Museums to Libraries

One of the things Elaine Gurian said the other night was that Museums could become more like libraries, or rather that museum curators should start to think about and manage their collections more in the way that librarians do. In which case today's British Library user bulletin is food for thought perhaps:

LIBRARY THIEF CONVICTED

Mr Farhad Hakimzadeh, a former British Library Reader, is due to appear at Wood Green Court today (Friday 21 November). Hakimzadeh has pleaded guilty to ten counts of theft from the Library, and asked for further charges to be taken into account. He has also admitted theft from the Bodleian Library in Oxford. Sentencing in this case is expected later today and you may have seen coverage of the case in this morning's press.

Hakimzadeh used considerable skill, deceit and determination to steal leaves, plates and maps from collection items. In many instances his thefts were initially difficult to detect. The items he mutilated are mainly 16th, 17th and 18th century items, with a lesser number of 19th and a few 20th century items. The predominant subject area is the West European engagement with Mesopotamia, Persia and the Mogul [Mughal] empire (roughly the area from modern Syria to Bangladesh), and western travel and colonisation / exploration.

Readers should be assured that theft from the British Library is an extremely rare occurrence. As Readers will appreciate, we are a library, not a museum. We are committed to making our collections available in the interests of scholarship and research, and to do this an element of trust is necessary. Hakimzadeh fundamentally betrayed this trust.

I know that Readers will share the anger we feel about this crime. The Library takes very seriously its duty to protect the collections for your use, and for the generations of Readers to come. We have zero tolerance of anyone who harms our collections and will pursue anyone who threatens them with utmost vigour.

The successful prosecution of Hakimzadeh follows a thorough and detailed investigation by Library staff and the Metropolitan Police. This led to the recovery of some of the items stolen by Hakimzadeh, and civil proceedings are now underway to recover further items and to seek financial compensation.

The Library has been heartened by the generous co-operation it has received during this investigation from a number of institutions and from other libraries in this country and abroad.

Should any Reader have a concern about the security of a collection item, please do speak to a member of Reading Room staff.

Dame Lynne Brindley
Chief Executive Officer
The British Library

US-Led Invasion Has Brought Destruction and Pillage to Iraq's Cultural Sites

"What the American forces are doing is not only damaging the archaeology of Iraq, it’s actually damaging the cultural heritage of the whole world."

http://londonprogressivejournal.com/issue/show/44#article302

"What the Russians Left In Their Wake in Georgia"

A Wall St Journal report on the targeting of Georgian heritage sites by Russian forces during the recent occupation. "The full barbarism of Russian actions in Georgia may not emerge for years..."

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122220864672268787.html

'Working with Stonehenge is like rolling a rock uphill'

Interesting interview with Stephen Quinlan on his firm’s part in the long-running saga of English Heritage visitor centres at Stonehenge.

http://www.bdonline.co.uk/story.asp?storycode=3117308

Italy declares Pompeii a state of emergency

Italy declared a state of emergency at Pompeii:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/jul/05/italy

http://www.cbc.ca/arts/artdesign/story/2008/07/05/pompeii-emergency.html

Privatising the management of the Valley of the Temples, Sicily

More discussion of privatising heritage management in Italy:

http://www.ansa.it/site/notizie/awnplus/english/news/2008-07-03_103231149.html

13th International Congress "Cultural Heritage and New Technologies

13th International Congress "Cultural Heritage and New Technologies"

City Hall of Vienna, Austria� Wappensaalgruppe

CALL FOR PAPERS


The Department of Urban Archaeology of Vienna, their cooperation-partners and chairs
are kindly invite you to submit an abstract for the 13th International congress
"Cultural Heritage and New Technologies".

The congress will provide participants with the opportunity to exchange research results, opinions, experiences.

Important Dates:
Deadline for Abstract: May 31st, 2008
Notification of speakers: June 11th, 2008


Submission of Abstracts

Participants intending to present a talk are requested to submit an abstract digitally
by using of kongrarchae@ma07.wien.gv.at by May
31st, 2008 (Deadline)

The structure of the abstract should be:
* Language: The text should be written in German or English.
* Paper Category: Choose the category and the subcategory / Workshop, where you
intend to hold your paper.
* Ideas: Outline the main objective of the project / ongoing research.
* Methodology/Approach: How were the objectives reached? Which method/s was/were
used?
* Results: What is/are the result/s of the work?
* Innovations: What is new and significant about your ideas, methods, and/or results?
* Keywords: Add 3 - 5 key words to identify the main contents of the paper.

mailto:kongrarchae@ma07.wien.gv.at

NaMU: Fulltext proceedings available online

I am forwarding the link and message so that you can have a look at the interesting papers, one of which was written by a heritage studies group member of ours...


