WHIN - Report on the Meeting of Experts

WHC-95/Conf.203/Inf.10
19 October 1995
Original: English

WORLD HERITAGE INFORMATION MANAGEMENT

REPORT ON THE MEETING OF EXPERTS

PARIS, 27-28 SEPTEMBER 1995
BACKGROUND
1. At its Eighteenth Session in Phuket, the World Heritage Committee requested the World Heritage Centre to hold a Meeting of Experts on Information Management. In preparation for this meeting, a draft proposal for a World Heritage Information Network was prepared by three consultants for review by the experts. The same draft was distributed as an Information Document to Bureau members at its meeting 3-8 July 1995 (WH-95/Conf.201/INF.5).
2. The Meeting of Experts was convened at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris on 27-28 September 1995. The experts elected as Chairperson Mr. Nils Marstein, Director of the Norwegian Directorate for Culture, and as Vice- chairperson Mr. Herb Stovel, President of ICOMOS Canada. A full list of participants is included as Annex 1.
3. The following conclusions of the Meeting of Experts are submitted to the World Heritage Committee and to the Director General of UNESCO for their consideration.
CONTEXT
4. In recent years, increasing attention has been paid to the possibilities offered by the new electronic information technologies to individuals and groups working in the heritage conservation field. Exploration of these possibilities has raised a range of legitimate questions concerning defining information to be acquired, organizing frameworks for storing information acquired, confidentiality and security of information, equality of access for users of disparate means, responsibility for maintaining and updating the system, allocating costs to users and providers and so on. For some observers, these concerns have suggested the need for a "wait and see" approach, until such time as the implications of the new technologies could be fully understood and properly managed. It was the view of the Experts' Meeting that the failure to move quickly to establish a general system (a "network") for management of World Heritage information would condemn the Committee to work with systems or procedures developed by others. At the same time, according to the experts, the creation of a highly visible network would enhance enforcement of the Convention's provisions through greater public awareness of the Convention, and its properties. Wide popular support for the Convention would also encourage the continued moral and financial support of the States Parties.
5. It was in recognition of the inevitable outcome of current interest in applying the new technologies to the management of World Heritage information that the following proposals and recommendations were drafted, to ensure that the Committee directs this process to its own needs and priorities.
6. The participants (a full list of the participants is given in Annex 1) noted that information about World Heritage was already widely available electronically on the Internet, through host servers operated by UNESCO, ICOMOS, the World Conservation Monitoring Centre, and the Organization of World Heritage Cities (see Annex 2). With the cooperation of the Clearing House of the UNESCO Bureau of Documentation, Informatics and Telecommunications (DIT/CH), the World Heritage Centre had already undertaken to make some of the information available via this means. There are also other sources of World Heritage electronic data, which, however, are less authoritative and sometimes less reliable.
7. However, the information which the Centre, the Advisory Bodies and the States Parties collect currently is not well managed or shared. The lack of a working database for all World Heritage properties inhibits effective decision making by the Committee, the Centre, and its partners. To remedy this, the World Heritage Centre and the Advisory Bodies agreed in a preparatory meeting on the structure of a consolidated database on World Heritage Properties (see Annex 3). Much of this information would be made available to the Network.
POLICY STATEMENT AND OBJECTIVES
8. The Experts' Meeting therefore endorsed the following overall Policy Statement and Objectives, which the World Heritage Committee may take into consideration:

It is a goal of the World Heritage Committee to develop a World Heritage Information Network which can effectively serve diverse existing and potential users.
The objectives of this Network would be:

To promote awareness of the World Heritage, the Convention, and its instruments.

To improve knowledge of the state of conservation of World Heritage properties.

To improve the care devoted to World Heritage properties by disseminating information on effective management and conservation principles and practices.

