Professionalism in art documentation and digital archives

Towards an education and training system

Abstract

First, as for the information materials curated as cultural resources primarily in the three major disciplines（museums,libraries and archives），the historical process of the formation of the principles and technology of “documentation”is examined, and examples of documentation centers for art are presented. These fundamental processes should be agreed and established before digital archives are created. Secondly, the activities of the Japan Art Documentation Society rely on those three disciplines, but its professional training system is not yet systematized. Thirdly, the basic philosophy and education system of the Faculty of Cultural Information Resources at Surugadai University are presented. Art documentation is now formally incorporated into the curriculum. Finally, the notion of “mediology，”the study on “transmission of cumulative heritage of traces，”is discussed. It is argued that such integrated perspectives as mediology are necessary for professional education not only in the study of cultural information resources but also in archival science.