Connecting to Collections Care

Hi - I'm the Curator at our Historical Society in Eastern Upstate NY. We've been in operation since 1973 and only recently we decided to get Internet access and our first computer! All our Accession records are on paper in manila folders. We maintain a subject file (index cards) for our collection of 7,000+ items. Many of those are "old" photos and postcards.

Once we get the Internet and computer installed in a few weeks, we want to get Museum Software. Several on our Board are aware of Pastperfect. We own a Victorian building that requires a lot of upkeep so we try to keep our costs down. I have briefly looked at Pastperfect and a few open source Museum Software programs. I'm curious if anyone has any recommendations regarding Museum Software, paid or free, to primarily help manage our collection. Why did you pick the one you use? Is training or worthwhile help available? Any "gotchas" we might need to be aware of? I'm a retired computer programmer (40+ years) so I can usually find my way around software... but it would be best if the software was easy enough for a non-tech person to use.    

Since we also manage a small giftshop and membership details (on paper or in spreadsheets), including these in the Museum Software might be beneficial, but for now we're concentrating on software to help with our collection.

Thanks

David

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David Cranston
Curator
Lake Luzerne NY
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Hi all-

We encourage the community to pass along their experiences with various collection management systems (CMS) but not that C2C Care does not endorse any program over another. Also if anyone has any guide or resources in picking a CMS to choose we encourage those to be shared as well. Thanks!

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Robin Bauer Kilgo (she/her/hers)
Connecting to Collections Care Coordinator, FAIC
c2cc@culturalheritage.org
Contract Registrar/Consultant
rbkilgo@gmail.com
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Hi David, 

I only have experience with collections management software from a conservation standpoint, all of which have been paid software - TMS, K Emu, and MIMSY. The software was already in place by the time I started working at the different institutions so I unfortunately don't have much to say about the selection process. My only thought and comment would be, if you are going to go with a free software, be sure that its data can be exported in a manner that can be read by other software in the future. We ran into that issue at an institution I used to work for where the conservation database would not talk to collections management database, or that the communication was only one way (CMD to CD). This meant that if we were to try to combine any conservation records into a newly added Conservation Module in the CMD, we would have to upload each report individually to have everything in one place. Having had the CD in operation for over 15 years, that was a lot of paperwork that would need to be manually moved. I would hate for you to go through the process of digitizing and uploading all of the information from your paper files only to have to then manually migrate them later. 

I've also worked in institutions where the previous file format is no longer legible by current software or operating systems. A system that has some longevity behind it may be more beneficial in the long run for keeping files accessible. 

Do you have Microsoft Access as part of the museum's work suite? I have colleagues who have built databases within it (laboriously, but definitely functional), and if you already have it then it would be a no cost option to get started.  

Best,

Liz

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Elizabeth Peirce
Connecting to Collections Care Monitor 1/22-2/4
Conservator (Objects)
Library of Congress
Washington DC
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David, 

Congrats, that's really exciting! One of the resources that I point folks to when I get this question is an awesome technical leaflet from the American Association for State and Local History (AASLH) called Choosing a Collections Management System. You will have to register with AASLH to be able to download it, but there is no cost (and AASLH is great in general!). 

I hope this helps! 

Maddie 

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C2CC Monitor
Madeline Cooper
Associate Preventive Conservator
Conservation Center for Art & Historic Artifacts
Philadelphia PA
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Hi David,

Madeline's suggestion of the AASLH guide is very helpful. I am on our Historical Commission in my town, which takes care of the town archive. We looked into past perfect, and it would have used up most of our budget each year. We settled on the Museum version of CatalogIt (CatalogIt - Powerful, Intuitive Museum & Private Collections Management). It is designed for small institutions and is about half the price. It is not as expansive as Past Perfect, but it is easy to use, and has very good support. Each record can have an image or attached files, and as much information as you like.

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Samantha Couture
Nora Saltonstall Conservator & Preservation Librarian
Massachusetts Historical Society
Boston MA
scouture@masshist.org
(617) 646-0506
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Hi David,

Madeline's suggestion to look at the AASLH guide is a great idea. My town's historical commission (I am co-chair) are now using CatalogIt (CatalogIt - Powerful, Intuitive Museum & Private Collections Management). It's easy to use, you can have as many fields as you like, as well as attach images and pdf files. It's about half the price of Past Perfect. The support is very good as well. We can also export date for backup, in case we want to move to another system down the road.

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Samantha Couture
Nora Saltonstall Conservator & Preservation Librarian
Massachusetts Historical Society
Boston MA
scouture@masshist.org
(617) 646-0506
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