ICS-FORTH October 14, The CIDOC CRM, factor for the integration and presentation of cultural information Martin Doerr Foundation for Research and Technology - Hellas Institute of Computer Science Heraklion, Oct. 14, 2000 Center for Cultural Informatics

ICS-FORTH October 14, The CIDOC CRM Cultural Diversity and Data Standards  Aspects of cultural information:  Collection description (art, archeology, natural history….)  Archives and literature (records, treaties, letters, artful works..)  Administration, preservation, conservation of material heritage  Science and scholarship – investigation, interpretation  Presentation – exhibition making, teaching, publication  How to make data standards ?  Each aspect needs its methods, forms, communication means  Data overlap, but do not fit in one schema  Understanding lives from interrelations, how to express them?

ICS-FORTH October 14, The CIDOC CRM Historical Archives…. Type:Text Title: Protocol of Proceedings of Crimea Conference Title.Subtitle: II. Declaration of Liberated Europe Date: February 11, Creator:The Premier of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom The President of the United States of America Publisher:State Department Subject:Postwar division of Europe and Japan “ The following declaration has been approved: The Premier of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and the President of the United States of America have consulted with each other in the common interests of the people of their countries and those of liberated Europe. They jointly declare their mutual agreement to concert… ….and to ensure that Germany will never again be able to disturb the peace of the world…… “ Documents Metadata About…

ICS-FORTH October 14, The CIDOC CRM Images, non-verbose… Type:Image Title: Allied Leaders at Yalta Date: 1945 Publisher:United Press International (UPI) Source:The Bettmann Archive Copyright:Corbis References:Churchill, Roosevelt, Stalin Photos, Persons Metadata About…

ICS-FORTH October 14, The CIDOC CRM Places and Objects TGN Id: Names: Yalta (C,V), Jalta (C,V) Types: inhabited place(C), city (C) Position: Lat: N,Long: E Hierarchy: Europe (continent) <– Ukrayina (nation) <– Krym (autonomous republic) Note: …Site of conference between Allied powers in WW II in 1945; …. Source: TGN, Thesaurus of Geographic Names Places, Objects About… Title: Yalta, Crimean Peninsula Publisher: Kurgan-Lisnet Source: Liaison Agency

ICS-FORTH October 14, The CIDOC CRM Capture Underlying Semantics…  Diversity causes many (meta)data standards  Related Information does not match one format or query  We have recognized (already 1994 with Museum Benaki): Event-centric models can integrate many kinds of retrospective (historical) information  We have engaged in interdisciplinary work to create semantic content models, so-called: domain ontologies  Ontologies are the formalized knowledge: to drive data integration, query mediation, to motivate data structures and presentation models

ICS-FORTH October 14, The CIDOC CRM Explicit Events, Object Identity, Symmetry carried out participated in has created E31 Document “Yalta Agreement” E7 Activity “Crimea Conference” E65 Creation * E38 Image falls within took place at refers to E52 Time-Span February 1945 at least covering at most within E39 Actor E53 Place E52 Time-Span

ICS-FORTH October 14, The CIDOC CRM Outcomes  The CIDOC Conceptual Reference Model  A collaboration with the International Council of Museums  An ontology of 75 classes and 106 properties for culture and more  With the capacity to explain dozens of (meta)data formats  Accepted by ISO TC46 in Sept as work item  Serving as:  intellectual guide for good practice concept clarification, structure clarification, identification of abstractions  prototype of schemata, formats, profiles — adding format decisions and specialisation  precise formal analysis of existing sources for integration

ICS-FORTH October 14, Metadata and the CIDOC CRM The Role of the CRM Legacy systems Legacy systems Data bases World Phenomena ? Data structures & Presentation models Conceptualization abstracts from approximates explains, motivates organize refer to Data in various forms

ICS-FORTH October 14, Metadata and the CIDOC CRM Metaschema of the CIDOC CRM participate in Actors Types Conceptual Objects Physical Entities Temporal Entities Appellations affect or / refer to refer to / refine refer to / identifie location at within Places Time-Spans

ICS-FORTH October 14, Metadata and the CIDOC CRM Example: The Temporal Entity Hierarchy

ICS-FORTH October 14, The CIDOC CRM Temporal Entity  Temporal Entity  This is an abstract entity and has no examples. It groups together things such as events, states and other phenomena which are limited in time. It is specialized into Period, which holds on some geographic area, and Condition State, which holds for, on, or over a certain object. — consists of related or similar phenomena, — Is limited in time, is the only link to time, but not time itself — spreads out over a place or object (physical or not). — the core of a model of physical history, open for unlimited specialisation.

ICS-FORTH October 14, The CIDOC CRM Temporal Entity- Subclasses  Period  binds together related phenomena  introduces inclusion topologies - parts etc.  Is confined in space and time  the basic unit for temporal-spatial reasoning  Event  looks at the input and the outcome  the basic unit for causal reasoning  each event is a period if we study the process  Activity  brings the people in  adds purpose

ICS-FORTH October 14, The CIDOC CRM Temporal Entity- Main Properties  Temporal Entity  Properties: has time-span (is time-span of): Time-Span  Period  Properties: consists of (forms part of): Period falls within (contains): Period took place at (witnessed): Place  Event  Properties: had participants (participated in): Actor occurred in the presence of (was present at): Stuff  Activity  Properties: carried out by (performed): Actor had specific purpose (was purpose of): Activity had as general purpose (was purpose of): Type

ICS-FORTH October 14, Metadata and the CIDOC CRM Instantiation sample of the CIDOC CRM

ICS-FORTH October 14, The CIDOC CRM Some Major Ideas  Fundamental categories:  Temporal Entity, “Stuff”, Actors, Place, Date, Appellation, Types  Event-centric:  Actors, Stuff, Place and Date connect ONLY through Temporal Entities (events and states).  Date is subordinate to event relations, auxiliary.  Reasoning on world names:  Naming activities as historical facts  Unlimited subdivision:  Date, Place, Periods, Objects, divide recursively into parts  Extensibility:  Creation of subclasses, subproperties, indirection of properties

ICS-FORTH October 14, The CIDOC CRM Conclusions  The CIDOC Model is the first international data standard for the cultural area  It is a rich intellectual framework for the analysis of cultural contents (physical world)  It is a powerful component for information systems  Its extensibility should give it a long validity.