CIDOC Guidelines for Museum Object Information: Material and Technique Information Group

This page is part of the International Guidelines for Museum Object Information: The CIDOC Information Categories: a description of the Information Categories that can be used when developing records about the objects in museum collections. For an outline of the Information Groups and Categories in the Guidelines, turn to the introductory list.

Material and Technique Information Group

Purpose:

Material and technique information supports Security, Access, and an Historic archive. It can be of primary importance in identifying high value, and therefore high risk, objects. It is also a key information area for the research of man made objects.

Information categories:

Material
Technique
Part or component description

Examples:

Material: cotton
Technique: embroidered
Object part/component: whole

Material: charcoal
Object part/component: medium

Material: paper
Object part/component: support

Notes:

• This Information Group is repeatable. Always specify object parts comprising multiple materials and techniques, recording them in descending order of importance where appropriate.
• It may also be necessary to record a contextual description using the Description Information Group to clarify the relationship of the materials.
• Do not use this Information Category to record information about materials used in conservation processes.
• The recording system used should ensure that the relationships between the components of repeating groups is maintained. In the examples above this would mean that "charcoal" is associated with "medium" and "paper" with "support."

Material

Definition:

The Materials used in the creation, decoration, and any subsequent adaptations of the object.

Examples:

gold
chalk
oil
tempera

Notes:

• It is recommended that controlled terms are used for this Information Category. Refer to the "Content and terminology control" section in the Introduction for further guidance on sources of controlled terminology.
• This Information Category is repeatable; as many Materials as required can be recorded for each Part/component described.

Move to beginning of Material/Technique

Technique

Alternate names:

Manufacturing methods
Creation processes
Decorative techniques

Definition:

All processes, methods, and techniques used in the creation of the object.

Examples:

carved
thrown
printed

Notes:

• It is recommended that controlled terms are used for this Information Category. Refer to the "Content and terminology control" section in the Introduction for further guidance on sources of controlled terminology.
• This Information Category is repeatable; as many Techniques as required can be recorded for each part/component described.

Move to beginning of Material/Technique

Part or component description

Definition:

The Part or component of the object for which the Material or Technique is being described.

Examples:

whole
neck
base
arm
support
medium

Notes:

• It is recommended that controlled terms are used for this Information Category. Refer to the "Content and terminology control" section in the Introduction for further guidance on sources of controlled terminology.

Move to beginning of Material/Technique

Move to outline of the Information Groups and Categories or the next section of the Guidelines, Measurement

file: guidemat.htm; author: CIDOC; updated June 1995