'NaMU: Making National Museums'

Dear all, NaMu proudly presents… the conference proceedings of workshop IV in Norrkoping, 18-20 February, are now available online. The publication contains as many as 23 presentations including Kylie Message’s and Peter Aronsson’s keynotes. Feel free to explore 317 pages of new intellectual endeavours and intriguing examples from museums and exhibitions all over the world! You can easily access the publication through the following link:http://www.ep.liu.se/ecp/030/

Announcement for ICOM Europe Tour 2008

Museum Tour and Conference "Between the Old and the New Europe" September 28 – October 5, 2008

Venues: Tirana, Korce, Ohrid, Bitola, Vergina, Thessaloniki and Istanbul
In cooperation with ICOM Macedonia (FYR), ICOM Greece and ICOM Germany

The rich European heritage in the region between the Adriatic See and theBosporus, in Albania, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia,Greece andTurkey is the central aspect of ICOM Europe’s tour 2008. The prevailance ofMuslim/Ottoman traditions, the cultural relics of theGreek, Roman andBycentine periods and the traces of Jewish life andculture make this area aunique place to explore cultural diversity upto modern times. By visiting major cities and sites in the region the museum tourandconference will enable participants to compare the efforts made bymuseumsin Tirana, Korce (Museum of Medieval Art), Ohrid (NationalMuseum ofMacedonia), Bitola (several different historical sites),Vergina (Tomb ofPhilipp II), Thessaloniki (Museum of Bycentine Cultureand others) andIstanbul (private and public museums) to preserve,rebuild or establishcollections and exhibitions that reflect thefollowing basic aspects: 1.National and European Identities
2. TheRepresentation of Minorities
3. TheRevitalisation of Cultural and Natural Heritage
4. Cultural Diversity andUnderstanding.

The main intention of the tour is - to foster crossborder relationships between the countries participating- to provide insight into problems and necessary immediate action in museums- to strengthen the museums in the region- to improve international relationships among European countries andmuseums- to create and support networks of museums- to build up trust between museums ICOM Europe believes that the ICOM Europe Tour 2008 is a unique project to foster mobility of museum professionals in Europe. This corresponds with the strategic plan of ICOM and also with the Activity Plan of the EuropeanCouncil, that intends to foster networking and to build uptrust. Mobility of personal has become one of the key elements incultural policy today. We are convinced that the tour and conference meets the modern requirements ofmuseum management and will contributeto the development of museums as majorcultural institutions in Europe.
Programme
A detailed programme and the itinery of the tour shall be available by June.
See: www.icom-europe.org.
Registration To register for the ICOM Europe Tour 2008 please contact Mr. UdoGoesswaldchair@icom-europe.org.
Deadline for registration is June 30,2008. The registration fee is 120 Euros (80 Euros for students). After registering you will receive information about accomodation. ICOM Europe supplies a limited amount of travel grants for ICOMmembers,especially under the age of 35. Please apply for travel grantswith your CVand a letter of request. --Udo GoesswaldChairICOM-Europec/o Museum NeuköllnGanghoferstraße 312040 BerlinGermany +49/(0)30/6809 2535+49/(0)30/6809 3811www.icom-europe.org

Struggle to save Iraq's cultural heritage and Beirut's Jewish heritage under threat

Struggle to save Iraq's cultural heritage - 26 Apr 08
Hundreds of artifacts, looted in the wake of the US-led invasion of Iraq, have been returned to the country, but many more remain missing, stolen from Iraq's ancient sites.
Al Jazeera's Owen Fay, reporting from Baghdad, looks at the efforts to safeguard Iraq's cultural heritage.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cbU74ImNFcc

and a response
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=icBophqOOtQ

Beirut's Jewish heritage under threat - 20 Apr 2008
Al Jazeera's Nayla Khoury reports on the redevelopment in central Beirut that is gradually destroying the city's Jewish quarter.
The district of Wadi Abu Jamil has been almost deserted since Lebanon's civil war, and houses are being replaced by high rise buildings. With the neighbourhood synagogue in disrepair, some fear a significant slice of Beirut's Jewish heritage will be lost forever.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VS26pIeoCZo&NR=1

Localising the Global: Archaeological Resource Management-Participatory processes, ethical conduct and sustaining communities

