• Overview

  • Introduction
  • History & Development
  • Organization & Responsibilities
  • Objectives
  • Open Requests for Proposals Projects

• Division Projects

  • Taiwan Digital Archives Expansion Project
  • Research and Development for Digital Archives and e-Learning Technologies Project
  • Core Platforms for Digital Contents Project
  • Academic and Social Promotions and Applications for Digital Archives and e-Learning Project
  • Industrial Development and Promotion of Digital Archives and e-Learning Project
  • Digital Education and e-Learning Project
  • e-Learning for Chinese Language Project
  • International Collaboration and Promotion of Taiwan e-Learning and Digital Archives Project

• Institutional Projects

  • Academia Sinica
  • Academia Historica
  • Taiwan Historica
  • National Palace Museum
  • National Museum of Natural Science (Ministry of Education)
  • National Central Library (Ministry of Education)
  • Chinese Taipei Film Archive (Government Information Office, Executive Yuan)
  • National Archives Administration
  • the Council for Hakka Affairs (CHA)
  • Industrial Development Bureau Ministry of Economic Affairs
  • Department of Industrial Technology
  • Ministry of Education
  • Council of Labor Affairs(CLA)
  • Central Personnel Administration, Executive Yuan (named CPA hereafter)
  • Council for Cultural Affair, Taiwan
  • Overseas Compatriot Affairs Commission

National Palace Museum

Digital Archives

2009

Traditional museums generally display cultural artifacts by exhibiting the original artifact supplemented with guided explanations. This form of exhibits can no longer satisfy the urgent longing of modern visitors for beauty and deeper explorations. Museums today face ever more pressure for multi-faceted interactions with the society, and the ever increasing applications of digital technology has begun a new era to the display of artifacts. Digitalization of artifacts and digitalized archives are a trend that no world-class museum can ignore. Through fascinating and enjoyable interactive experiences, learning, study and promotions, digitalized exhibitions have revolutionized the way people perceived museums and artifacts.

The National Palace Museum has been carrying out digitalization of its archives, giving special consideration to safety of the artifacts and quality of the digitalization, and has now produced outstanding results in terms of both quality and quantity. Starting from Phase II of the e-Museum Project, the Museum has not only continued to carry out the various fundamental digitalization work and establishment of the metadata, it has also placed greater emphasis on the integration of the databases and improvement of the user interfaces, making "users" an important factor. By searching for the true value and purpose of digitalization of artifacts from the perspective of the end user, the Project considers how the general public will be able to derive the maximum benefit from the digitalization process, so as to improve the Digital Archives Project of the National Palace Museum. Digitalization must also take into account the different needs of academic research and promotion of education, enhancing the convenience and ease of utilizing digitalized archive resources, thereby enabling not only the general public but also those from different fields of expertise – including academic research, education and fine arts – to instinctively and quickly enjoy the special characteristics of convenience, accessibility and modifiability available to digitalized artifacts. The Project will build a wall-less museum that provides learning and knowledge without boundaries.

During Phase II of the Project, the National Palace Museum will continue to convert the enormous quantity of digitalized data into valuable assets in the academic, cultural and commercial arenas. Ultimately it is hoped that through promotion, application and exchange of various digital archives results, the National Palace Museum will help to promote international and scholarly exchanges, and become a model for development of relevant cultural industries, the knowledge economy and creation of cultural assets in Taiwan.

2008 Sub-Projects Title and Directors are as Follows:

Title	Sub-Project Name	Sub-Project Supervisor
Sub-Project 1	Digital Archives Sub-Project of Project Integration	Fung Ming-chu, Deputy Director
Sub-Project 2	Digital Archives Sub-Project of Antiquities in the National Palace Museum	Tsai, Mei-Fen, Chief Curator
Sub-Project 3	Digital Achieves Sub-Project of Chinese Painting and Calligraphy in the National Palace Museum	Lee Yu-min, Deputy Chief Curator
Sub-Project 4	Digital Archives Sub-Project of Rare Books and Historical Documents in the National Palace Museum	Lee Tien-ming, Chief Curator
Sub-Project 5	Digital Archives Sub-Project of Conservation Database of  in the National Palace Museum	Yen Su-fen, Deputy Chief Curator
Sub-Project 6	Digital Archives Sub-Project of Establishing and Application of  & Knowledge Database in the National Palace Museum	Josephine H. L. Chu, Chief Curator
Sub-Project 7	Digital Archives Sub-Project of Ming and Ch'ing's Cartographic Materials in the National Palace Museum	Lu Sheue-Yann, Associate Curator