9. The creation of this Network implies deployment of a range of strategies and facilities for information management, exchange, and dissemination. Appropriate strategies involve improving the scope, credibility and accessibility of information.
10. The Experts' Meeting, however, recognized also that despite the best intentions of States Parties, many sites and government agencies may not have Internet access for some time. In many States Parties these objectives could thus be implemented through the use of prevailing information management and communication technology. Parallell efforts must be made to assist other States Parties in acquiring access to this technology while using in the meantime the existing means of communication.
DESIGN PRINCIPLES AND RECOMMENDATIONS
11. On the basis of the above Policy Statement and objectives the participants defined the following set of principles and recommendations which should guide the development of the Network:
PRINCIPLE I : Although the Centre must be responsible for its management, the World Heritage Information Network should be a partnership between the World Heritage Centre (WHC) and the other organizations and State Parties with which it is associated.
Recommendation 1: The World Heritage Centre should establish its own document repositories in the UNESCO Internet domain. [These facilities have already been initiated.]
Recommendation 2: The roles of each organization should be clearly defined based on their expertise. Coordination and strategic planning should be the role of the World Heritage Centre, acting on behalf of the World Heritage Committee and the States Parties. Scientific content and data analysis should be the role of the advisory bodies.
Recommendation 3: A permanent working group should be established by the WHC, to include staff from the Centre and the Advisory Bodies to develop detailed recommendations for the Network.
Recommendation 4: The World Heritage Centre Web Server should be considered the hub of the World Heritage Information Network, and would make links to ICOMOS, WCMC, States Parties, and other servers as appropriate. Other partners would be encouraged not to duplicate existing links of the World Heritage participants. This is necessary if there is to be a perceived structure to the presentation of World Heritage information.
Recommendation 5: While recognizing the benefits of the Network, the additional cost to each organization of participation in the Network must also be identified, recognized and compensated.

PRINCIPLE II : When selecting material for distribution via the network, the principle of openness should be followed to the greatest degree possible.

Recommendation 6: Certain types of information should be restricted even under an openness principle. Thus, pending nominations should not be publicized; nor should actions or proposed actions whose publicity might adversely affect a subsequent decision by the World Heritage Committee.
Recommendation 7: The Network will contain a database, developed by the Advisory Bodies and the Centre, on World Heritage properties.

PRINCIPLE III : The responsibilities of data provision and maintenance should be distributed to the servers closest to the source of the information.

Recommendation 8: The WHC should encourage its partners and States Parties to the Convention to establish their own servers for World Heritage information.
Recommendation 9: To this end, the Centre should develop a package of materials (a "starter kit") recommending style sheets, headings, links, image formats, etc. The WHC and/or the Advisory Bodies should also be prepared to offer technical assistance to administrative agencies and site offices.
Recommendation 10: To facilitate the movement of files internally, between organizations, and to the servers as appropriate, all nominations and monitoring reports from States Parties should be, whenever possible, in machine-readable format. (Note: Recognizing that this will not always be possible, the text of any nomination not in digital form, should be scanned immediately after its receipt from the State Party, and the digitized nomination transmitted to the advisory bodies along with the hard copy. The digital files should be limited to those parts of the text that form the core of the nomination, excluding all supplementary annexes and other documentation.)

PRINCIPLE IV : These servers must be prepared to accommodate multiple audiences, of widely differing expertise and expectations.

Recommendation 11: Information on the servers should be layered in stages of increasing complexity.

PRINCIPLE V : All stakeholders must perceive a value in the network for the network to function effectively.

Recommendation 12: Use electronic mail discussion groups (distribution lists) to link site managers as a 'community', facilitating the exchange of ideas and information at the international level.

PRINCIPLE VI : The greatest degree of benefit and interaction will come from a network in which all parties participate equally.

Recommendation 13: The official documents provided by the World Heritage Centre and the Advisory Bodies will be maintained in English and French. The inclusion of Spanish www pages and gopher menus would also be desirable.
Recommendation 14: The WHC and Advisory Bodies should develop a program to assist States Parties in acquiring electronic access to the network.
Recommendation 15: Electronic communication should be included as a component in training courses at different levels for World Heritage management.

PRINCIPLE VII : Because many property managers and States Parties do not yet have ready access to electronic distribution media, the information on the Network must be made available through conventional means to the greatest degree possible.

Recommendation 16: Documents produced for the Network would continue to be submitted in paper form to States Parties and other interested groups; the moderators of discussion lists will be requested to provide periodic summaries to the World Heritage Centre Newsletter and other publications.

