Press Release

CIDOC CRM Receives Unanimous Approval in Latest ISO Ballot
Path cleared for final ISO certification

Geneva, Switzerland, 12 March 2005: The CIDOC Conceptual Reference Model (CRM) has today moved one step closer to official standard "ISO 21127": A Reference Ontology for the Interchange of Cultural Heritage Information". In completing the penultimate stage of the ISO certification procedure, the CRM can prepare for publication as an official International Standard within the year.

The CRM is a major building block in the creation of intelligent and cross-cultural information exchange systems. It provides a common and extensible framework that forms the "semantic glue" needed to mediate between the information resources produced by museums, libraries, archives, and other cultural heritage organisations.

"This is a significant achievement", notes Nick Crofts, convener of the CRM's ISO Working Group; "Having first decided to submit the CRM to ISO in 1999, we are now nearing the end of a rigorous and formal process. The ISO certification procedure ensures that the standard is well-conceived, well-presented, and formally supported by the 148 countries represented in the ISO".

ISO 21127 will be the result of an ambitious and international effort to create an intellectual structure that facilitates the discovery of - and access to - digital resources across the globe. The final publication will bring to fruition over ten years of international collaboration between cultural heritage specialists and researchers from arts, humanities and science institutions from over twenty countries in Europe, Asia, Australia and North America.

Martin Doerr, Chairman of the CRM Special Interest Group, puts this achievement in perspective: "The formalisation of the CRM is an exciting and significant step towards the vision of a global knowledge infrastructure, and a start into a new, more systematic understanding of the nature and complexity of the cultural-historical discourse".

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Links

The CIDOC Conceptual Reference Model: http://cidoc.ics.forth.gr/

CIDOC: http://www.willpowerinfo.myby.co.uk/cidoc/

Official page of ISO:
ISO 21127:2006

ISO Standardisation Procedure: http://www.iso.org/iso/en/aboutiso/introduction/index.html#twenty

About ICOM
The International Council of Museums (ICOM) is an international, non-governmental organisation of museums and museum professionals which is committed to the conservation, continuation and communication of the world's natural and cultural heritage. ICOM has 20,000 members in 140 countries and holds consultative status with the United Nations' Economic and Social Council.

About CIDOC
CIDOC is the international focus for the documentation interests of museums and cultural heritage organisations. It is a committee of the International Council of Museums (ICOM) with over 750 members in 60 countries.

About ISO
The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) is an international, non-governmental organisation whose principal activity is the development of voluntary technical standards. With a membership of 148 countries, ISO promotes standards which provide a reference framework or common technological language to facilitate technological interoperability internationally.

About Cultural Heritage
"Cultural Heritage" is the general term used to refer to the broad scope of knowledge
and material evidence relating to people and their environment. The "Cultural Heritage Sector" includes the range of institutions which acquire, conserve, study, and communicate information relating to material collections, sites and monuments, natural history, ethnography, political and technological history, archaeology, and collections of fine and applied arts.

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