Karen, Have you heard of CollectionSpace? It is an open source system that has been funded by the Mellon foundation and that has the advantage of having a web based version. Best, Emmanuelle Delmas-Glass Collections Catalogue Specialist Yale Center for British Art From: Museum discussion list [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Grant Gerlich Sent: Thursday, June 10, 2010 8:10 PM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: [MUSEUM-L] Collections Software - on the cheap! Karen, You can always use Microsoft Access. It is not as flexible as Past Perfect, but you can use if for specific databases, ie donors, mailing lists, inventories and catalog. We used it to create an inventory and then a catalog, and it worked pretty well, but these were the days before OA software. Good luck. Grant Gerlich Archivist On Thu, Jun 10, 2010 at 3:06 PM, Karen Eckhaus <[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>> wrote: Hi All, I'm working with a startup museum that has not yet begun to catalog their collection. I'm trying to find a solution for purchasing collection management software with a budget only slightly higher than ZERO. I've looked at PastPerfect which is one of the least expensive of the commercial products (we only need one license). I've also come across The Museum Archive Software Project (www.musearch.com<http://www.musearch.com/>)--FREEWARE. Are there others? When selecting, I want to ensure that whatever program we choose now will allow us to upgrade or migrate easily as we and our collections grow. Any sagely advise? I've set up several startups, but never one quite so starting! Thank you! Karen ========================================================= Important Subscriber Information: The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]> . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes). If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]> . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes). ========================================================= Important Subscriber Information: The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]> . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes). If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]> . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes). ========================================================= Important Subscriber Information: The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes). If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).