Saturday 19 April, 2008 (9.30am-6.30pm) & Sunday 20 April, 2008 (10.00am-4.00pm)
Room 612, UCL Institute of Archaeology

Conference theme

For people working in the cultural heritage sector in a post-modern environment there are a large number of questions posed by the nature of archaeological work and the management of cultural resources. Ideas have been advanced that participation is an appropriate remedy for political (and other forms of) exclusion, with participatory approaches to community building, policy-making, and sustainable development becoming increasingly popular. However, the transition from theory to practice has been marked by lip-service and tokenism. The continued primacy of conservation ethics in the agenda of many international organisations, the continued failure to put genuine capacity-building at the heart of international projects, the pressures to find sustainable economic development, and concerns of globalisation and declining cultural diversity, are some of the wider symptoms - to be found in different lands and various contexts.

More broadly, participatory processes have been challenged, even by people who are committed to the principle that people should not be excluded from debates and decisions that have significant effects on their lives. The nature of stakeholder power in Cultural Resource Management has been oft avoided. Many of these issues are common to post-modern theory, and especially the tensions between global theory and local practice: the challenge of successfully implementing the “think globally, act locally” mantra.

Participants from around the world will discuss case studies in CRM: examining the strategies employed, and the theories and policies they reflect. Specific interest will be given to the organisation of archaeological research and management (by whom and for whom?) and the involvement of the communities (communication, participation and power).

The debate will conclude with discussion of a Code of Ethics for the engagement of heritage professionals in CRM work.

Registration free

But please register in advance through Anastasia Sakellariadi (a.sakellariadi@ucl.ac.uk) to ensure attendance.

Messina: A City without Memory?http://www.ucl.ac.uk/place-and-memory/messina/index.html

22nd April 2008 @ 6pm in the Archaeology Lecture theatre

Film Screening of Messina: A City Without Memory

With John Dickie, Director of the Messina Project

On 28 December 1908 an earthquake, quickly followed by a tsunami, almost completely destroyed the cities of Messina, on the eastern coast of Sicily, and Reggio Calabria, which looks out across the Straits at Messina from the Italian mainland. The exact number of victims will never be known, but most estimates suggest that between 80,000 and 100,000 people died. Very many of these fatalities occurred in Messina: about one third of its 150,000 inhabitants is thought to have perished.

Today, many messinesi say that theirs is a city without memory.

EXPLORING A MEMORY COMMONPLACE

The idea that Messina is a city without memory has become a commonplace for some of its citizens. That commonplace is the subject of this research project, which aims to trace its history, and explore the many different narratives about the earthquake and about the city that are expressed in the notion of the city without memory.

Graduate Student Conference 2008: Call for papers

The Research Student Reps and the Graduate Coordinators of the Research Groups are pleased to announce that the Graduate Student Conference 2008 will be held at the Institute of Archaeology the next 8th of May.

The aim of the event is to represent the variety of the research ongoing here at the Institute offering students a chance to present their work in a stimulating and relaxed venue.

Research students are warmly encouraged to participate with 12-15 min. papers.

Abstracts (100 words) can be sent to the Graduate Coordinators of each Research Group.

Please send 100 words abstracts to: Niki Savvides- Student Coordinator, Heritage Studies Research Group: n.savvides@ucl.ac.uk

HERITAGE CHAT

CHAT 2008

‘HERITAGE CHAT’

November 14-16, 2008
UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDON

Hosted by Atkins Heritage, English Heritage and UCL
Centre for Museums, Heritage and Material Culture


