Questions and answers
First contact
6 questions
With an analysis of your collection: we examine the works, documents and existing inventories, the state of the documentation and how the archive will be used in the future. The result is a report with priorities, timing and a quote. To arrange a first meeting, on site or online, write to us at info@officinebit.ch.
Hardly anything. Just tell us what your collection contains, how it is documented today (an inventory, Excel spreadsheets, an old database, card files) and what you would like to do with it. If you have a few examples to show us, so much the better: we will look at the rest together during the analysis, which is free of charge.
Because ready-made software asks you to adapt your archive to its fields, whereas we do the opposite: we build the archive around your material and the way you work. No unnecessary functions to work around, no data forced into the wrong field, no information that “doesn't fit anywhere”. Every record, every search and every printout does exactly what you need, and every day you work faster and with fewer errors.
And because software is something you buy, while an archive is something you design. Together with the tool we offer the expertise to build it properly: art historians and developers who have been working with artist archives, foundations, galleries and collections since 2004. We define the cataloguing criteria with you, recover your existing data, carry out the inventory and photography, and stay by your side over time: a single partner, from the first survey to the online catalogue.
It depends on the quantity and condition of the material, on how much of it is already documented and on how many people will use the archive. That is why we give you a quote after analysing the collection, an analysis that is free of charge.
Not necessarily. You pay for what you need, not for a package designed for everyone, and you can start with the essentials and add functions when you need them. Above all, an archive that is well designed from the start avoids the highest cost of all: having to redo the work a few years later because the tool you chose is no longer enough.
No: we work with archives, foundations, galleries and collections in Switzerland and Italy. Surveys and inventories are carried out on site; the rest of the work, meetings included, can also take place online.
Our method
5 questions
In six stages, each with a concrete result, and all shared with you in real time:
- Analysis of the collection: a report with priorities, timing and a quote.
- Scientific design: cataloguing model, controlled vocabularies, relationships between works, exhibitions, bibliography, documents and provenance, access levels.
- Data recovery and migration: clean, consistent data, with a report of anomalies.
- Inventory and photography campaign: a complete, illustrated inventory.
- Development, testing and training: an archive ready to use.
- Delivery: a report on the state of the collection, records, lists and dossiers.
Yes, at any time. The archive runs in client-server mode: from the early stages you have access to the database and see the data in real time as it is entered, so the progress of the work is always shared. You can send us your comments and requests while the project takes shape: they help us refine the solution together with you.
Long before final delivery. The archive runs in client-server mode: from the early stages you can log into the database, enter data, consult it and watch it grow in real time. Your comments during the work help us refine it, so by delivery you already know it well.
It depends on the size of the collection and the state of its documentation: a small archive that is already in order takes less time than a large collection or one that has to be reconstructed. The timing is set out in the analysis report, before work begins.
A verified digital archive, ready to use on site or online; a report on the state of the collection; working documents (artwork records, lists, dossiers); and training for the people who will use it every day.
Existing archives and materials
3 questions
Yes. We import the existing data, standardise it (artists, techniques, dimensions, dates, provenance) and point out gaps and inconsistencies for you to check. Nothing you have already done is lost.
We digitise documents, photographs and entire publications and link them to the works they refer to, so the history of each work can be reconstructed in one place. See Art archive management and curatorship.
Yes, with professional photographers who have worked for years with artists, galleries and collections: images faithful in colour, texture and detail, taken on site. See Art photography.
After delivery
5 questions
You can, if you wish: we train you to do so. Or we can, working alongside your staff on everyday tasks: new works and documents, research, replies to scholars and collectors, certificates of authenticity, dossiers for loans and exhibitions. By the hour, as a package or with an annual agreement.
No. Entering, searching and editing data is straightforward even for people with no technical background, and we train you for everyday use. We take care of the technical side: structure, updates, hosting on site or online, and regular backups.
Yes. Data entered once can update your website, the online catalogue of artworks or an app, with no double entry. For websites we use our own platform, Artistwall.
Yes: certificates of authenticity are prepared and printed directly from the archive. If you wish, you can also register the digital identity of the works on the blockchain with Artchain.
The archive changes with you. A new project, a catalogue raisonné, a website, more people at work: we add the functions you need to what is already there, without starting again and without losing anything. That is the difference between a tool you put up with and one you can grow.
Photographic archives and online publication
5 questions
Yes. Negatives, contact sheets, prints and publications need cataloguing of their own: for each image we record the negative's inventory number, the subject, the date and the place, and link it to the magazines, books and exhibitions in which it was published or shown. In this way even a collection of tens of thousands of negatives becomes searchable and verifiable.
Through thematic collections, not as a list of images. Each collection has a critical and historical text, the photographs with their inventory numbers and captions, the period publications in which they appeared (covers and articles) and, where useful, video. These are complemented by the biography, a chronology of exhibitions and events, an internal search and filters by theme, in more than one language.
No. What goes online is a selection designed to tell the story of the author's work; the complete collection remains in the internal digital archive, kept private. The website then grows over time: as the study of the collection brings unpublished material to light, new collections are added.
The website states the terms of use clearly: the images are protected by copyright, commercial use is not permitted and any sharing must credit the source. It also explains how the archive protects the identity and personal data of the people portrayed, and how to request the removal of an image.
Yes. A well-made website becomes a point of reference for students, scholars and institutions, and invites those who knew or worked with the author to get in touch: the testimonies, photographs and documents that arrive this way enrich the documentation. A newsletter keeps those who follow the archive informed.
Data and confidentiality
2 questions
Only the people you choose: each user has their own permissions to read, enter and edit data, section by section. The data remains yours and, on request, we sign confidentiality agreements.
Yes. The archive can be hosted on site or online, on Mac and Windows, and can also be consulted from a browser or from iPhone and iPad, by several people at the same time.
Who we work for
3 questions
No. We work for artist archives and foundations, heirs, galleries, private and corporate collections, institutions and museums. Some of our clients are presented in the Our clients section of the homepage, among them the Fondazione Piero Manzoni, the Fondazione Enrico Castellani, the Fondazione Arnaldo Pomodoro, the Archivio Gianni Colombo, the PanzaCollection, Lia Rumma and the City of Lugano.
They are only some of them, though. Many others, in particular a number of private collections in Switzerland and abroad, entrust their archives to us under confidentiality agreements, which is why we cannot disclose their names.
Yes, in fact it is the ideal moment. A small archive can be set up quickly and, if it is well designed, grows without difficulty: new modules and sections can be added at any time, without re-entering data. Many of our most comprehensive archives started out exactly this way.
Then it is the best moment to start: we help you set it up properly from the beginning, deciding what to collect, how to organise it and how to structure the data. See The digital artist archive.