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Preserving cultural narratives: the quest for museum archives in the Netherlands

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 November 2024

Roosmarijn Ubink  and
Michiel Goosen
Roosmarijn Ubink
Affiliation:
Director-Archivist, Regionaal Historisch Centrum Vecht en Venen, Schepersweg 6e, 3621JK Breukelen Email: [email protected]
Michiel Goosen
Affiliation:
Head of Collection Information and Library, Van Gogh Museum, Gabriël Metsustraat 8, 1071EA Amsterdam Email: [email protected]
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Abstract

The current situation in Dutch museum archives is heavily influenced by developments in the museum sector in recent decades. The privatization of Dutch museums in the 1990s and the subsequent variations in legal character among these institutions has resulted in inconsistent management structures and inexplicit legal obligations, which have slowed the development of a cohesive approach to the management of museum archives in the Netherlands. Research conducted by Roosmarijn Ubink into the current state of information and archive management in the Dutch museum sector has revealed a structural lack of resources and frameworks for the management of museums’ institutional archives. Beginning in 2022, museum archivists and information professionals in the Netherlands have come together to respond to this situation.

Type
Research Article
Information
Art Libraries Journal , Volume 49 , Issue 3 , July 2024 , pp. 95 - 99
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of ARLIS

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References

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6. That is, until it was merged in 2005 with de Rijksinspectie voor de Archeologie, de Rijksarchiefinspectie, en de Rijksinspectie Monumentenzorg to form the Inspectie Overheidsinformatie en Erfgoed.

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15. The Taskforce was co-founded by Roosmarijn Ubink, Michiel Goosen serves as Chairman, and Courtney Lynch is a member.

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17. The following museums were included in this case study: the Van Abbemuseum in Eindhoven, the Kröller-Müller Museum in Otterloo, the National Museum of World Cultures (with branches in Amsterdam, Berg en Dal, Leiden, and Rotterdam) and the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam.

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