Concern for heritage of the recent past has long been confined to the particular interests of a sub-set of architectural historians for whom listing post-war buildings (notably of the reconstruction years) was a clear focus. Archaeologists are also now taking an active and enthusiastic interest in the modern period; the only surprise is that it has taken so long. After a steady start, and an almost inevitable concentration on industrial and military sites and landscapes, it has quickly become more than the fringe interest it perhaps once was, a side-show to the main attraction. In local planning authorities, archaeological units and trusts, as well as national agencies and universities, the heritage interest in contemporary and historical archaeology has now emerged with strength and alacrity. English Heritage’s Change and Creation programme, in partnership with Atkins Heritage, and the universities of London and Bristol is evidence of this, as is the Images of Change book (Sefryn Penrose 2007), the recent Modern Times issue of Conservation Bulletin (2007), numerous published articles and several entries in the Heritage Reader (Fairclough et al. 2008). A head of steam is quickly building.
CHAT (Contemporary and Historical Archaeology in Theory) is a dynamic forum for innovative critical discussion that seeks to challenge and push the limits of archaeological thinking. To date this has been achieved through five annual conferences, publications and an active email discussion group. This year’s conference takes CHAT in a new direction, exploring connections between these theoretical perspectives and ideals and the more traditional concerns of heritage management practice. What can CHAT offer heritage practitioners, and vice versa? How much of heritage management practice holds relevance to CHAT? Should the heritage sector retain its focus on that which is ‘old’ and ‘special’, or should we feel comfortable with a broader remit, accepting that what we have today (inherited from the past, and what we create and manufacture ourselves) is part of the longer-term process of change with which we, as archaeologists, are closely familiar? CHAT presents particular challenges for heritage practitioners and agencies: Value judgements for that which is new and unfamiliar, amongst culturally diverse communities, and the attendant issues of migrant heritage; traditional conceptions and practices for recording buildings versus the aesthetic and the evocative; the archaeology of the ephemeral, the intangible and the un-built, all things that are harder to trace in earlier periods; and how inter- or cross-disciplinary should we be? In a world of accountability, research frameworks and national research agenda, where should our priorities actually lie? What should a research strategy for contemporary and historical archaeology contain? And who is best qualified to do this work: archaeologists, or anthropologists, cultural geographers … artists and writers even?
Heritage CHAT provides an opportunity to examine some of these issues at close range, through plenary sessions that will contain theoretical and methodological perspectives on contemporary and historical archaeology, and examples of work in progress that address relevant themes. Papers are encouraged that challenge the very notion of heritage, and the commercial and corporate strategies that go with it, as are papers describing work on contemporary and historical archaeology which operate within more conventional heritage frameworks. Short (450 word) abstracts should be submitted to any of the organising committee (below) by email, by the end of May 2008.


Charlotte Frearson (charlotte.frearson@atkinsglobal.com)
Sarah May (sarah.may@english-heritage.org.uk)
Hilary Orange (h.orange@ucl.ac.uk)
Sefryn Penrose (Sefryn.penrose@atkinsglobal.com)
John Schofield (john.schofield@english-heritage.org.uk)

Omeka software for museum exhibits and collections

From: Sheila Brennan sbrennan@gmu.edu

Greetings,

Below you will find some information announcing the public beta release ofthe Center for History and New Media's latest software project, Omeka(http://omeka.org) -- the free and open-source software that providesmuseums, historical societies, libraries and individuals with an easy to useplatform for publishing collections and creating attractive,standards-based, interoperable online exhibits. We're very excited about the software and building a strong community ofusers and developers, and we hope that some of you decide to download it andtry working with it at your institution. We are very interested in feedback, so please send an email(omeka.support@gmail.com) or log into our Forums to comment and discuss yourexperiences with Omeka.
Thanks for your time.
Sheila A. Brennan

Senior Digital History AssociateCenter for History and New MediaGeorge Mason University703-879-8366sbrennan@gmu.eduhttp://chnm.gmu.edu The Center for History and New Media at George Mason University and theMinnesota Historical Society are pleased to announce the public beta releaseof Omeka , the free and open-source software that providesmuseums, historical societies, libraries and individuals with an easy-to-useplatform for publishing collections and creating attractive,standards-based, interoperable online exhibits. Omeka is designed to satisfythe needs of cultural institutions that lack technical staffs and largebudgets. Bringing Web 2.0 technologies and approaches to small museum,historical society, and library websites, Omeka fosters the kind of userinteraction and participation that is central to the mission of thosecultural institutions. Omeka's development is the result of ten years ofdigital public history work, experimentation, and technology development onprojects such as The September 11 Digital Archive <911digitalarchive.org>and Object of History: Behind the Scenes with the Curators of the NationalMuseum of American History .

