The background and fuller rationale for these principles are described in the Madiskon White Paper. Documentation →
Values made practical
Principles
Cultural heritage also belongs to the communities whose histories, places and experiences it represents. Madiskon aims to give local communities, associations and other actors practical tools for gathering, connecting, interpreting and publishing their own cultural heritage.
Open structures and interoperability can make locally produced knowledge discoverable and reusable in wider contexts — without losing the local perspective or the material’s connection to its origins.
The aim is not merely to put cultural heritage online, but to strengthen people’s ability to participate in how a shared past is documented, understood and passed on.
01
Working model before technology
Madiskon does not tie the process to a single software product. Technologies may change while the working model, data and documentation remain portable.
02
Open by default
Documentation, the data model, interfaces and, where possible, source code are published openly. Openness also includes explaining why design choices were made.
03
Lightweight for people, structured for machines
Users should not need to become experts in heavy metadata schemes, while the information created should still be structured and reusable.
04
Interoperability
Madiskon uses existing identifiers and open services. It is not intended to create another closed information silo.
05
Distributed structure
Materials do not need to live in one central database. Local control can remain intact while discovery is supported through open indexes and shared descriptions.
06
Provenance is preserved
Sources, authorship, rights and the history of enrichment should travel with the material as transparently as possible.
07
Time layers are distinguished
The time of a historical event, the date of a later representation or interpretation, and the time of documentation or digitisation can be kept distinct.
08
Multilingual by design
Languages are not only interface translations. Multilinguality is considered in description, publication and discovery as well.
09
Responsible reuse
Rights and restrictions are made visible. Openness does not mean that every item can be reused without conditions or context.
10
Continuity and portability
Solutions should remain open and portable so that the work does not depend on a single service provider, project or organisation.
Name and mark
Madiskon / мадиськон refers in Udmurt to telling and storytelling. One idea carried by the name is knowledge and stories passed from person to person and from one generation to the next.
The Madiskon mark draws on Udmurt textile ornament tradition. Its layered, continuous lines stand for storytelling, heritage, multiple layers, connections and continuity.
The mark is used as Madiskon’s primary visual identifier without altering its form.