COMPUTERISATION OF THE CROATIAN MUSEUM NETWORK

According to statistics, only 18 percent of museum holdings in Croatia have been computer processed. Museums lack both hardware and software. Our goal is to provide easier access to museum object information in Croatian museums through systematic acquisition of hardware and software, its installation and monitoring of museum holdings processing. In 2004 the Ministry of Culture gave funds to MDC to act as a mediator and coordinator of the computerisation of Croatian museum network. An opportunity was given to 24 museums in Croatia to get M++, an integrated information system for museum documentation management, developed by the Link2 company. Furthermore, 27 museums that already have M++were offered a free upgrade to a newer version and a full support and consulting service. Twenty-three out of 24 museums accepted the offer and cooperated with Link2 and MDC. M++ was installed on 97 computers and curators were trained on how to use the newly acquired software. Also, user support and consulting service are established. It is very important that all museum requirements are now systematically acquired and future development is coordinated by MDC. The next step is to work on the coordination of controlled terminology development. Our Þ nal goals are to establish continuous development of documentation systems that would support museological research, preservation and communication, to establish continuous preservation of documentation in digital environment and especially to encourage online access to information and knowledge about the museum objects