Omeka is funded by theInstitute of Museum and Library Services and the Alfred P. SloanFoundation . The theme-switching process and plug-in architecture at the heart of Omekawill be familiar to users who are accustomed to working with popularblogging software, but Omeka includes a number of features that are directedspecifically at public history users and other humanists. First, the systemfunctions using an archive built on a Dublin Core metadata scheme, allowingit to be interoperable with existing content management systems and allother Omeka installations. Second, Omeka includes a process for buildingnarrative exhibits with flexible layouts. These two features alone providecultural institutions with the power to increase their web presence and toshowcase the interpretive expertise of curators, archivists, and historians.But Omeka's plug-in architecture also allows users to do much more to extendtheir exhibits to include maps, timelines, and folksonomies, and it providesthe "hooks" and APIs (application programming interfaces) that open-sourcedevelopers and designers need to add additional functionality to suit theirown institutions' particular needs. In turn, a public plug-ins and themesdirectory will allow these community developers to donate their new toolsback to the rest of Omeka users. The Omeka team is eager to build a largeand robust community of open-source developers around this suite oftechnologies. Available in private beta since September, Omeka has already accrued over150 test users, and a number of successful projects are using the software: The Light Factory and Cultural Heritage & Museums in South Carolina areusing Omeka for an online collecting site to accompany their physical show,River Docs <http://www.catawbariverdocs.com/>, in which contemporary artistsdocumented their personal interactions with the Catawaba River over thecourse of a year. Omeka has enabled the curators to collect images andreflections from the public, extending the reach of the physical exhibit anddeepening the connection of the visitors to the project. The New York Public Library is testing Omeka for an online overview of itsmost popular collections, Treasures of the New York Public Library<http://labs.nypl.org/labs-projects/exhibits/>. Virginia Tech has used Omeka to collect remembrances and memorials of thesad events of last Spring, The April 16 Archive .Omeka's flexible design and architecture enabled the launch of this sitewithin days of the tragic shootings. Other projects using Omeka include:Object of History: Behind the Scenes with the Curators at the NationalMuseum of American History Hurricane Digital Memory Bank A Look Back at Braddock District

Omeka is now available for download and includes thefollowing features:Basic themes that are easy to adapt with simple CSS changes (more themesavailable at )Exhibit building with 12 basic page layoutsTagging for items and exhibitsRSS feed for new items Drop box plug-in for batch adding items (available at)

Contribution plug-in for collecting items from visitorsCOinS plug-in making all Omeka content readable by Zotero Geolocation plug-in for displaying items on a mapBilingual plug-in for adding language fields to item metadataSite notes plug-in for administrators to leave instructions for users

System Requirements:Linux operating systemApache server (with mod_rewrite enabled)MySQL 5.0 or greaterPHP 5.2.x or greaterImageMagick

Call for Papers HERITAGE AND PRACTICES OF PUBLIC FORMATION

A Special Issue of the International Journal of Heritage Studies

The International Journal of Heritage Studies invites submissions for a special theme issue devoted to a critical consideration of the implicationsof heritage practices in regard to the re-articulation of existing publics and the formation of new ones. Those who think heritage is only about the past have got it wrong. Practices of heritage are always about the future. Such practices are inherently implicated in enduring questions regarding the viable substance of social life, questions which include the problem of human connection acrosshistorically structured differences of time and place. Heritage practices present an arena of social participation. They not only offer meanings and affect that help consolidate exiting social solidarities, but they also offer the possibility of new connections among diverse people, connections essential for the continual renewal of democratic life and the attainment of environmental sustainability in an increasingly complex and interdependent world.

This issue of IJHS will be devoted to discussions of heritage practice that move beyond the notion of a public as an identifiable pre-existing set of people who form the potential audience for any given heritage event and who are then reminded of their connections to each other through their collective attention. In these circumstances, previously constituted identities and/or interests are often invoked to explain the thoughts and feelings that tie people toeach other, establishing their willingness to accept a given normative basis for shared values and institutions. Differently from this concern with how heritage practices are implicated in the reproduction of existing social relations, for this issue we are encouraging explorations that start with the idea that as plural formations, publics may be initiated and consolidated when strangers come to recognize new shared interests and affinities. Thus our focus is the way diverse sets of people engage with various forms of both tangible and intangible heritage forging relationships that were not pre-existing. When heritage practices are implicated in this moment of the making (orre-making) of collectivities, something of what Hannah Arendt called"world-making" happens. In such moments, through engagements withrepresentations of the past and each other, varied people may come tounderstand themselves in new ways as members of a public in formation. Animportant consequence of considering heritage practices on such terms is that it extends the manner in which such practices may be understood to be both political and pedagogical. More concretely stated, heritage practices within but not limited to museums, urban landscapes, internet web sites,tourist sites, monuments and memorials, as well as engagements with music,dance, drama, craft and art may all contribute to the formation of new publics and hence social and political re-formation of everyday life.

For this special issue IJHS we are calling for papers concerned with how heritage practices provoke the conditions that enable the existence of publics, and contribute to their plurality, historicity,stability/instability, and relationship with each other. Such papers would likely consider not only what it means to be with others in new public formations but as well, they may address the material and spatial conditions that enable and limit their coming into being. Further, consideration might also be given to the substantive relation of new public formations to existing State forms and global ideologies. IJHS calls on scholars to consider the potential of heritage practices for enriching public landscapes, engendering collective experience and insight, inciting debates and democratic practices, and creating new forms of human solidarity.

