In the 1970s, the Slovak National Gallery has been entrusted to create central evidence, to process and make available the information about artworks in the collections of galleries and museums in Slovakia. Documentation cards of the works, catalogued according to Rules of Art Works Catalogization (SNG, 1979) or rather according to innovated methodology (1990), are kept in so-called the Central Catalogue of Art Works at SNG. At the beginning of the 1990s, the central catalogue included approximately 180,000 documentation cards and was a unique project not only in the Czechoslovak context. This central catalogue functioned as a massive card index and it became the backbone for the gallery "know-how" in the creation of modern electronic database project - Information system for galleries – The Central Evidence of Art Works (ISG - CEDVU). The Slovak National Gallery is the guarantor of the development and operation of the information system in accordance with the Act on Museums and Galleries.
Each registered gallery and museum is obliged to provide information about their collection items for the electronic central evidence under this Act. The descriptive data on each of the collection items is unified in this central database. Individual galleries – data providers – are responsible for the authenticity of the data about the artworks. Formally correct and unified record of the data is ensured by set lists, dictionaries, thesauri and authorities which are continually evolving and updating. SNG, as a guarantor of the ISG –CEDVU Project, has the overview of the data and regularly invites the galleries to review and update this data. Currently, there are over 182,554 entries in the Central Evidence of Art Works.
Users:
The database is accessible online for registered users and their employees to view and enter new data according to their level of Access.
The Central Catalogue at the Slovak National Gallery still offers access to the documentation cards about the collection items of SNG and other galleries and museum for research purposes. Applicants also have the opportunity to see the records in ISG – CEDVU in the premises of the SNG. Applicants have to request access to the both databases at cedvu@sng.sk. The request should include: name, surname, contact information, requested date of study or research request, the purpose of study and specific search request. The SNG reserves the right to assess the requests and, if necessary, to refuse.
Internal employees of the Gallery, external professionals working on SNG projects, university students and PhD students preparing their final dissertations, employees of the Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Interior are provided the information free of charge.
Fees for other users:
Complex thematic search request – 30, 00 €
Printing of research (A4) – 0, 10 €
Specific fee can differ according to the difficulty of the search request