Main Tasks for Each Sub-project are as Follows:
Sub-Project 1: Digital Archives Sub-Project of Project Integration

1. Making negotiation and exchange with the directors of all the sub-projects and digital archives offices in external affairs.
2. Dealing with communications and engage in evaluations among all sub-projects in internal affairs.
3. Attending and assist in organizing conferences for Taiwan's digital results.
4. Expected project progress and supervision of enforcement of budgets.

Sub-Project 2: Digital Archives Sub-Project of Antiquities in the National Palace Museum

1. Digitize 4,000 pieces of antiquities' text description.
2. Writing texts descriptions about 4,000 pieces of antiquities.
3. Proceeding with digitization of 2D images of 4,000 pieces of antiquities.
4. 360-degree digital photography of selected artifacts.
5. Digitalization of artifact record cards.
6. Digitalization of National Palace Museum publications.
7. Improvement of the artifact storage management system, and improved integration of digital archives systems.
8. Provide Chinese version of core data and assist with establishment of English version.

Sub-Project 3: Digital Achieves Sub-Project of Chinese Painting and Calligraphy in the National Palace Museum

1. Compile main index of the calligraphy and paintings collection, and create comprehensive metadata records of select pages and fans from the calligraphy collection of the National Palace Museum.
2. Refer to relevant international standards in photographing high resolution digital images.
3. Prepare authoritative data on historical painters of flowers, birds, flora and fauna.
4. Compile data on identifying marks and impressions, and prepare image files of identifying marks.
5. Collating and editing painting and calligraphy theme authority metadata.
6. Integrate the calligraphy and painting archives system, the calligraphy and painting storage management system, and the relevant authoritative data systems.

Sub-Project 4: Digital Archives Sub-Project of Rare Books and Historical Documents in the National Palace Museum

1. Create digital image files of "Rare Books Database".
2. Entering and collating index entries for the rare books.
3. Create digital image files of "Ch'ing Dynasty Biographies and Academia Historica Biographical Packs and Drafts Index Search Database".
4. Create index search database of "Ch'ing Dynasty Biographies and Academia Historica Biographical Packs and Drafts Index Search Database".
5. Entering name authority records for Ch'ing historical figures.

Sub-Project 5: Digital Archives Sub-Project of Conservation Database of  in the National Palace Museum

1. Carry out digitalization of bronze artifacts restoration records added from 2005~2009, and creation of metadata for the "Artifacts Preservation and Restoration Records System".
2. Entry of metadata for artifact restoration records for enamelware, lacquer ware, jade ware, calligraphy and painted wooden boxes, and other types of artifacts.
3. Integrating "Conservation Database of " with "Collection Management System." After the integration, functions such as debug, retrieval trial and correction will be also done.
4. Investigation of creation and use of artifact restoration databases that are part of the digital archive systems of Taiwan museums or artifact archiving institutions.
5. Holding academic seminars or workshops relating to artifact restoration and digital archive systems.
6. Compile and publish reference information relating to seminars.
7. Study the feasibility of expanding the "Artifact Preservation and Restoration Records System".

Sub-Project 6: Digital Archives Sub-Project of Establishing and Application of  Knowledge Database in the National Palace Museum

1. Continue to maintain and improve the National Palace Museum digitalized collection information management system, to meet the needs of information analysis.
2. Provide single artifact search functions and thematic collection information services.
3. Undertake data analysis of various artifact information services of the National Palace Museum, and study the possibility of providing a greater variety of archive information services and archive categorization methods.
4. Keeping on proceeding with offering computer software and hardware technical support that every executive department of the NPM needs.

Sub-Project 7: Digital Archives Sub-Project of Ming and Ch'ing Cartographic Materials in the National Palace Museum

1. Continue to retain cartography, history and geography scholars in Taiwan and overseas to jointly organize and categorize the map collection of the Museum.
2. Scanning and collating digital images of Ming and Ch'ing Cartographic Materials.
3. Entering and collating index entries for Ming and Ch'ing Cartographic Materials.