Launch of CHIMS
NHDP is happy to announce its contribution to the new online database of the Department of Archaeology (DoA), Government of Nepal. The CHIMS (Cultural Heritage Information Management System) was launched on 18th of April 2021, World Heritage Day. The event was divided into three sections: the inaugural speech Mr. Damodar Gautam, Director General, DoA; the introductory presentation to CHIMS by Dr. Suresh Saras Shrestha, Under- Secretary and Head of the World Heritage Conservation Section; and the CHIMS technical presentation and live demonstration by NHDP staff Bishwo Bijaya Shah and Ashish Gautam who developed and realised the system.
CHIMS is a database management system, based on ARCHES, the open-source software platform for cultural heritage data management (developed by the Getty Institute and World Monument Fund) that facilitates an open access digitalized inventory of Nepal’s cultural heritage. It ensures that information on interventions, documentation, assessment and research are compiled and made easily accessible online for a wider public. It will serve as new site managementtool, as it centralizes information on conservation status, materials, interventions, needed maintenance, weaknesses and risks. CHIMS and DANAM are not only connected by the usage of the ARCHES software but also by the shared goal of documenting Nepal’s cultural heritage and presenting it in an open-access format. We hope that this connection between the two databases leads to productive exchanges that enrich both of them.
For more details, go to https://www.heritage.gov.np/.