DOKUMENTIRANJE KULTURNE DEDIŠČINE: PRIPRAVA, POTEK IN REZULTATI.

The first and important phase of documentation of cultural heritage objects is to understand which objects need to be documented. The entire documentation process is determined by the characteristics and scope of the cultural heritage object. The next question to be considered is the expected outcome of the documentation process and the purpose for which it will be used. These two essential guidelines determine each stage of the documentation workflow: the choice of the most appropriate data capturing technology and data processing method, how detailed should the documentation be, what problems may occur, what the expected outcome is, what it will be used for, and the plan for storing data and results. Cultural heritage objects require diverse data capturing and data processing methods. It is important that even the first stages of raw data capturing are oriented towards the applicability of results. The selection of the appropriate working method can facilitate the data processing and the preparation of final documentation. Documentation of paintings requires different data capturing method than documentation of buildings or building areas. The purpose of documentation can also be the preservation of the contemporary cultural heritage to posterity or the basis for future projects and activities on threatened objects. Documentation procedures should be adapted to our needs and capabilities. Captured and unprocessed data are lost unless accompanied by additional analyses and interpretations. Information on tools, procedures and outcomes must be included into documentation. A thorough analysis of unprocessed but accessible documentation, if adequately stored and accompanied by additional information, enables us to gather useful data. In this way it is possible to upgrade the existing documentation and to avoid data duplication or unintentional misleading of users. The documentation should be archived safely and in a way to meet the needs of potential users. Inadequate archiving may cause irreversible damage to documents. It is unreasonable to store data in a format which could not be read by future generations. In spite of high capacity of data bases the aspect of long term archiving of analogue documents should not be neglected. The past is being stored for the future, including different methods of storing various types of historical archives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]