Modern Information Technology in Museums: European Experience and Prospects of its Implementation in Lviv

Center for Urban History held another of its Around Lviv round table discussions and gathered representatives of Lviv museums to discuss prospects of applying modern information technology in city museums.

A modern European experience on the example of the Netherlands was presented by Mr. Zinoviy Mazuryk, Head of the Association of Museums and Galleries of the Western Region. Associate Professor Pavlo Zhezhnych of Lviv Politechnic demonstrated ways to use web resources to popularize museum collections, and he also talked about the work done by the Institute of Computer Science and Information Technology on the digital database software for museums. Discussion brought together Bohdan Chaykovskyy, director of the History Museum, Ihor Kozhan, director of the National Museum, Ihor Tymets, director of the Lviv Regional History and Area Studies Museum of Vynnyky, Ivan Dub, director of the Museum of Folk Architecture and Life, Halyna Tykhobayeva, director of the Musical-Memorial Museum of Solomiya Krushelnytska, Lyubov Rozdobudko, director of the Pharmacy Museum "Under Black Eagle", and representatives of other Lviv museums.

Such an initiative came from the need to introduce some sort of digital accountability for museum funds, and to develop standards for this accountability. Digital databases of museum collections enable easy access of workers to different objects in the funds, and they also prevent museum exhibits from wearing out. Also, the digitalized information on museum collections opens up new possibilities to present these objects on the Internet and to attract interest of new target groups. A possibility to create virtual exhibitions is another form of presenting and processing new topics.

The Association of Museums and Galleries of the Western Region initiated the establishment of an interdisciplinary work group on the basis of Lviv museums and of the Institute of Computer Science and Information Technology. The workgroup is designed as a workshop for cooperation of IT specialists and museum representatives on implementing digital technology into the daily work of the museums. This will assist in both preserving and studying and promoting the city cultural heritage. The group's work is supposed to result in an inter-museum platform as a forum for the on-going experience exchange between city museums in a modern information environment. In fact, the Around Lviv discussion was a first meeting aimed at the establishment of such a work group.