NOTES ON THE ABOVE PRINCIPLES AND RECOMMENDATIONS
12. The core partnership organizations will be UNESCO-WHC and the Advisory Bodies, ICOMOS, IUCN/WCMC, and ICCROM. Each has a role in the protection of natural and cultural World Heritage and beyond. Other organizations, as they develop their information resources and communication ability should also be brought into the partnership. Their databases and expert bodies should be collaboratively linked with the World Heritage Information Network. The integration of their larger programs into the WHIN will provide valuable information for World Heritage management programs. At the same time, the widespread distribution of World Heritage information will provide models for the management of cultural and natural heritage worldwide.
13. The WH Centre server would be responsible for posting and maintaining all official decisions and deliberations of the World Heritage Committee. Typically, this includes the Convention text, Operational Guidelines, Lists of the World Heritage and Heritage in Danger, Reports of Bureau and Committee meetings, and newsletters, nomination forms and state of conservation reports, international assistance forms, etc.
14. The Centre and/or the Advisory bodies should prepare fact sheets that summarize the provisions of the Convention and Operational guidelines. Frequent press releases distributed to the network should announce changes to the guidelines and their implications. The full text of the World Heritage Newsletter should be posted to the www server. Hypertext links should be built into these publications wherever possible.
15. Data sets should be presented by a server lying as close as possible to the source of the information, to permit updates and the timely posting of the material. This means that ultimately, given the capacity, sites should post material relating to their own property, in a format approved by the World Heritage Centre and the State Party concerned. Lacking that capacity, local universities, NGOs, or other designated bodies could provide their information on behalf of the site, on a voluntary or contractual basis.
16. A key principle for any information provider is that potential users will come from the widest possible range of backgrounds and interests, from the casual browser who has no knowledge of World Heritage (but whose long- term support may be valuable) to the specialist resource manager who may seek detailed guidance on a specific problem. Thus, it is important that information on each server be presented in as clear a structure as possible.
17. Where desired, separate electronic mail distribution lists could be established for different groups (e.g., World Heritage Cities). These lists need not be run from a central host, but could be donated by one of the sites. WHC and the Advisory Bodies might wish to monitor the lists to answer specific questions when they arise. Discussion in the lists would help to identify common problems, which could be addressed by the Committee, the Centre, or one of the Advisory Bodies as appropriate.
18. For each institution to maintain an effective network there must be clear benefits that at least balance or preferably outweigh the costs. At a later stage, the stakeholders would include other partners who will also expect to see a positive benefit from collaborating in the maintenance of the network.
CONCLUSIONS
19. During discussion of the principles and recommendations, there was extensive debate on the financial implications of the Network, on the confidentiality of information submitted by States Parties, on the respective roles of the Centre vs. those of its partners, and the need for capacity building in less-technologically advanced States Parties. The costs of the network to the Centre and to the Advisory Bodies and other partners however, have so far not been quantified. In this context, the Chair read the faxed comments from the Japanese Agency for Cultural Affairs recommending specific support of ICOMOS by UNESCO. Other options for funding were also discussed including regional agencies and extra- budgetary contributions from individual States Parties. Several speakers commented that the primary costs were those of the additional staff time required to maintain the information and service a substantially higher level of public inqueries. At the same time, however, there was a direct relationship between the extent and visibility of the materials presented and the staff required to maintain the information.
20. Both in the preparatory meeting and in the Experts' Meeting the issue of confidentiality had been raised. Principle 2 advocated the "principle of openness." What restrictions limited this principle? To what extent was a nomination for a site inscribed on the World Heritage List now public information? Was the Committee now free to make this information available to the electronic universe? In the case of the current nomination format, most of the information could easily be obtained from public sources, although information provided under the new nomination format might contain sensitive information. Assuming that nomination texts for inscribed sites were appropriate for the WHIN, the issue of State of Conservation reports was clearly more sensitive for States Parties. Would the publication of regional summaries of the State of Conservation Reports be appropriate? What copyright laws governed the publication of these documents? There was general agreement that on both issues of confidentiality and copyright, proposals, backed by the UNESCO legal office, should be brought before the Committee for its consideration.
21. There was also debate over the role of the Centre and Advisory Bodies in the WHIN. Was the WHIN a democratizing "ground-up" approach, in which the role of the Centre gradually faded as the States Parties and Sites assumed greater capacity, as implied by principles 3 and 6, or should its structure be more centralized, with the Centre and Advisory Bodies providing the core information (principle 1)? In answering this question -- and amending Principle 1 -- the meeting participants, while stressing the coordinating role of the Centre, called attention to the Network as a partnership between the Centre and the different organizations that would make up the WHIN.
22. The issue of the capacity of less-developed States to participate in the WHIN was also discussed (Principle 7). Although there was debate on what the Centre could do to alleviate the disparity between developed and less-developed states, there was general agreement that some form of program should be developed to assist States, whether in concert with other organizations, or perhaps as part of existing training meetings (Recommendations 14 and 15).
23. The meeting concluded with a discussion of "Next Steps." Participants requested:

