Integrating Peter van Mensch’s Information Categories with the CDWA: a three-dimensional approach to museum documentation

Abstract

Introduction: Digitizing Brazilian museum collections and adopting structured data standards have become essential to bring museum documentation up to date in today’s digital culture. Peter van Mensch’s view of museum objects provides a foundation for three-dimensional documentation that captures cultural objects’ physical, functional, and contextual properties. Objectives: To explore Mensch's conception of museum objects and to carry out a comparative mapping between Mensch's Informational Structure of the Object and the categories of description in the Categories for the Description of Works of Art, with a view to identifying and integrating their properties. Methodology: The study combined a narrative review of works on Mensch’s Information Categories and the CDWA with an in-depth document analysis of the metadata standard’s guidelines and Mensch’s writings. Category mapping followed three main steps: (i) identifying Mensch’s and the CDWA’s categories; (ii) a comparative analysis based on semantic equivalence, scope, and practical applicability; and (iii) integrating the categories, highlighting gaps and convergences. Results: The comparative analysis showed that the essential categories(Core) of the CDWA are insufficient to capture the complexity of museum objects as outlined by Mensch. Gaps were identified in contextual and functional dimensions, indicating the need to revise and expand the Core categories to include elements of Mensch identities, which would provide a more detailed documentation that is appropriate to contemporary demands. Conclusion: Incorporating Mensch’s identities into the CDWA supports a more integrated museum practice, enhancing both information retrieval and the cultural valuation of objects. This approach strengthens museum documentation by broadening its scope and aligning it with the practical and theoretical needs of museum institutions.