Hi Karen,
I did a presentation not too long ago on some of the different options (although we focused a bit on also sharing your collection online, you should still find it useful). Not much text, but it will give you a feel for a lot of the options. See http://www.slideshare.net/klandon/museum-collections-management-and-online-exhibit-software  See the resources sheet (urls and whatnot) at http://www.slideshare.net/klandon/resourcesforweb

Specifically, I might suggest CollectiveAccess over CollectionSpace -- for a small museum, you are more likely to be able to install/run the former than the latter. For some perspective, you can (and I have done it) install CollectiveAccess on inexpensive/free shared web hosting. For CollectionSpace, I'd wager you'd need your own server - not realistic for an organization with the software budget you mentioned, unless that was already in the budget (along with $$$ for the salary of the person maintaining it).

I also would caution you against the Museum Archive Project. While the software looks sufficient, I'm concerned about the fact that it is a one-man project. What happens when he gets bored or ill? How will you get collections information out and into something else? Even if you wind up loving the software, eventually it will no longer function with your computers without updates, and a move could be costly depending on the export availabilities.

Good luck!
Kaia

---
Kaia Landon
Consultant
New Muse Media

On Thu, Jun 10, 2010 at 5:27 PM, Delmas-Glass, Emmanuelle <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

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]> 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)--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


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