Introduction to museum data and CollectionSpace

2. What is CollectionSpace?
CollectionSpace is a free, web-based, open-source collections
information management system. From cataloging and loans to
inventory and media handling, CollectionSpace is used to manage many
of the day-to-day activities of museum professionals and others who
work with objects, artifacts, specimens, and other types of collections.

3. A Tough Environment
• Through the 2000s, the museum collections information
management landscape was dominated by several large, commercial
vendors.
• Consequent to initial installation costs, licensing fees, and mandatory
service contracts, the systems provided by these vendors were out of
reach for most small and midsize institutions.
• Many museums chose to stay out of the market altogether, jury-
rigging general purpose DBs such as FileMaker or Access to support
their collections management activities.

4. We Can Do Better!
A group of museums and universities saw a different path. In 2008 the
CollectionSpace project was launched, with a mission to design,
develop, and share a platform for collections information management
which would: support traditional collections management activities;
enable the integration of emergent and dynamic new technologies into
the information ecologies of museums; and would be an effective and
affordable alternative to one-off applications developed in-house and
proprietary offerings.

5. Museum Data is a Little Different
Though libraries, museums, and archives all look like similar repositories housing cultural resources, there are
some fundamental differences in mission, in what is collected, in how works are organized, and in how the
institution relates to its users.
The traditional library is based upon the individual item, but it is generally not unique. Archives manage groups
of works and focus on maintaining a particular context for the overall collection. Museums collect specific
objects and provide curatorial context for each of them. These distinctions of the fundamental unit that is
collected and why affect each institution’s acquisition policy, cataloging, preservation, and presentation to the
public.
Both libraries and museums are repositories, but libraries are user-driven. The role of the library is to provide
access to a vast amount of material through which the user freely roams, making his/her own connections
between works. The user chooses which items to look at. Museums, on the other hand, are curator-driven.
Historically, they have only provided access to limited holdings, usually exhibited through a particular
interpretation or context, as provided by curatorial and educational staff. The museum provides a framework of
context and interpretation, and the user can navigate within that smaller body.
HOWARD BESSER, 2004

6. What is it?
Who made it?
How tall is it?
Where is it stored?
Has it been restored?
Where did it come from?
What is it made out of?
Who owned it first?
How much did it cost?
Is it on exhibit?
When did we get it?
Do we have a photo of it?
Have we lent it out?
How much does it weigh?
Is it complete?
Is that plastic?
Was it made in China?What’s the ID number?
How much is it worth?
Is it insured?
Can I play with it?
Why do we have it?
Who is that?
Who cataloged this?
Can we photograph it?
Do people like it?
Is it secure?
How is it stored?
Where’s the blister pack?
Is that Mark Hamill?

7. Harry Ransom Humanities Center • University of Calgary • New York University •
Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology • National
September 11th Memorial and Museum • George Mason University, Center for
History and New Media • American Association of Museums • Morgan Library and
Museum • Gemeentemuseum den Haag • Durst Organization • Walker Art Center
• Institute for Museum and Library Services • Albright-Knox Art Gallery • Princeton
University Art Museum • The New York Public Library • York University • Art
Gallery of Ontario • The Metropolitan Museum of Art • Cleveland Museum of Art •
Deutsche Kinemathek • Centre for Contemporary Canadian Art • American
Museum of Natural History • University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology
and Anthropology • Art Institute of Chicago • Indianapolis Museum of Art •
Universite Libre de Bruxelles • Blithewold Mansion, Gardens, and Arboretum •
Jewish Women’s Archive • Tridentino Museo di Scienze Naturali • Cultural Heritage
Netherlands • SUNY Albany • Statens Museums for Kunst • San Francisco Museum
of Modern Art • Canadian Heritage Information Network • Fitzwilliam Museum

8. The core CollectionSpace data model is based on the
Spectrum Standard, created and maintained by the UK’s
Collections Trust. The core CollectionSpace data model
was designed to be as domain-agnostic as possible,
focusing on those things common to all museums.
CollectionSpace’s architecture allows users to select the
“common” installation, choose a template that includes
extensions specific to a particular domain (e.g.
stratigraphy for an anthropology museum or migration
and emulation data for a new media collection), or create
schema extensions specific to their institution.
Common Entity Schema
(common semantics)
Domain-specific Extensions
(common across many institutions)
Deployment-specific Extensions
(specific to one deployment or workflow)
Different Domains / Different Solutions

9. Things in Common
CollectionSpace Fine Art Botanical Garden Variable Media
Identification number Accession number Accession number Accession number
Production entity Artist Collector Publisher
Object name Prints Tulipa Video game
Location Gallery 7 Northwest perennial bed Main Storage, Shelf 12
Reason for deaccession Duplicate Dead Obsolete

10. Things that are Different
Extension Fine Art Botanical Garden Variable media
Fine art State identification
Commission cost
Botanical garden Propagation date
Propagation medium
Variable media Programing language
Playback hardware

11. Common

12. renamed
relocated
relocated
(some fields removed)
Configured