MIDAS Heritage
MIDAS Heritage – the UK Historic Environment Data Standard is a British cultural heritage standard for recording information on buildings, archaeological sites, shipwrecks, parks and gardens, battlefields, areas of interest and artefacts. [1]
The data standard suggests the minimum level of information needed for recording heritage assets and covers the procedures involved in understanding, protecting and managing these assets. It also provides guidelines on how to support effective sharing of knowledge, data retrieval and long-term preservation of data. [2]
MIDAS Heritage is freely available to anyone interested in recording historic environment information. It is used by national government organisations, local authorities, heritage sector organisations, amenity groups and societies, the research community and professional contractors. [3]
History
The first edition of the standard, MIDAS – A Manual and Data Standard for Monument Inventories, was published by the Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England [4] (RCHME) in 1998. [5] The organisation merged with English Heritage in 1999 and the updated version, MIDAS Heritage, was published in 2007 in collaboration with other UK heritage organisations. The standard was developed for and on behalf of the Forum on Information Standards in Heritage (FISH), a discussion forum aimed at helping to resolve standards and recording issues for the whole of the heritage sector.[6]
Coverage
MIDAS Heritage is a set of closely integrated data standards, rather than one single standard. It is not anticipated that any one information standard or dataset will cover all the Information Groups included in MIDAS Heritage. It is designed to be used in conjunction with separate guidance covering specific types of application or project which will advise on the Units of Information required. [7] Examples include SPECTRUM(artefacts), UK Gemini Discovery Metadata Standard (GIS), CIDOC Conceptual Reference Model (concepts and relationships) [8], and Informing the Future of the Past: Guidelines for Historic Environment Records’’. [9] MIDAS Heritage complies with the UK e-Government Metadata Standard (e-GMS) [10], which is based on Dublin Core. [11]
MIDAS Heritage covers a wide range of subject areas grouped together under six main themes. Each theme contains Information Groups, which in turn contain a number of Information Units. A dictionary of the MIDAS Heritage Information Units is included.
| Heritage Asset Theme | Activities Theme | Information Sources Theme | Spatial Information Theme | Temporal Information Theme | Actor Information Theme |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Area | Investigative Activity | Archive and Bibliography | Location | Date and Period | Actor and Role |
| Monument | Designation and Protection | Narrative and Synthesis | Map Depiction | . | . |
| Artefact and Ecofact | Heritage Asset Management Activity | Management Activity Documentation | . | . | . |
| . | Casework and Consultation | . | . | . | . |
| . | Research and Analysis | . | . | . | . |
| . | Historical Event | . | . | . | . |
MIDAS Heritage aims to provide a common information framework and does not cover the following issues: what software or file format to use; what to call fields and tables in a database and how they are designed; what indexing terms to use; how to record archives and museum collections, or how to redesign an existing information system. [12]
References
- ^ Association of Local Government Archaeological Officers UK (ALGAO). Data Standards. http://www.algao.org.uk/Cttees/HERs/HERStandards.htm
- ^ English Heritage (2007): MIDAS Heritage – The UK Historic Environment Data Standard. (Best practice guidelines). http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/publications/midas-heritage/midasheritagepartone.pdf
- ^ English Heritage (2007): MIDAS Heritage – The UK Historic Environment Data Standard. (Best practice guidelines). http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/publications/midas-heritage/midasheritagepartone.pdf
- ^ Lee, E., (ed), MIDAS - A Manual and Data Standard for Monument Inventories. The Royal Commission on Historical Monuments of England. Swindon (1998)
- ^ the Data Hub – The easy way to get, use and share data. (MIDAS – Heritage project) http://ckan.net/dataset/midas-heritage
- ^ Forum on Information Standards in Heritage http://www.fish-forum.info/ Forum on Information Standards in Heritage http://www.fish-forum.info/
- ^ English Heritage (2007): MIDAS Heritage – The UK Historic Environment Data Standard. (Best practice guidelines). http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/publications/midas-heritage/midasheritagepartone.pdf
- ^ International Organization for Standardization. ISO 21127:2006 http://www.iso.org/iso/iso_catalogue/catalogue_tc/catalogue_detail.htm?csnumber=34424
- ^ Gilman, P; Newman, M. (2007): “Informing the Future of the Past: Guidelines for Historic Environment Records”. 2nd edition. http://www.scribd.com/doc/2776725/Informing-the-Future-of-the-Past-2nd-Edition
- ^ esd standards, e-GMS-e-Government Metadata Standard, Version 3.0, http://www.esd.org.uk/standards/egms/
- ^ English Heritage (2007): MIDAS Heritage – The UK Historic Environment Data Standard. (Best practice guidelines). http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/publications/midas-heritage/midasheritagepartone.pdf
- ^ English Heritage (2007): MIDAS Heritage – The UK Historic Environment Data Standard. (What is not included in MIDAS Heritage) http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/publications/midas-heritage/midasheritagepartone.pdf
External links
• MIDAS Heritage - free download: http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/publications/midas-heritage/
• English Heritage http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/
• Forum on Information Standards in Heritage (FISH) http://www.fish-forum.info/