Overview

Megan Forbes and Nina Dinoff visited a library/fine art museum in New York City on October 21, 2008. The institution's collections management is handled by a proprietary ILS (the collection is 85% books), with a custom-built database layered on top for such functions as loans and rights + reproductions.

Most collections data is stored in the ILS (MARC-format), with information sent from the ILS to the collections management modules. The information flow is one way - information does not go from the collections management database to the ILS.

Each museum function has its own custom-built front end, and information is shared among these modules. The database was built by an in-house database coordinator, who both maintains the current database, and plans and builds new components as needed.

Notes

General

The museum has a good deal of legacy data, scattered throughout various departments. The museum is working on developing standards so that this data can be incorporated into the CMS. Part of long-range planning includes prioritizing when/how/if this data is updated & incorporated.

The ILS is used to control parent-level records, and then the collections management database is used for the creation & control of child records (e.g. the page of a book). Child records can be created in any of the collections management modules.

Staff would like to use the ILS/CMS to ensure that objects are presented in their proper context. For example, if information about an artifact changes (e.g. re-attribution), the staff would like to know that at this point (in this exhibition, in this publication, etc.), they thought one thing, but that the current thinking is something different.

Each section of the collections management database is color coded, so a glance at the screen tells you what you have open (as each function has its own front end). Within the screens, additional color coding is used, for example, to differentiate a text-entry field from a read-only field.

The system has several points of automation built in. For example, when the rights + reproductions staff member enters in an imaging request, an email is sent to the correct curator for approval (based on the artifact's responsible department). Museum staff is not at 100% compliance, but the collections information team anticipates it will be within a year or so. "Full" automation is desired to the extent that users be given the option whenever possible, but not to the extent that it is required.

Report formats are created by the database administrator; staff can request new reports as necessary. Other output formats include invoices, mailing labels, letters with and without letterhead, etc. An archives of "snapshot documents" is maintained, as documents may change (e.g. an item may be added to a photo order), and then a user may wish to return to a previous version.

Areas for Improvement

Security
Freedom from MS Windows
Increased export capabilities
Digital asset management