CollectionSpace

CollectionSpace is a collaborative effort to bring multiple institutions together with the common goal of providing a platform for a collections management system that a) delivers the core collections management functions needed by a variety of institutions, b) is an enabler for the emerging and dynamic set of new technology challenges and opportunities facing the cultural heritage community, and c) is an effective and affordable alternative to vendor offerings.

The first four months of the project were devoted to a series of community design workshops that engaged the knowledge and experience of our colleagues in museums, libraries, archives, and higher education to work on requirements gathering, functionality, workflow, interface, and user experience. Information gathered during the workshops was transformed into a revised functional specification and blueprint for the software's underlying architecture. After collating the information gathered during the community design workshops, the project's core members created an expanded series of functional requirements that in turn guided the development team's service modeling efforts.

At the end of the funded project, the partners will deliver a collections management system and collection information system platform that can be used by institutions of all sizes and collection types. The architecture of the system will be flexible, agile, and service-enabling. Requirements and services mapped out but not developed during the first phase of development will be made available for community partners to develop on their own, or as part of a future development project.