that the Committee endorse the report of the committee, particularly the policy statement, seven principles, and sixteen recommendations;

that the Centre and Working Group called for in Recommendation 3 articulate a phased development plan for the WHIN for approval by the Committee, and, under assumption of the Committee's approval, execute the early parts of this plan;

that the meeting participants continue to discuss the issues raised during the meeting by means of an electronic-mail discussion group;

that the Centre and Advisory Bodies submit an estimate of the anticipated development costs for 1996 and 1997 to accompany this report to the December meeting of the Committee;

that Committee recommend to the Centre, Advisory Bodies, and States Parties the further strengthening, in close collaboration with other units in UNESCO, of the electronic communication capacities of the partners within the World Heritage Convention, for which funds should be authorized by the Committee within the budget for 1996.

Subsequent to the meeting, a phased development plan to establish the WHIN within one year from the Committee's December meeting was proposed (See Annex 4). Included within the plan is an estimate of hours required, both to establish the WHIN, and for its maintenance.

Annex 1 : Attendance List
Annex 2 : Responsibilities of the Partners
Annex 3 : Database
Annex 4 : Development Plan Matrix

ANNEX 1

List of participants

World Heritage Information Management Meeting
27-28 September 1995

1. Carole Alexandre, Director, ICOMOS ICOMOS Hotel Saint Aignan 75 rue du Temple 75003 Paris FRANCE tel : 33-1-42 77 57 42 fax : 33-1-42 77 35 76 E-Mail : alexandr@cicrp.jussieu.fr 2. Henry Cleere, World Heritage Coordinator, ICOMOS ICOMOS Acres Rise Hotel Saint Aignan Ticehurst 75 rue du Temple Wadhurst 75003 Paris TN5 7DD FRANCE UNITED KINGDOM tel : 33-1-42 77 35 76 tel : 44-1580-200 752 fax : 33-1-42 77 57 42 fax : 44-1580-200 752 3. Suzanne D'Abzac, Chief Documentalist, ICOMOS ICOMOS Hotel Saint Aignan 75 rue du Temple 75003 Paris FRANCE tel : 33-1-42 77 35 76 fax : 33-1-42 77 57 42 4. Regina Durighello, Assistant World Heritage Coordinator, ICOMOS ICOMOS Hotel Saint Aignan 75 rue du Temple 75003 Paris FRANCE tel : 33-1-42 77 35 76 fax : 33-1-42 77 57 42 5. Herb Stovel, President, ICOMOS (Canada) ICOMOS Canada 301 Strathearn Ave. North Montreal West Québec H4X 1Y3 CANADA tel : 1-514-487 7803 fax : 1-514-487 7803 6. Jef Malliet, Executive Secretary, ICCROM ICCROM 13, Via di San Michele 00153 Rome RM ITALY tel : 396-585 531 fax : 396-5855 3349 E-Mail : mc5356@mclink.It 7. James Paine, WCMC/IUCN WCMC 219 Huntington Road Cambridge CB3 ODL UNITED KINGDOM tel : 44-1223-277 314 fax : 44-1223-277 136 E-Mail : Jim.Paine@wcmc.org.uk 8. Michel Bonnette, WHCO World Heritage Cities Organization 56 Rue Saint-Pierre Quebec G1K 4A1 CANADA tel : 1-418-692 0000 fax : 1-418-692 5558 E-Mail : mbonnett@QBC.Clic.Net 9. Marcel Junius, Secretary General, WHCO World Heritage Cities Organization 56 Rue Saint-Pierre Quebec G1K 4A1 CANADA tel : 1-418-692 000 fax : 1-418-692 5558 E-Mail : mjunius@qbc.clic.net 10. Denise Pelissier, DIT/CH, UNESCO Clearing House Centre UNESCO 7, place de Fontenoy 75352 Paris 07 SP FRANCE tel : 33-1-45682446 E-mail : d.pelissier@unesco.org 11. Mounir Bouchenaki, CLT/CH, UNESCO Division of Cultural Heritage UNESCO 1, rue Miollis 75015 Paris FRANCE tel : 33-1-45683755 12. Dominique Delouis, CLT/CH, UNESC0 24 Rue Ste Marthe Consultant 75010 Paris Division of Cultural Heritage tel : 33-1-46 14 51 86 UNESCO fax : 33-1-46 14 56 81 1, rue Miollis 75015 Paris FRANCE 13. Hernan Crespo-Toral, CLT, UNESCO Division of Cultural Heritage UNESCO 1, rue Miollis 75015 Paris FRANCE tel : 33-1-45 68 43 36 14. Jan Hladik, CLT/CH, UNESCO Division of Cultural Heritage UNESCO 1, rue Miollis 75015 Paris FRANCE tel : 33-1-45 68 37 93 fax : 33-1-42 73 01 78 15. Han Qunli, SC/ECO, UNESCO Division of Ecological Sciences UNESCO 1, rue Miollis 75015 Paris FRANCE tel : 33-1-45 68 41 42 E-Mail : q.han@unesco.org 