Papers should aim to reevaluate and reposition ideas of the public, placing heritage within contemporary contexts and concerns. Please submit paper proposals (abstracts of up to 300 words) by June 1, 2008 to the issue's editors Roger I. Simon (rsimon@oise.utoronto.ca) and SusanAshley (sashl@yorku.ca). Completed manuscripts will be due September 30,2008. Potential contributors will be interested to know that Routledge has expressed an interest in publishing the special issue in book form once it has been published by the IJHS.

THE EDITORS: Roger I. Simon is a Professor in the Department of Sociology and EquityStudies at the University of Toronto. He is the Faculty Director of the Centre for Media and Culture in Education and Director of the Testimony and Historical Memory Project at OISE/UT. Simon has written broadly on critical approaches to cultural pedagogy most recently focusing on the areas of public history and museum studies. His research and writing addresses questions of the pedagogical and ethical dimensions of practices of cultural memory. This work is part of Simon's on-going exploration of the intersections of social and political theory, cultural practice, and pedagogy in regard to the project of securing a public sphere enabling ajust and compassionate society. His recent publications include articles inMuseum and Society, Museum Management and Curatorship, and the Journal ofMuseum Education. His most recent book is The Touch of the Past:Remembrance, Learning and Ethics published by Palgrave MacMillan2005.mailto:rsimon@oise.utoronto.ca Susan Ashley is a SSHRC-CGS doctoral candidate in the Communication andCulture program at York University in Toronto. She has had 20 years ofexperience in the heritage field as a front-line interpreter, program andexhibit planner, and consultant, working with public heritage sites acrossCanada. She has published in IJHS, Museum & Society, the Canadian Journal ofCommunication, and various heritage professional journals.

New heritage blog: The other Acropolis

An interesting photoblog on the Acropolis.

http://www.theotheracropolis.com

An extract from the blog's introduction:
This photoblog is the first stage of a series of projects by The Other Acropolis Collective.

This project is an attempt to undermine the monolithic discourse on the Acropolis as an exclusively classical site, by bringing into the fore its other lives, from prehistory to the present (the Mycenaean, the Medieval, the Ottoman, the Muslim, the Christian, the contemporary.), especially through their material traces that still survive, despite the extensive processes of archaeological, but also photographic purification.

We hope that the thoughts and the material generated here will lead to other projects and interventions, some on site, some printed, some virtual, with more immediate a printed, portable alternative tourist guide for The Other Acropolis. We invite you to post your comment, share your thoughts, and if you are an artist or a researcher already working on a similar project, get in touch with us.

8th European Conference on Research for Protection, Conservation and Enhancement of Cultural Heritage

The 8th European Conference on Research for Protection, Conservation and Enhancement of Cultural Heritage will be held in Ljubljana, Slovenia, from 11th to 13th November 2008, supported by the European Union through its 7th Research Framework Programme (under the activity 6.3 "Environmental Technologies").

It follows the earlier conferences in Rome (1997), Aachen (1998), Santiago di Compostela (1999), Strasbourg (2000), Krakow (2002), London (2004) and Prague (2006).

The event will be organised, in close liaison with the European Commission, by the National and University Library of Slovenia, the "Construction Cluster" of Slovenia, and the University of Ljubljana.

Submission of Abstracts
of Oral Presentations and Posters
‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐
Presentations on topics related to the four Conference thematic groups are welcomed. Oral presentations should not exceed 15 minutes – including discussion – and should signal and illustrate issues, problems, and solutions developed within local, national or international projects and activities relevant to the session topics. The talks should set base for general discussion.

Posters relevant to the following themes of the conference are warmly invited as further presentations of activities, or as an introduction to a wider discussion on specific issues, problems and solutions.
• Cultural heritage studies, including movable and immovable heritage, cities, villages, landscapes and archaeology
• Education and communication
• Technology transfer
• Policies, including tourism, economy, private‐public partnership, legislation, environmental
sustainability, culture and society.
• In addition, as networking is an underlying theme of the Conference, posters which illustrate the work
of multinational organizations concerned with cultural heritage research are also invited.
• Posters should be self‐explanatory.

In order to help with the selection process, please submit an abstract (250 words) and indicate whether you prefer your presentation to be in the form of an oral presentation or a poster. The text of the abstract should be in English, preferably in Rich Text Format. The abstract template is available from the conference web pages at www.chresp.eu.

The abstract should be sent no later than 14th March 2008.

