A Museum in Your Pocket

THE PROJECT

The “A Museum in Your Pocket” project, developed for the Archaeological Museum, the Archaeological and Environmental Park of Gela and the archaeological areas of the neighbouring municipalities, was created with the aim of offering a strategic and innovative model for accessing cultural heritage, while at the same time enhancing, communicating and promoting a heritage that encompasses both ancient art and modern art and architecture. The project was co-financed by the European Union under the Sicily ERDF Operational Programme 2007/2013, Axis III – Operational Objective 3.1.3. – Line of Intervention 3.1.3.3

ACTIVITIES

As part of the project, more than 2,400 artefacts held in the museum were catalogued in accordance with the standards of the Central Institute for Catalogue and Documentation (ICCD), each accompanied by photographs. For approximately 1,600 of these artefacts, images of works of modern and contemporary art were associated with them to highlight similarities in themes such as play, symbolism, represented scenes and the continuity of uses over time, creating a timeless connection between the ancient and the modern. All catalogue records were translated into five languages (English, French, German, Spanish and Chinese) and are accessible through a multilingual information system designed for museum visitors. The system, which can also be accessed from mobile devices, offers an experience that is both real and virtual, connecting expressions of ancient art with the many traces of their influence found in modern art.

THE INFORMATION SYSTEM

The information system developed for the project is entirely Web-Oriented, based on open-source technologies and consists of two application components:

• One, with restricted access, dedicated to cataloguing museum artefacts and the works of art associated with them,
• The other, dedicated to public access, is intended for museum visitors and is freely accessible.

THE CATALOGUING SYSTEM

The cataloguing component complies with the standards of the Central Institute for Catalogue and Documentation (ICCD), enabling the museum network, when necessary, to interact with SIGECweb, the Ministry’s General Catalogue Information System, developed to unify and optimise processes related to the cataloguing of cultural heritage.

The system is organised into four Functional Areas, each grouping the specific functions associated with a clearly defined activity:

Operational Area: enables the “data-entry” of information and includes the processes and functions required for entering alphanumeric data, acquiring multimedia documentation and georeferencing entities. Together, these functions enable the creation (data-entry) of catalogue records relating to cultural heritage information.

Validation Area: any information produced by the Cataloguing System, in order to become visible and therefore usable by other system users, must go through the validation process. Each entity in the system is therefore subject to an approval process and passes through a series of statuses (e.g.: “in progress”, “closed”, “validated”).

Management Area: includes functions that are not directly related to the production of information. It provides tools for managing users and profiles, tools for defining the rules for completing catalogue records, and tools for monitoring access to the system.

Translation Area: This area provides tools for translating vocabulary terms into the various languages managed by the system. The cataloguing system of “A Museum in Your Pocket” is configured to support, in addition to Italian, English, French, Chinese, German and Spanish.

THE VISITOR ACCESS SYSTEM

The visitor access system, also accessible from mobile devices thanks to responsive interfaces, provides a simple and immediate tool for consulting the records of museum artefacts and the associated works of modern and contemporary art. The contents are available in six languages: Italian, English, French, German, Spanish and Chinese.
The search tools offer three possible navigation paths:

• Through QR code technology. Using a mobile device, the visitor can scan the code placed near an individual artefact, a display case or an exhibition section. The system automatically redirects the visitor to the individual artefact record or to a list of records in the case of a display case or exhibition section.
• Through the search form. Searches can be carried out using attributes (lists, keywords, etc.). The user can search for a specific artefact or for multiple artefacts sharing the same object type or the same dating
• Through navigation of the Museum floor plans. By selecting the marker for an exhibition section or display case on the map, the user can access the list of all the artefacts displayed and catalogued in the section being visited.