16. P. Lasserre, SC/ECO, UNESCO Division of Ecological Sciences UNESCO 1, rue Miollis 75015 Paris FRANCE tel : 33-1-45 68 40 67 E-Mail : p.lasserre@unesco.org 17. Paul de Guchteneive, SHS/MOST, UNESCO SHS/MOST UNESCO 1, rue Miollis 75015 Paris FRANCE tel : 33-1-45 68 58 50 fax : 33-1-45 67 82 06 E-Mail : guchten@EXT.jussieu.Fr 18. Elizabeth des Portes, ICOM ICOM 1, rue Miollis 75015 Paris FRANCE tel : 33-1-45 68 25 83 19. Mikhael de Thyse, Conseiller de Programme pour la Coopération et l'Assistance Techniques, Council of Europe Division du Patrimoine Culturel F-670 Strasbourg Cedex 75 FRANCE tel : 33-88 41 27 61 fax : 33-88 41 27 55 20. Cary Karp, ICOM Director Dept. of Information Technology Swedish Museum of Natural History Box 50007 S-104 05 Stockholm SWEDEN tel : 46-8-666 4055 fax : 46-8-666 4235 E-Mail : ck@nrm.se 21. Bruce Williams, Director of Information Services, CHIN Canadian Heritage Information Network 365 Laurier Avenue West Ottowa, Ontario K1A OC8 CANADA tel : 613-992 3333 fax : 613-952 2318 E-Mail : bwilliam@chin.gc.ca 22. Margaret Mac Lean, Director, Getty Conservation Institute Documentation Programme The Getty Conservation Institute 4503 Glencoe Ave Marina del Rey, CA 90292 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA tel : 310-822 2299 fax : 310-821 9409 E-Mail : mmaclean@getty.edu 23. Julie Radoyce, Head Librarian, Getty Conservation Institute The Getty Conservation Institute 4503 Glencoe Ave Marina del Rey, CA 90292 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA tel : 310-822 2299 fax : 310-821 9409 E-Mail : jradoyce@getty.edu 24. Hideo Noguchi, CLT/CH, UNESCO Division of Cultural Heritage UNESCO 1, rue Miollis 75015 Paris FRANCE tel : 33-1-45 68 44 18 fax : 33-1-42 73 01 78 E-Mail : h.noguchi@unesco.org 25. Dr Mohammed Rafique Mughal Director General Dept. of Archaeology and Museums 27A, Al-Alif Shaheed-e-Millat Road Karachi 75350 PAKISTAN tel : 92-21-430 638/431 387 fax : 92-21-262 7206 E-Mail : atif@mughals.lhe.imran.pk (note that 'l' in 'lhe' is a lower case letter L) 26. Renzo Carlucci Via Filippo Casini, 8 8-00152 Roma ITALY tel : 369-583 30806 fax : 369-588 2806 E-Mail : caren@uni.net 27. Luiz Antonio Bolcato Custodio Arquiteto, Coodernador Regional Av. Independencia 867 90035-076 Porto Alegre RS. BRASIL tel : 5551-225 9351/227 1188 fax : 5551-225 3853 E-Mail : custodio@pampa.tche.br 28. Mr Ridha Tlili Chief National Memory Resources Dept. Ministry of Culture Rue 2 Mars La Kasbah Tunis TUNISIA tel : 2161-754 423/352 318 fax : 2161-854 804 29. Robin Letellier Heritage Recording Services Heritage Conservation Program Architectural & Engineering Services to Parks Canada 25 Eddy Street Hull, Quebec K1A OH3 CANADA tel : 819-997 0146 fax : 819-997 6252 E-Mail : letellir@PWGSC.GC.CA --- CIPA Secretary General 93 Juniper Chelsea, Quebec CANADA JOX INO fax : 819-827 5505 30. Nils Marstein Directorate for Cultural Heritage Riksantikvaren P.O. Box 8196 Dep. N-0034 Oslo NORWAY tel : 47-22 94 04 00 fax : 47-22 94 04 04 E-Mail : nils.marstein@raport.md.dep.telemax.no 31. Peter Stott Dept. of Urban & Environmental Policy Tufts University 97 Talbot Avenue Medford, MA 02155 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA tel : 1-617-627 3694 fax : 1-617-627 3377 E-Mail : pstott@emerald.tufts.edu 32. Francis Golding The Royal Fine Arts Commission 7 St James' Square London SW1Y 4JU UNITED KINGDOM tel : 44-171-839 6537 fax : 44-171-839 8475 33. Marie Ange Sylvain-Holmgren UNESCO, PROAP 920 Sukhunvit Road Bangkok THAILAND tel : 66-2-278 1844 E-Mail : sylvain.unescap@un.org 34. Alain Michard Coordinator AQUARELLE Domaine de Voluceau-Roquentcourt BP 105 F-781 53 Le Chesnay FRANCE fax : 33-1-39 63 58 88 E-Mail : alain.michard@inria.fr 35. Jens Boel, Archives, UNESCO UNESCO Archives UNESCO 7, place de Fontenoy 75352 Paris 07 SP FRANCE tel : 33-1-45 68 19 50 E-Mail : j.boel@unesco.org 36. Andrew Cameron Industry Canada Canadian Embassy 35 Avenue Montaigne 75008 Paris FRANCE tel : 33-1-44 43 23 72 fax : 33-1-44 43 29 98 E-Mail : 76113.1206@compuserve.com
ANNEX 2