The Expert Committee will select the oral presentations and posters by 19th May. The authors will be required to provide a two page extended abstract by 10th July and a full paper for the proceedings by 7th November 2008.

The Conference language is English.

The 10th International Conference for the Conservation of Mosaics

The 10th Conference of the International Committee for the Conservation of Mosaics (ICCM) will be held in Palermo (Italy), October 20-26, 2008.

The theme of the 10th conference is Conservation: An act of Discovery.

It aims to stress how through a systematic and full documentation during the process of conservation, one has the occasion to make observations that deepen one’s understanding of a mosaic, the technique or techniques involved in its execution, the archaeological context in which it was found and the historical vicissitudes it has experienced.

Three sub-themes address issues that are very much on the frontline today: a/ the cost of maintenance of mosaics conserved in situ; b/ the large-scale projects of mosaic and site conservation; and c/ the training of mosaic conservators.
It is also planned to organize two round-tables on related issues during the conference.

Venues
The opening session will take place in the magnificent Palazzo dei Normanni, and the formal sessions will be held in the Albergo dei Poveri in Palermo, an imposing 18th century building, presently under restoration.

Registration


The CRPR will also organize, for all participants:
• a half-day visit to mosaic sites in Palermo during the conference
• a full-day excursion to ancient Morgantina and the UNESCO World
Heritage site of the Roman Villa del Casale at Piazza Armerina. At the
Villa, participants will be able to observe and discuss the results of a
large-scale conservation and roofing project, actually in progress, which
involves an area of about 3500 sq.m. of floor mosaic.
In addition, an optional full-day tour after the conference will be offered. It will
include:
• Visits to the Duomo of Cefalù, the site of ancient Tindari and the Roman
Villa at Patti.

Interest Form
An expression of interest form is attached to this announcement. Please comple-
te it and return it, by December 31, 2007, to
Guido Meli: iccmpalermo2008@centrorestauro.sicilia.it
FAX + 39 0916376088
The second announcement will only be sent to those who have expressed inte-
rest in attending the conference.


Early Registration € 120,00 March 30, 2008
Late Registration € 150,00 September 30, 2008
Registration during the conference € 170,00
Accompanying guest € 100,00 September 30, 2008
Student Registration € 80,00 September 30, 2008
Optional tour after the conference € 30,00 September 30, 2008

Jodrell Bank could become World Heritage Site

Jodrell Bank has been identified as a prime contender to win World Heritage Site status under new rules designed to recognise the importance of scientific installations. Changes to the guidelines on how World Heritage Sites should be selected are being drawn up and will be debated in the summer. The rules, agreed in principle at a conference in London this week, will allow scientific centres such as Jodrell Bank to line up alongside the Egyptian Pyramids and the Great Barrier Reef.

World Heritage status has been reserved until now for human structures with a long history, such as the Taj Mahal, or important natural features such as the Galápagos Islands. The guidelines, however, preclude many of the locations that have proved pivotal to scientific research in the past 50 to 100 years. Officials hope that by drawing up fresh guidelines they can recognise more recent scientific centres that have played important roles in research and discovery.

Jodrell Bank, which is part of the Universty of Manchester, is regarded as a technological and cultural landmark behind a series of important discoveries in astronomy. It came to prominence in 1957 when it tracked the Sputnik carrier rocket and for years afterwards it was Britain’s only early-detection system for ballistic missile attacks.

The experts meeting to debate the Unesco World Heritage Convention proposals were hosted by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. The final decision will be taken by the World Heritage Committee in Quebec in July.

Jodrell Bank was one of only two scientific installations cited at the meeting this week as being of the type of scientific installation that would be important enough to qualify. The other was Cern, the European laboratory for particle physics on the Franco-Swiss border. The Royal Observatory in Greenwich is one of the few scientific centres included among the 851 existing World Heritage Sites recognising places of outstanding natural or cultural importance. Similarly, the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, has been made a World Heritage Site, but neither achieved the status because of its scientific achievements alone.

Christopher Young, head of world heritage for English Heritage, which advises the Government on the suitability of sites, said: “The World Heritage Convention is about cultural heritage and science is one very important part of that. The sort of place we might be looking at for would be a place of major importance in advancing understanding of the world around us. A good example of that is Jodrell Bank. It’s clearly very important.”

