India to improve heritage management

The Indian government is to set up a National Commission for Heritage Sites, which will maintain a national register of heritage sites based on the UK model (article in The Hindu). This will be a positive step towards better preservation of the countless buildings and sites of historical importance in the country, many of which are under constant threat of damage or demolition.

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