Exhibit your archive and collections online
This section looks at the various ways of making your archive and collections findable online. You can opt to use either your own website or a specialised heritage database. Whichever you choose, you’ll also need to decide whether to make your full archive and/or collections findable, or just a selection of some of the (main) items.
Please note: you first need to clear rights on documents before posting them online.
Tip: in order to make your archive or collection findable and searchable, but only allow controlled use, you need to draw up an agreement (model agreement) with the user.
Exhibit your archive and collections on your website
Adding an archive section to your website, e.g. with photos, videos, press releases, articles, tour details, etc. can help people find your work and projects. A few examples:
Or you can post a full archived website online, which can be a particularly good option for annual festivals. Artefact is a good example of this.
You might also choose to combine archive and collection items in a virtual exhibition. Some example tools and implementations include:
Sway is part of the Microsoft Office 365 package and a very simple way to set up your own online exhibition or tell a digital story. CEMPER (Centre for Music and Performing Arts Heritage) uses Sway to present its puppet collection.
MOVIO is a free, open source platform developed as part of the European project, AthenaPlus. MOVIO can be used as a simple tool kit to create digital exhibitions and reports. It was originally developed for use in museums and other cultural heritage institutions, but can also be used by other organisations. Theater aan Zee (TAZ - Theatre by the Sea) was the first arts organisation in Flanders to start using this tool for its exhibition, ERTAZEENS | 20 JAAR TAZ (20 YEARS OF TAZ). You can read how the exhibition came about in the practical example, Looking back on 20 years of Theater Aan Zee with an online exhibition.
Google Cultural Institute enters into partnerships with museums and cultural institutions to exhibit heritage online. The House of Alijn was the first Belgian museum to use this service in 2013 when it created a digital exhibition about the history of circus in Belgium with items from its collection: Amazing acts! A dive into the history of circus in Belgium.
Register your archive and collections in a specialist heritage database
Flanders has many specialised heritage platforms that make it possible to find archives and collections from artists and arts organisations, each focussing on their own geographical area or subject matter.
Flemish heritage databases
Archiefbank Vlaanderen and ODIS are two databases that combine individuals’ and organisations’ archives from the whole of Flanders and Brussels. Archives and collections are registered at the highest level in these databases, which means they provide information about at least the title, creator, scope and dating for each archive or collection. The content is described in broad terms, but not made available at item level.
This category also includes databases with information about archives and collections according to carrier type. For example, there’s Het Archief where images and audio are collected together from Flemish culture, media and government sectors.
Archiefbank Vlaanderen is the central database for Flemish private law archives. Read the Registration in Archiefbank Vlaanderen section to find out how to register your archive with Archiefbank Vlaanderen.
ODIS is a collaboration between Flemish heritage institutions (ADVN - Archive for National Movements, Amsab - Institute for Social History, KADOC - Documentation and Research Centre on Religion Culture and Society from KU Leuven, Liberal Archive) to unlock heritage from Flemish civil society. It’s an instrument that's well integrated in the cultural heritage community. Archive files that are entered in ODIS automatically appear in Archiefbank Vlaanderen, for example. It is not possible to enter your own archive and/or collection. Contact ODIS or a heritage organisation that works with your type of heritage to find out more.
hetarchief.be. Flanders has a wealth of images and audio, stored with various organisations: from cultural heritage and performing arts organisations to government agencies and public service broadcasters. Meemoo, formerly VIAA, digitises this analogue audiovisual content where necessary and stores it sustainably together with digital collections in its own archive system. The content itself is often copyright protected and so can’t simply be displayed online. This means you cannot consult the audiovisual content itself at hetarchief.be, but you can look up the descriptions, titles and keywords for the items digitised by meemoo. One you’ve found what you’re looking for, you can contact the organisations that manage the content you’re interested in to find out more. It is not possible to add your own archive and/or collection. Please contact meemoo or a heritage organisation that works with your type of heritage for more information.