The Times pages 15 and 20, 26 January 2008

Heritage Studies Research Group Meetings

course on the archaeometry, technology and conservation of mosaics

Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche
Istituto di Scienza e Tecnologia
dei Materiali Ceramici
Gruppo Beni Culturali

Mosaico: archeometria, tecnologia e conservazione
2° edizione

Corso di perfezionamento
(60 ore)

Per informazioni rivolgersi a:
Dr. Michele Macchiarola
CNR-ISTEC
Tel 0546 699773 Fax 0546 46381
e-mail mmacchiarola@istec.cnr.it

PROGRAMMA
25 FEBBRAIO
9-9.30 Registrazione partecipanti
9.30-10 Saluto e presentazione del corso
10-13 Storia del mosaico. Tipologie ed evoluzione
14-15 Materiali musivi. Tessere e malte
15-18 Tessere lapidee. Classificazione delle rocce
26 FEBBRAIO
9-11 Processi di degrado delle rocce
11-13 Tecniche di messa in opera e documentazione del mosaico
14-17 Tessere in vetro e in blu egizio
27 FEBBRAIO
9-13 Malte. Definizione. Classificazione. Normativa.
Processi di degrado
3 MARZO
9-11 Tecniche costruttive dei sectilia parietali antichi. Degrado del
mosaico: classificazione
11-13 Ceramica e processi di degrado
14-15 Rilievo e documentazione del degrado musivo
15-17 Diffrattometria dei raggi X (XRD)
4 MARZO
9-11 Analisi termiche (DTA-TGA)
11-13 Microscopia ottica
14-17 Laboratorio Microscopia ottica, XRD e DTA-TGA
10 MARZO
9-12 Microscopia elettronica con laboratorio
12-13 Spettrometria dei raggi X di fluorescenza (XRF)
14-17 Conservazione musiva in situ in contesti archeologici
11 MARZO
9-10 Porosimetria e granulometria
10-11 Spettrofotometria di emissione al plasma (ICP-AES)
11-13 Fotogrammetria per il rilievo e la documentazione dei Beni
Culturali
14-16 Laboratorio di porosimetria e granulometria
16-17 Cromatografia ionica (IC)
17 MARZO
9-11 Malte da restauro. Caratteristiche, normativa e applicazioni
11-13 Restauro di mosaici in laboratorio
14-16 Restauro di mosaici ricollocati su cemento
16-17 Discussione e approfondimenti su tecniche e prodotti per il
restauro musivo
18 MARZO
9-13 Esercitazioni di laboratorio
14-16.30 Interpretazione ed elaborazione dati
16.30 – 17 Discussione e chiusura corso

DOCENTI
Moh’d Saoud Abu Aysheh, Univ. Bologna, Dip. Archeologia
Claudia Angelelli, Univ. degli Studi di Roma "La Sapienza"
Pierluigi Buldini, CNR-ISTEC
Gianluigi Fiorella, Ditta Restauri
Sabrina Gualtieri, CNR-ISTEC
Guia Guarini, CNR-ISTEC
Alessandro Lugari, Soprintendenza Archeologica di Roma
Michele Macchiarola, CNR-ISTEC
Andrea Ruffini, libero professionista
Idema Venturi, CNR-ISTEC
Antonio Zanutta, Univ. Bologna DISTART

Lady Victoria Colliery is Scotland’s most loved historic place

The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland asked people to vote for the historic places they loved best in Scotland. The Lady Victoria Colliery in Newtongrange, Midlothian, which closed in 1981 and now houses the Scottish Mining Museum, came out top of the Treasured Places public vote. c 200,000 people took part in the vote.

Top ten: 1 Lady Victoria Colliery, Midlothian; 2 Glasgow School of Art; 3 King’s College, Aberdeen; 4 St Meddan’s, Troon, Ayrshire; 5 The Falkirk Wheel; 6 Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, Glasgow; 7 The Standing Stones of Stenness, Orkney; 8 Skara Brae, Orkney; 9 Rosslyn Chapel, Midlothian; 10 Cumbernauld Town Centre, North Lanarkshire.

Fergus Waters, director of the Scottish Mining Museum, said: ‘There is a very rich seam of coal-mining heritage just under the skin of Scotland and this result reflects that and is also a tribute to what the Lady Victoria Colliery represents as the last surviving example of a once vast Scottish industry.’ Perhaps also for the political struggle against a hated Thatcher government as well ....?

Our Place: virtual space for people broadening access to heritage and culture

EH have launched a virtual space: "Our Place is for people who work in broadening access to heritage and culture. It is an online space where you can network with peers, share and be inspired by project case studies, and discuss the challenges facing you today. It also contains news, resources and links – everything you need to know about engaging communities with heritage."

To explore and register go to:
http://www.ourplacenetwork.org.uk/