Digital language has meant a revolution in the methods of production, distribution and conservation of contemporary art. The purpose of this paper is to reflect on the new status of museums within the digital age. Works using new media must be understood as spaces of non-hierarchical communication where an artist’s role is diluted and the public becomes a user that completes an open process. Therefore, the function of the museum is challenged, being no longer a moral authority or a place of storing physical works. Because of its instability and obsolescence, the only valid method for the conservation of digital art is permanence through change.,This research contrasts the theoretical material emerged in the past years related to the characteristic of new media to the practical work of conservation of digital pieces made by the new generation of museums and cultural centres. In addition, the fresh material offered by the Web itself allows analyzing the virtual activity of the museums themselves and the new platforms (online labs, databases, websites and blogs) arisen in the past decades. The latter are perfect examples of the new paths opened by the digital contemporary technology offering collective sites of communication in real time.,The preservation of digital and intangible heritage is understood as a form of development of a collective memory that can help in the understanding of our age in the future. In this way, the goals and the responsibilities are common; citizens are required to keep an active culture that is no more a culture of the accumulation and concentration by a minority. In present context, there is a new possibility, maybe for the first time in history, of achieving a new narrative really democratized and decentralized through the new ways of interacting and sharing information offers by digital media.,The urgency of getting an open and free access to information and technology is part of the idiosyncratic of digital art. There is a real aim of generating alternative spaces of knowledge serving public interest, being apart from the economic and political interests of large corporations. In this respect, the role of the museum will be controversial. First of all, as an institution originally created to impose power and moral authority by the governments.,Museums remains as the main artistic institution nowadays. However, they are in a difficult position as a traditional space for preserving and exhibiting art. That is why, they are adapting themselves to the new digital context helped by offering practical databases and updated information on their collections via websites and social networks.

中文翻译：

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博物馆与数字时代：通过数据库保存艺术品

数字语言意味着当代艺术的生产，发行和保存方法的一场革命。本文的目的是反思数字时代博物馆的新地位。必须将使用新媒体的作品理解为非分层交流的空间，艺术家的角色被淡化了，公众成为完成公开程序的用户。因此，博物馆的功能受到了挑战，不再是道德权威或存储实物的场所。由于其不稳定和过时，保存数字艺术的唯一有效方法是通过变化实现永久保存。这项研究与近年来涌现的有关新型媒体特性的理论材料与新一代博物馆和文化中心制作的数字作品的保护工作进行了对比。此外，网络本身提供的新鲜资料可以分析博物馆本身的虚拟活动，以及过去几十年来出现的新平台（在线实验室，数据库，网站和博客）。后者是数字当代技术提供的实时集体交流场所开辟的新路径的完美范例。数字和非物质遗产的保存被理解为集体记忆发展的一种形式，可以帮助人们理解我们未来的年龄。这样，目标和责任是共同的。要求公民保持一种积极的文化，而这种文化不再是少数人的积累和集中文化。在目前的情况下，存在一种新的可能性，这可能是历史上的第一次，它是通过数字媒体交互和共享信息提供的新方式实现了一种真正民主化和分散化的新叙事。迫切需要开放和自由信息和技术的获取是数字艺术特质的一部分。除了大公司的经济和政治利益外，真正的目标是创造替代公共服务的知识空间。在这方面，博物馆的作用将引起争议。首先，作为最初由政府施加权力和道德权威的机构，博物馆仍然是当今的主要艺术机构。但是，它们在保存和展示艺术品的传统空间中处于困境。因此，他们通过网站和社交网络提供实用的数据库和馆藏中的最新信息，从而使自己适应新的数字环境。