efficiency, modernity, and availability

Weaknesses

High initial investment costs
Involvement of specific skills

Digital Solutions

Consultation software
Professional scanner
Digital management system

Methodology

The function of the platform is to offer an information service. It therefore allows the archiving of and access to files with information material in different formats and a search tool by categories or keywords.
The development of a platform with these characteristics involves a component of technical design at the graphic level, database design and analysis, one of programming the public website (mainly html + DHTML + Javascript + PHP) and one of programming private access (mainly using php with a mysql database) for its administration.

Resources needed and start-up costs

Software programming: 6,000/10,000 euros

Possible low cost solution

One could also develop a website without programming thanks to platforms such as WordPress. The latter also offers free or almost free packages.

Transferable innovative principles and methods

1. Enhancing Museum heritage through virtual exhibitions

Every year the War Museum proposes several photographic exhibitions with the aim of enhancing the heritage of its archive, which consists of more than one hundred thousand images. These are small exhibition projects that develop a particular theme or present a single archive collection.

2. Using digital technology to protect and manage the preserved heritage more effectively and efficiently

The Museum carries out numerous projects to reorganise, inventory and dematerialise its archival collections, making them accessible and searchable online. The inventories are available in pdf format on the Museum's website (see link: Inventory of fonds)

3. Heritage accessibility as a priority

The digitisation of the archive responds to conservation and enhancement needs. Bringing the content of an archive online means making it accessible and interactive in terms of research and use not only to professionals but also to visitors, scholars, and laymen.