@misc{ZalmZalmFilarskietal.2025, author = {Zalm, Cindy and Zalm, Cindy and Filarski, Gertjan and Kom, de, Camiel}, title = {Against opacity, Dutch heritage from a colonial context accessible in a transparent way}, series = {Themenkreis 6: Kulturgut und Kulturdaten erhalten und aktivieren/ Decolonisation (26.06.2025, 14:00 - 15:30, Halle 4.1./ Raum IV (mit Streaming))}, journal = {Themenkreis 6: Kulturgut und Kulturdaten erhalten und aktivieren/ Decolonisation (26.06.2025, 14:00 - 15:30, Halle 4.1./ Raum IV (mit Streaming))}, year = {2025}, abstract = {In 2022 the Dutch government implemented policies for the return of objects from a colonial context. In the same year the Rijksmuseum, the Cultural Heritage agency, NIOD, Museum Bronbeek, and the Wereldmuseum were asked to form a consortium to share their expertise with colleagues in other institutes, to stimulate and support historical provenance research and to take part in capacity building projects. This consortium formulated a working program under the title 'Against Opacity'. We felt it most important to address the primary complaint by communities of origin that Dutch institutes were not transparent regarding objects collected during the colonial period. The primary result of the project is a research facility constructed using linked data techniques based on the infrastructure guidelines of the Dutch Network for Digital Heritage (NDE). The facility supports innovative research possibilities as well as a dataset browser. One of the main user challenges is to understand what information is and is not collected in a dataset. Registration systems are not neutral. They have a long institutional history during which many choices were being made like the preferred terminology, categories used, information units, etc. During digitization new choices were made: e.g. which information is included and how. In the dataset browser a user can see which datasets are included in the research tool, how they are structured, and which choices were made. Both the research tool and the dataset browser can be used by researchers abroad to search for colonial objects in an enriched context. During the development of the platform, we used the input of potential users from the Netherlands and nations of origin. In our lecture we will sketch the project and share the lessons learned during our user workshops and while developing the project.}, language = {de} }