Summary of Information Responsibilities
The following proposal was included in the Draft paper for the Experts meeting. However, due to lack of time, it was not discussed during the Meeting, and should thus be discussed by the Working Group and in an Experts meeting in the near future.

World Heritage Centre

Text of the World Heritage Convention
Operational Guidelines
World Heritage List (with brief descriptions)
List of the World Heritage in Danger
List of Properties for which International Assistance has been granted (Art. 13)
Regional Reports on the State of World Heritage
List of Committee Members
Rules and Procedures of the Committee and the Financial Regulations
Reports of the Bureau (as far back as possible)
Reports of the World Heritage Committee (incorporating ICOMOS and IUCN recommendations)
Reports of the General Assembly of States Parties
States Parties Data Sheets (on CDS/ISIS)
World Heritage Centre Newsletter
List of States Parties
Blank forms for:
Nominations
Requests for Assistance;
State of Conservation Reports
Map(s) of World Heritage Properties
Tentative Lists
Summary fact sheets:
Convention
Operational guidelines

ICOMOS Responsibilities

Text of nominations (excluding annexes) beginning with new nomination format in 1996?
ICOMOS evaluations
Certain databases (to be discussed)

WCMC Responsibilities

Text of nominations (excluding annexes) beginning with new nomination format in 1996?
WCMC/IUCN data sheets
IUCN evaluations
Other appropriate information to be defined

ANNEX 3

Recommendation for Core Fields
in a Consolidated World Heritage Sites Database

Field Type: c=character; n=numeric; d=date; l=logical; m=memo field

FIELD NAME TYPE SIZE DESCRIPTION STPARTYISO c 3 3-letter ISO code of State Party COUNTRYISO * c 3 3-letter ISO code of country in which site is located. WH_NBR c 4 World Heritage Site number with a leading zero if necessary WH_NAME-E c 165 Eng. Formal name as inscribed WH_NAME-F c 165 French Formal name SHORT-ENG c 50 Short title, English SHORT-FR c 50 Short title, French LOCATION m -- Location (optional for WCMC) SITEDELIM l 1 Are the site boundaries precisely mapped? (default = N) ISDISCONTIN l 1 Is the site discontinuous? LATITUDE c 7 DDMMSS N/S | LONGITUDE c 8 DDDMMSS E/W | use central point ISLATLONG l 1 Does the nomination have verified coord? ISSECONDS l 1 Does the nomination include seconds? SIZE n 11 Size in Hectares of property CULTURAL l 1 Site inscribed under cultural crit.? NATURAL l 1 Site inscribed under natural criteria? C1, C2, C3, | C4, C5, C6 l 1 ea.| Cultural criteria logical fields N1, N2, N3, N4 l 1 ea. Natural criteria logical fields M_G_S ** c 1 "Monument", "Group, or "Site" TRANSBORD l 1 Transborder site ASSO_SITE c 4 Site number of paired transborder site DATE d 8 Date site inscribed on WH List NOM_STATUS c 1 (I)nscribed, (R)eferred, (D)eferred, Rejected (X), (T)entative DANGER_LST l 1 Listing on the WH in Danger List DATE-ON d 8 Date of Danger List inscription DATE-OFF d 8 Date removed from Danger List ISBUFFER l 1 Is there a buffer zone delineated? BUFFERSIZE n 11 Size (in hectares) of buffer zone (optional for cultural sites) ISMANPLAN l 1 Is there a management plan in file? PLANDATE c 4 Date (year) of most recent management plan PHOTOS l 1 Photos included in file ? SLIDES l 1 Slides included in file ? VIDEO l 1 Video included in file ? CONV_CODE c 10 Other Conventions applicable to site MODIFIED d 8 Date of modification of this record AUTHORITY c 6 Advisory Body responsible for this record

