A collections management system also called a collections information system, is software used by the collecting institutions or individual private collectors to organize, control, and manage their collections.
As the name suggests, collections management software is designed to aid users in archiving and cataloging objects in a group. It is of great help for museums, art galleries, and other enterprises that involve extensive collections of art objects or antiquities.
It is essential for collecting institutions to maintain a record of each item in the collection, including its location, conservation status, how it was obtained, and more. With collection management solutions, these institutions can digitize their record and make it easier to track information about any particular object at any specific time.
These software solutions are widely used worldwide by curators, conservators, archivists, administrators, and researchers to make their everyday tasks easier, quicker, and more systematic. However, choosing one is no cakewalk.
If you want to determine which would be the best software for your organization, you need to keep the following considerations in mind:
- What are your organization’s specific needs?
- What problems do you want to address with your software?
- Is your staff equipped with the knowledge and training required to use the software correctly?
- How much IT support would you need?
- Do you want your collections available to the public online?
- What is your budget?
Why collections management software?
Table of Contents
Functionality
The main aim of a collections management system is to allow the user to store, delete, edit, access, sort all types of data. These software solutions are designed to store the data in tables and enable the user to enter the data and even edit it using forms. Further to access, the data queries are used, making retrieving the data from the system more accessible, quicker, and effortless.
Backup and redundancy
Collections management solutions have built-in backup and recovery mechanisms to help protect the data against various mishappenings like equipment failure, human errors, and even disasters. It helps keep the redundant copies of the data at multiple locations and automates the backup process so that there’s no loss or corruption of data in any situation.
Flexibility
Next comes flexibility! An efficient collections management system needs to be flexible and scalable. So that when the collections expand, the additional data can be stored at the same place with no extra expenses.
Moreover, while some enterprises may not wish to keep the confidential data in such a software solution, they prefer keeping it in a manual file or a separate digital file; others may want to keep all data at the exact file location. Hence, the best collections management solution caters to the needs of both users and provides them with the flexibility they need.
Easy tracking
That said, collections management systems provide you with a platform to record all your data in one easy-to-manage and easy access. Having all of the collections together in one place also allows you to discover new relations and themes between the data that would have been invisible otherwise. Hence, collections management software is a valuable research platform for your organization’s staff and the wider community.
Easy reporting
Collections management solutions are designed to shape the recorded data to make the analysis and visualization of the data more accessible. Using business intelligence tools and visualization systems can easily archive the recorded data and draw insights efficiently. The best system can highlight the gaps in your collections and how they are presented or exhibited to the public.
The objective of collections management software
The main objective of collections management is to fulfill the requirements of the collecting institution and individual collectors. Along with, also confirming the long-term sustainability and safety of the cultural object within the collector’s care.
In addition, this software is usually used to express the area of librarianship that deals with collections. Additionally, in the collection software, multiple functions are included such as storing, acquiring, selecting, and maintaining the collection in a cost-effective manner.
Conclusion
Basically, collection management software usually helps multiple businesses such as art galleries, museums, and many more with large collections of antiquities monitor and large collection. For art galleries and museums, it is very important to have a record of every piece in which they are given location and many other details.
Thus, this software is the best and ideal choice for institutions and private collectors to control, manage, and organize their collections.