The Russian Museum

Goal: The first and unique publication in Russia of the full scientific catalogue of the collection with color reproductions of all the exhibits.

In 1997 - 1998 the first two volumes have seen light as the following two volumes are fully ready for printing.

The State Russian Museum represents the world's largest and the most complete collection of Russian fine art. The museum's numbers about 400,000 works. It has taken shape over the entire twentieth century and is growing even to this day.

The collection embraces all the periods and directions in the history of Russian art; its schools, fields and genres over 1000 years, form the tenth to the twentieth centuries.

Now the Russian Museum is planning to mark its centenary with the publication of its complete catalogue of painting comprising 15 volumes. Each volume will feature an average of 1500 works represented in colour illustrations. This will be unique Russia's first-ever publication of a complete academic catalogue with colour illustrations.

Cost of publishing each volume - $ 140 000

Terms of completing the project - 2015

It is possible to publish 10 volumes of the General Catalogue up to 2008 if the funds will be available.

Edition of every volume - 10 000 copies

Cost - $ 1 400 000

It is hard to realize preparation of materials for such a complicated edition as the General Catalogue without using up-to-date computer technologies. That is why polygraphic editions will be parallelly prepared with the full electronic catalogue of the musum collection.

These works have been begun in the State Russian Museum a long time ago and we have achieved a certain success for the last decade. In present we've got in our funds the computer database with information concerning around 43 000 exhibits (about 11 % of the museum collection). These data have been already used for the General Catalogue preparation. Its important shortcoming is lack of exhibits images as well as disconnection of the fund bases and absence of the general catalogue.

Hence we can formulate the main aim of the works in this filed for the next few years:

creating the common full-scale electronic catalogue of the museum collection, that will include stock, storing and scientific data as well as exhibits' images bank.

The main tasks are the following:

1. Modernization of computer equipment in stock and storing as well as scientific and fund subdivisions of the State Russian Museum. Computers' quantity should be sufficient for the intensive collective work of all the staff. Computers' capacity should be sufficient for using modern information technologies: work in the local net, work with images, using of the Internet resources.
2. Creating the common museum computer net with access to the Internet. Creating and administrating the high-capacity server for storing the general electronic catalogue with maintenance of all the neccessary safety measures. Working out and introduction of the specialized program equipment for the electronic catalogue creating and work with it (these kinds of works have already been begun by the oldest partner of the State Russian Museum - JSC "Alt-Soft").
3. Creating on the museum cinema and photographic services' base (enlisting the computerization department specialists) the subdivision that will carry out mass introduction of images to the general catalogue using modern computer equipment.

Perspectives of the general catalogue development:

• Integration with analogous catalogues of other museums in the processes' limits that are conducted under the egis of the Ministry of Culture (the common national net of cultural heritage)
• Participating in international projects concerning creating electronic inter-museum societies
• Using the electronic "Russian museum on line" with the purpose to integrate in the world cultural process.

Approximate cost of the project - $ 150 000