Annex 4

Development Plan Matrix

Recommendation	Date	Setup time	Maintenance	Notes
Rec. 1 Establish servers in UNESCO domain	gopher Feb 95 www July 95	full setup, 4 months	documents: 5 hrs/mo e-mail: 2-15 hrs/wk	1
Rec. 3 Establish working group	by 1/11/95	---	10 hrs/mo	2
Rec. 7 Install WH sites database	by 1/7/96	1 month	1 wk/yr	3
Rec. 9 "Develop starter kit"	by 1/7/96	2 months	5 hrs/wk	4
Rec. 10 Digitize incoming nominations as necessary	1/9/96	---	2 wks/yr	5
Rec. 12 Develop e-mail discussion groups	WHIN-L Oct 95 WHDB-L Nov 95	---	moderators' time, 5 hrs/mo	6
Rec. 14 Develop program to assist States Parties	Prog by 1/4/96 Execution by 12/96	Program dev. 2 mo; Execution 3 mo	Ongoing tech support, 5 hrs/wk	7
Total Time	by 12/96	12 months	1100 hrs/yr (22 hrs/wk)	8

Details

1. Full Setup for WHC repository server with contents as outlined in Annex 1 is estimated to take four months. Major tasks anticipated: digitizing committee and bureau reports, newsletter; development of search tools; map graphic interface for world and regional maps; page design and graphics; training of WHC personnel in maintenance.

Maintenance time assigned to this Recommendation is in two parts: documents and e-mail correspondence. For estimation purposes, it is assumed that an average WHC document may take 5 hours to move from a word-processed file to an HTML text file and that these documents will average one per month (newsletters, reports of technical meetings; Committee and Bureau reports). E-mail correspondence that arrives de novo as a direct result of the new WHIN is much harder to estimate. Although it can vary widely, it is also roughly controllable. The level of correspondence is directly affected by a) the visibility of the Network itself; and b) the visibility of the e-mail address for general correspondence. The presence of an e-mail address on each page, with a "mailto" link allowing the user to send a message while he is viewing the page will generate substantially more e-mail per week than the presence of only one e-mail address buried beneath several menu layers. (Currently, the presence of "wh-info@unesco.org" in multiple locations on the WHC UNESCO servers generates approximately 2 messages a week.) If necessary, the time required to answer electronic mail can also be controlled by a) replying to common questions with a standard e-mail "form" message (multiple replies could be prepared for the most common questions); and b) forwarding a portion of the e-mail to individuals in the Centre, among the Advisory Bodies, or from a specific State Party, who can more readily answer the inquiry. In consequence, the amount of time spent answering e-mail correspondence is roughly controllable.

2. Setting up the Working Group will require only agreement between the individuals concerned as to the members. Members may be identical to those in the WH Database group. Maintenance by the Centre will entail occasional correspondence and regular reports back to WHC Director.

In accordance with Recommendation 3, the Working Group should have, as main tasks, the identification of critical success factors, implementation plans for each of the participants servers, WWW sites, criteria for linking other servers to the WHIN, developing proposals for the WH Committee regarding openness versus confidentiality of information, copyright issues, etc.

3. WH sites Database setup time (1 month) represents work done assembling data already prepared by the Advisory Bodies (not quantified); and preparing a portion of this data for WAIS indexing on the Internet servers. Setup time includes time for establishing a systematic process for updating information annually. Setup may include other databases, such as existing States Parties Database.

