The Iconclass Consortium
For a stable and sustainable Iconclass System
The online Iconclass Browser is used by a steadily growing number of institutions and projects to provide subject access to image collections. That is a development we obviously welcome - hence the addition of new content and new functionalities in this fourth edition.
At the same time it is cause for concern; for the simple reason that more and more institutional users - a selection of which you see below - and individual researchers have come to depend on what has essentially been a volunteer service.
An Iconclass Consortium
For over twenty years now we have managed to make the Iconclass system available in the shape of the online Iconclass Browser and the Harvester of Iconclass Metadata service.
While we remain committed to creating a stable situation for Iconclass, and ensuring the continued availability of an online Iconclass system in Open Access, it is clear that in the long run this cannot depend on the commitment of two individuals. The active involvement of the community of Iconclass users is a necessary condition for a stable future. To channel this involvement the Iconclass Consortium is established.
Under Dutch law a consortium is defined as a temporary organization of a certain number of partners to accomplish a common goal. It is not automatically a legal entity in its own right, so for legal and financial issues the Henri van de Waal Foundation will take responsibility, at least in these initial stages. The goal is to establish a consortium of partners. The Henri van de Waal Foundation is the initiating partner, but a consortium membership will be more than just a financial transaction. Members will be invited to contribute their ideas and expertise, helping the foundation to develop what is to some extent uncharted territory.
The common goal that is immediately in front of us is self-evident: the continued availability of the online Iconclass system, free of charge and open to everyone. That is why the fourth Browser edition is launched simultaneously with the consortium.
As we continue to add functionality to the online Browser, some features will be restricted to consortium members, but our aim is also to make sure that the membership fee will not be prohibitive, so whoever wants to join should be able to do so.
From September 1st 2024 a membership application form will be online. For practical information about the Consortium and donations to the Foundation, please contact us at the info@iconclass.org address.
Henri van de Waal Foundation
To organize and structure the involvement of the consortium members is one of the goals of the Henri van de Waal Foundation, founded on June 14th 2021. This Public Benefit Organisation aims to stimulate computer-assisted iconographic research in the widest possible sense, but also sees a first task in mobilizing the user community of Iconclass and setting up broader support for the maintenance and development of the system.
The Henri van de Waal Foundation is the legal entity that has assumed responsibility for the maintenance and further development of the Iconclass system. The Foundation commits itself to continue publishing Iconclass as an Open Access classification system. This commitment implies that the Foundation accepts that the system will remain a cost item, as Open Access publications by definition do not produce any turnover.
The cost involved can be subdivided in several segments. First there are the external costs of keeping the service in the air, i.e. the costs of server hardware, bandwidth, etcetera. Then there are the internal costs of the time invested in creating the software and editing the content.
To meet the external costs the Foundation evidently needs funding. But to continue developing the system, adding more images to the dataset of samples and of bibliographic references, add new translations and maintain and finetune the software, real people need to invest real time and some form of compensation is required for that too.