Attachment 3:  RECORDIM

RecorDim is an International 5 year partnership (2002-06) between international heritage conservation organisations working together to bridge the gaps that currently exist between the information users (researchers, conservation specialists, project managers, planners etc) and the information providers (photographers, heritage recorders, photogrametrists, surveyors etc.)

At the moment, the partners are CIPA (which is the documentation scientific committee of ICOMOS), the Getty Conservation Institute and ICOMOS. Each partner is represented by a liaison person and the initiative is co-ordinated by Mr. Robin Letellier.

Roundtable 1 took place at the Getty Conservation Institute in March 2002 and gaps between users and providers were identified. The objectives of roundtable 2 in Madrid (Dec. 2002) were to expose the initiative to wider audience, to identify additional gaps and to start the process of creating task groups to work on the identified gaps.

Different presentations made along the last two years have brought the experience of the presenters through specific projects (for instance from a small town in Nepal to a survey of German 1940’s weather stations in the North Sea, to conservation of heritage landscapes and to experience in working with national organisation and private sector and finally to training and working with students). Each presenter has been asked to try and specify gaps and needs which they faced or identified during their work.

In addition to the previous identified issues the presentations have raised similar ones or new ones - ranging between issues regarding public awareness and education, to need for guidelines, needs for special documentation for landscapes and carrying capacity studies, needs for training of both users and providers to be able to work together and a wide range of gaps and needs referring to the electronic media. Such are issues of copyright for digital data, access to private archives and data, information sharing systems which will not disclose information storage. Presentations have also raised suggestions such as having users and providers participate in each others work to change the situation, which was defined as “fear” of users from providers or some concern that fascination by modern technologies might result in loss of knowledge of how to use old traditional techniques, still very useful in the field of conservation.

The RecorDim international co-ordinator Robin Letellier expressed the interest on collecting suggestions on possible task groups to work on the gaps and needs, and on using case studies and their analysis.

Further information may be obtained from Robin Letellier (see his email address on the ICOMOS website) to follow up on the development of this project  and to identify those interested to be active in different ways in the RECORDIM initiative. There is a questionnaire that presents a concept of information warehouse web presence and its address; it also encourages participants to use it and to provide information to be posted to the information warehouse.

As with many other initiatives the real success depends on the follow up and on the level of commitment and activity by each partner and interested participant.