*LYRASIS to Establish an Organizational Home for CollectionSpace Museum
Collections Management Software*

Atlanta, GA - January 24, 2014 - LYRASIS is pleased to announce that it has
received funding from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to bring
CollectionSpace, an open source, web-based collections management system
(CMS), to museums and other collecting organizations.

The CollectionSpace application enables the effective cataloging and
management of object-based collections using accepted standards. It also
serves as a gateway to the physical and digital assets across the
institution, providing a stable, yet flexible core of collections
information from which interpretive materials and experiences may be
efficiently developed, from printed catalogs to mobile gallery guides. The
extensible architecture of CollectionSpace allows it to be connected with
other open-source applications already used for online exhibition creation
and digital asset management. Already in use in several communities of
practice, CollectionSpace is configurable to meet the specific needs of
different types of museums. Because it is designed to work as a hosted,
cloud-based service, as well as in a standalone implementation, the
software can serve the needs of organizations large and small.

With support from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, CollectionSpace was
developed by a network of North American and European partner organizations
led by Museum of the Moving Image (MMI) in New York, which originated the
project, and the University of California, Berkeley. The Statens Museum for
Kunst (National Gallery of Art Denmark) in Copenhagen and Walker Art Center
in Minneapolis have been involved in CollectionSpace planning, design,
development, and governance since 2008. In addition to MMI and UC Berkeley,
the Centre for Applied Research in Educational Technologies (CARET) at the
University of Cambridge and the Fluid Project at OCAD University in Toronto
developed the application's underlying software architecture. The Institute
of Museum and Library Services, through a National Leadership grant, made
possible the development and testing of software configurations that serve
specific collection types, including art, natural history and native
digital media.

CollectionSpace has been implemented by a diverse array of US, UK, and
European museums and municipalities, including art museums, historical
societies, herbaria, and botanical gardens. Collections represented range
from the Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology at UC Berkeley with over
two million objects in its collection to the Litchfield Historical Society
in Connecticut with 18,000 objects in its care.

LYRASIS will provide two programs in support of CollectionSpace. First,
LYRASIS will establish the organizational home and seek to increase
visibility, adoption of and support for the software. LYRASIS will leverage
its experience supporting other open source applications and work with the
transitional leadership committee to: Establish a community-based
governance model; focus resources on fostering adoption, use and continued
community development of the software; continue stewardship and development
of the software and related documentation; and create a sustainable
community of users and developers.

Second, LYRASIS will develop services for enhanced CollectionSpace adoption
and implementation, including hosting, support, training, data migration,
metadata and more. "We cannot be more pleased that LYRASIS will become the
umbrella organization under which CollectionSpace can continue to evolve
and thrive, both as a product and as a community," stated Carl Goodman,
Executive Director of the Museum of the Moving Image. "The Museum community
needs new ways and better tools to catalog, manage, and provide access to
its collections that better positions Museums to provide valuable content
to their communities."

"We are pleased to be selected for this prestigious honor and look forward
to working with the CollectionSpace project partners and the larger museum
community in providing online access to critical collections," stated Kate
Nevins, Executive Director of LYRASIS. "This partnership uses our
experience in technology, organizational home management and program
leadership to enhance the creation, access and management of physical
objects and digital content for cultural heritage organizations and their
end users. This is another way in which we are committed to providing open
source software solutions that are both cost-effective and efficient."

For more information about CollectionSpace, please visit
www.collectionspace.org or contact [log in to unmask]

About LYRASIS
LYRASIS partners with member libraries and cultural heritage organizations
to create, access and manage information with an emphasis on digital
content, while building and sustaining collaboration, enhancing operations
and technology, and increasing buying power. For more information, please
visit www.lyrasis.org.

About Museum of the Moving Image
Museum of the Moving Image advances the public understanding and
appreciation of the art, history, technique, and technology of film,
television, and digital media. It does so by collecting, preserving and
providing access to moving-image related artifacts, screening significant
films and other moving-image works, presenting exhibitions of artifacts,
artworks, and interactive experiences, and offering educational and
interpretive programs to students, teachers and the general public.

About the University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley has a rich array of museums and
special collections in the arts, humanities, social sciences, and sciences.
UCB's Research Information Technology (RIT) department has spearheaded the
development of CollectionSpace in close partnership with campus museums
across disciplines. CollectionSpace has been deployed at Berkeley to serve
as a digital hub for university research, teaching, and public service.

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