Heritage databases for each arts discipline
There are a number of subject-specific databases for registering and accessing arts archives and collections.
The Flanders Architecture Institute (VAi) provides as much information as possible about the built environment in Flanders and Brussels in the architectural archives database. This database contains information about archives that are managed by various storage facilities, with details about architects, designers, town planners, construction companies and other people and organisations related to the built environment in Flanders and Brussels. Please contact the VAi if you own this type of heritage and would like to see it made available on this platform.
In de literaire databank Agrippa vind je beschrijvingen van archieven van schrijvers, theaterauteurs, uitgeverijen en andere literaire actoren die in het Letterenhuis bewaard worden. Contacteer het Letterenhuis indien je dit type erfgoed bezit en het graag ontsloten wil zien op dit platform.
Artinflanders.be brengt meer dan 30.000 beelden van 60 Vlaamse kunstmusea en erfgoedinstellingen samen op één website.
Regionale erfgoed- en beeldbanken
Verschillende steden, gemeenten en provincies hebben een erfgoed- of beeldbank om het lokale en regionale erfgoed te tonen. Contacteer de beheerder van de erfgoed- en beeldbanken die hieronder vermeld staan als je wil meewerken.
Erfgoedplus.be is de website voor cultureel erfgoed in Limburg en Vlaams-Brabant. Ingevoerde erfgoedobjecten worden visueel in kaart gebracht en zijn onderling doorzoekbaar via de achterliggende databank. Erfgoedplus heeft ook een invoermodule: het Erfgoedregister. Organisaties die zelf geen digitale inventaris hebben, kunnen hun objecten beschrijven en invoeren in de databank. Ergoedplus.be staat open voor iedereen met een erfgoedcollectie. Contacteer Ergoedplus.be als je wil deelnemen.
Erfgoedinzicht.be heeft als doel om het cultureel erfgoed uit West- en Oost-Vlaanderen virtueel toegankelijk te maken. Op deze manier willen beide provincies het erfgoed in kaart brengen en de zorg voor cultureel erfgoed stimuleren. De databank van Erfgoedinzicht bestaat uit een invoermodule waarin het erfgoed op gestandaardiseerde manier beschreven en beheerd kan worden.
Erfgoedinzicht staat momenteel enkel open voor aangesloten instellingen. Onder meer S.M.A.K. en MDD - Museum D'Hondt-Dhaenens zijn partnerinstellingen.
Overzicht regionale erfgoed- en beeldbanken
Naast de databanken voor de provincies Vlaams-Brabant, Limburg en West- en Oost-Vlaanderen zijn er ook online platformen die erfgoed van een stad, gemeente of regio verzamelen. Erfgoed- en beeldbanken schieten als paddenstoelen uit de grond. Dat maakt dat onderstaande lijst mogelijk niet volledig is. Staat jouw regio, stad of gemeente dus niet in deze lijst, neem dan contact op met de erfgoedcel uit jouw regio. Op de website Erfgoedcellen.be vind je de 22 cultureelerfgoedcellen in Vlaanderen en Brussel terug.
- Beeldbank Aalst
- Beeldbank Brugge
- Regionale beeldbank Mechelen (Bonheiden, Duffel, Mechelen, Sint-Katelijne-Waver, Zemst)
- Beeldbank Kusterfgoed
- Beeldbank Gent
- Beeldbank Schoten
- Westhoek verbeeldt
- Het digitaal geheugen van de Demervallei
- Erfgoedbank Kempens Karakter
- Erfgoedbank Land van Rode
- Erfgoedbank Land van Dendermonde
- Erfgoedbank Meetjesland
- Erfgoedbank Midwest
- Erfgoedbank Noorderkempen
- Erfgoedbank Tielt-Winge
- Erfgoedbank Waasland
- Film- en beeldbank AZURA (Zuidrand Antwerpen)
Auteurs: Nastasia Vanderperren (meemoo) en Eline De Lepeleire (Letterenhuis)