There are many types of standards used to manage museum collections information. These "standards", which range from precise technical  standards to general guidelines, enable museum data to be efficiently  and consistently indexed, sorted, retrieved, and shared, both  in automated and paper-based systems. Museums often use metadata standards  (also called data structure standards) to help them: define what types of information to record in their database  (or card catalogue); structure this information (the relationships between the  different types of information). Following (or mapping data to) these standards makes it possible  for museums to move their data between computer systems, or share  their data with other organizations.
Notes
The CHIN Web site features sections dedicated to Creating and Managing Digital Content, Intellectual Property, Collections Management, Standards, and more. CHIN's array of training tools, online publications, directories and databases are especially designed to meet the needs of both small and large institutions. The site also provides access to up-to-date information on topics such as heritage careers, funding and conferences.
Critical Arguements
CA "Museums often want to use their collections data for many purposes, (exhibition catalogues, Web access for the public, and curatorial research, etc.), and they may want to share their data with other museums, archives, and libraries in an automated way. This level of interoperability between systems requires cataloguing standards, value standards, metadata standards, and interchange standards to work together. Standards enable the interchange of data between cataloguer and searcher, between organizations, and between computer systems."
Conclusions
RQ "HIN is also involved in a project to create metadata for a pan-Canadian inventory of learning resources available on Canadian museum Web sites. Working in consultation with the Consortium for the Interchange of Museum Information (CIMI), the Gateway to Educational Materials (GEM) [link to GEM in Section G], and SchoolNet, the project involves the creation of a Guide to Best Practices and cataloguing tool for generating metadata for online learning materials. " 
SOW
DC "CHIN is involved in the promotion, production, and analysis of standards for museum information. The CHIN Guide to Museum Documentation Standards includes information on: standards and guidelines of interest to museums; current projects involving standards research and implementation; organizations responsible for standards research and development; Links." ... "CHIN is a member of CIMI (the Consortium for the Interchange of Museum Information), which works to enable the electronic interchange of museum information. From 1998 to 1999, CHIN participated in a CIMI Metadata Testbed which aimed to explore the creation and use of metadata for facilitating the discovery of electronic museum information. Specifically, the project explored the creation and use of Dublin Core metadata in describing museum collections, and examined how Dublin Core could be used as a means to aid in resource discovery within an electronic, networked environment such as the World Wide Web." 
