Mechanism

Libraries

Does the mechanism mainly rely on mediated transmission or non-mediated transmission?

Characteristics

Mediated transmission: X

Non-mediated transmission:

Libraries disappear when they are no longer actively maintained or funded. Libraries in general are

primarily focused on making materials available for use, not so much on preserving original items (see

Archives).

Libraries may be set up, managed and run, and used by a wide range of public and private actors at the

Actors

local, regional, national or international level.

Prior to the closure of the repository, the implementing and regulatory agencies and R&D institutions are

likely to maintain specialised libraries to address their own information needs.

The strength of public libraries lies in their mission to make accessible a wide range of published

Main

materials to a broad audience. With the emergence of digital technologies, the potential to disseminate

their contents have increased.

strengths/benefits

Libraries usually give access to items that are not unique (there are copies in other places). As such, they

ensure the preservation of multiple copies of relevant works, which enhances redundancy.

Unlike archives, whose mission is preservation, libraries are often user-driven. If there is no interest in

Specific

waste repositories, libraries may not keep related items in their collections over time. If related items are

there, users may unintentionally find radioactive waste disposal related information while visiting the

issues/challenges

library/browsing through the catalogue for other reasons. However, in general potential users must first

recognise an information need in order to search and subsequently find the relevant information.

International

National libraries are usually part of a wider, international network. The management of library

dimension

collections (e.g. cataloguing) is governed by international standards.

Connection to other

Culture, education and art: Nuclear and related topics in (academic) education, research and training;

Alternative reuse of the site and/or its infrastructure; Information dissemination activities

approaches/

Dedicated record sets and summary files: KIF

mechanisms

International mechanisms: International inventories and catalogues

Information resources

• J. Schröder and A. Sneyers, “INIS and its national implementation”, in NEA (2013), The Preservation of

issued by the RK&M

Records, Knowledge and Memory (RK&M) Across Generations: Improving Our Understanding, Proceedings

initiative

of the second RK&M Workshop, 12-13 September 2012 in Issy-les-Moulineaux, OECD, Paris.

Other information

—

resources

• World Digital Library, a co-operative project of the Library of Congress, the United Nations

Examples

Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), and partner libraries, archives, and

educational and cultural institutions from the United States and around the world www.wdl.org/en.

• Europeana and the European Library https://pro.europeana.eu/project/europeana-libraries.

Mechanism

Museums

Approach

Memory institutions

Museums select and collect specific objects and artefacts and present them to the public, accompanied

Definition/description

by contextual information. A wide range of museums exist, from large, generic institutions to small and

highly specific collections, from focusing on works of the past to investigating the present and exploring

the future.

Museums can contribute to RK&M preservation through preserving specific objects related to (the

history of) disposal projects. Works of art commissioned or developed within a particular disposal project

may also be acquired by a museum that will display them and take care of their preservation. Museums

can also contribute more generally through exhibitions aimed at investigating current thinking and

How does this

practices related to radioactive waste (short term) and through exhibitions aimed at recreating past

mechanism contribute

radioactive waste management thinking and activities (medium term). The contextual information

to RK&M preservation/

related to the objects will also be relevant, in itself and to enrich the RK&M preservation potential of the

How can it be

objects. Emerging virtual technologies offer potential that museums have begun to explore, aimed at

implemented?

complementing, enhancing, or augmenting the museum through personalisation, interactivity, user

experience and richness of content.

As part of their mission, museums organise exhibitions and conduct educational programmes aimed at

reaching a wide audience. Such events and programmes facilitate learning in a less formal and often

more sensory context than traditional education.

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Information: X

Records:

Knowledge:

Memory: X

Awareness: X

Scope

Low level of detail: X

High level of detail:

The information accompanying museum objects and exhibitions for visitors often has a modest level of

detail. However, the research done by museums (e.g. published as collection or exhibition catalogues)

can offer particularly detailed and rich contextual information.

What is the main geographical or administrative-political scope (development/implementation/

operation) of the mechanism? On which scale does the mechanism notably enable RK&M preservation?

[Note also the field “International dimension” further below.]

Local: X

Regional: X

National: X

International: X

Virtual: X

Museums can be found on various levels. Larger museums often collaborate internationally and draw

international interest. Virtual museums and virtual museum content are gaining in importance.

Which timescale(s) is this mechanism mainly aimed at (target timescale)?

Long term:

Medium term: X

Short term: X

Very short term:

Some museums are hundreds of years old. Museum objects may reach the long term.

When should this mechanism be implemented? This may or may not be equal to the target timescale.

Pre-operational:

Operational:

Pre-closure:

Post-closure:

Museums already exist. One would try to make sure that especially those in the vicinity of disposal

Timescales

projects and also national museums take up at least some items/exhibitions related to disposal projects

from the pre-operational and operational phases onwards. Disposal projects could also include a

dedicated, on-site or nearby nuclear (waste) museum project as a form of added value and dedicated

RK&M preservation, which could be developed during all timescales.

When should this mechanism be developed? This may or may not be equal to the implementation

timescale.

Done: X

Pre-operational:

Operational:

Pre-closure:

Post-closure:

Museums already exist. The objects and exhibitions can be developed throughout all phases of the

repository lifetime.

Should the mechanism be implemented intentionally (e.g. time capsules) or is its emergence largely

unintentional (e.g. surface traces) or can it not be fully controlled (e.g. art work)?

Intentional: X

Unintentional: X

Cannot be controlled: X

A dedicated radioactive waste disposal museum could be intentionally established. But for museums in

general, it is the museum management and individual curators that are responsible for the selection of

objects and exhibitions. Establishing collaborations with museums and funding of art can enhance the

chances that museums dedicate attention to radioactive waste disposal projects and repositories.

Characteristics

Is the mechanism mainly tangible or intangible?

Tangible: X

Intangible:

Although the artefacts are clearly tangible, the functions of education and enjoyment can be seen as

more intangible components of RK&M preservation through museums. The same goes for storytelling by

museum guides.

Does the mechanism mainly rely on mediated transmission or non-mediated transmission?

Mediated transmission: X

Non-mediated transmission:

Museums contribute to preserving historical objects. Museums and their items need to be continuously

and actively maintained.

Actors

Museums may be set up and managed by a wide range of public or private actors at the local, regional

and national level. Actors involved in the RK&M preservation function of museums include curators,

conservators, artists, historians, guides and museum visitors.

Specialist industrial and technical museums are important means of protecting and interpreting

industrial heritage. Compared with textual descriptions, artefacts (such as machinery or scientific

equipment) may contribute to making processes more understandable.

Museums and the storytelling performed in museums (e.g. in the framework of educational programmes

Main

or guided tours) contribute to passing on information in a way that is intended to be attractive to the

strengths/benefits

general public.

Even more than users of archives and libraries, museum visitors may learn about things of the past they

were not aware of and not specifically looking for.

With digital technologies, access to museums does not require physical presence, therefore making

museum collections accessible to a large audience.

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