4. The "Starter Kit" should be developed in conjunction with both the WHC WWW Host (Rec. 1) and the Technical Assistance Program (Rec. 14). It should include guidelines which will identify the qualifications necessary for a host to officially represent a site; and the minimum level of information that such hosts must present. It will make recommendations on both content and design, although these will not be binding. It will offer a series of WHIN icons, based on the World Heritage logo that sites can use that are part of the WHIN. The document will be flexible and subject to frequent updates, based on a "WHIN webmasters" mailing list that will include all hosts that will be part of the WHIN. The maintenance of this mailing list and document will provide the ongoing technical support for the WHIN and in its maintenance phase may be carried out in conjunction with the maintenance of the Technical Assistance program (see below).

5. No setup is required for this recommendation, which requires that the text of all incoming nominations to the World Heritage List be electronically scanned with Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software if the same material has not already been provided by the State Party in a machine-readable format. A copy of the file(s) will be transmitted to the advisory body concerned for inclusion in the database. If the nomination is accepted by the Committee for inscription, and the State Party has not objected to its dissemination, the file may be used in the Advisory Body's Internet server. The time required is estimated based on the receipt of an average of 30 nominations at the due date in September of each year. It presumes both scanning and proofing of resultant texts for errors. As States Parties begin to submit nomination files on disk, this task will be reduced.

6. Recommendation 12 also requires no setup time. WHIN-L, an electronic mailing list to continue the WHIN discussion among the participants of the Experts meeting, was established in early October 1995. WHDB-L, a more technical list for discussion of the Consolidated World Heritage Property Database between individuals at the Centre and the Advisory Bodies was set up at the same time, but will probably not become operational until necessary members of each of the Advisory Bodies have electronic mail access, anticipated in November 1995. The maintenance time required for the moderator of 5 hrs/mo. assumes answering occasional questions posed by the list and preparing text summaries for the Newsletter (Recommendation 16).

It is anticipated that numerous mailing lists will be established along regional or topical subject lines. Although they can, if desired, be run off of the unesco.org server, their moderators may come from anywhere in the ranks of the WHIN, and thus should represent no maintenance burden for the Centre. It would be advisable, however, that an appropriate staff person from the Centre be subscribed to each as a WHC representative.

7. Recommendation 14 calls for a program to assist States Parties in acquiring electronic access to the network. Depending on the funding available, this could represent pilot projects in different regions (Latin America, Eastern Europe, Sub-Saharan Africa, Arab States, South and Southeast Asia). One month is allotted to develop the program and three months (non-consecutive) for execution. With available funding, an individual from the Centre could spend two weeks with one or more State Parties; meeting with a single State or a regional meeting of States. Depending on conditions at the site, the meeting could develop new electronic mail access; or it could help to develop a www or gopher server. Alternatively, the program could develop a standalone component that could be attached to an existing schedule of technical meetings or training courses by the Centre or its Advisory Bodies (Recommendation 15). Similarly Bureau and Committee meetings could be used as opportunities for demonstrations and limited training and technical assistance. It is important to stress that a direct Internet connection is not required to receive electronic mail or information from Internet World Wide Web or gopher sites. Any site with a small computer and telephone line can receive cheap electronic mail. The program should include the preparation of one or more manuals depending on the needs of the clients.

The assistance program should explore cooperative programs with regional aid and economic development organizations.

The maintenance for the WHC that this recommendation implies will vary depending on the extent of the program developed. At a minimum level, however, it assumes a continuing level of technical support largely serviced by electronic mail responses, based on the technical manual(s) and expertise developed at the Centre.

8. The total time commitment represented for setup of the WHIN and its maintenance are rough estimates only. Each of the recommendations has a wide range of optional features whose implementation could be postponed in the event of time restraints. The program, however, is designed to take advantage of the presence of a consultant for a finite period of time and any features postponed would have to be implemented without that assistance. Likewise, maintenance times are also rough estimates with wide range of options, as noted above. The average time suggested (22 hours/wk), however, assumes that the WHIN will not require the full-time attention of even one permanent staff person. The temptation, therefore, will be to give that staff person other responsibilities. This should be resisted, as the work required by the WHIN will clearly fluctuate from week to week and month to month.

WORLD HERITAGE INFORMATION MANAGEMENT REPORT ON THE MEETING OF EXPERTS PARIS, 27-28 SEPTEMBER 1995

WORLD HERITAGE INFORMATION MANAGEMENT

REPORT ON THE MEETING OF EXPERTS

PARIS, 27-28 SEPTEMBER 1995