The CollectionSpace team is pleased to announce the release of CollectionSpace 1.0. This release is the culmination of eight releases of our web-based, open source, collections information management software. CollectionSpace supports a set of core activities that are at the heart of professional practice for those who manage collections and the information that is generated over the lifecycle of collections ownership and care. These core activities - including acquisition, deaccession, loans, movement, and initial deposit - as well as the supporting functions that help make data entry easy and efficient - such as predictive text, system generated identification numbers, drop-down lists, and terminology management - form the foundation of this mission-critical system that is changing the paradigm of collections information management in the Web 2.0 world. CollectionSpace is made possible by the visionary support of The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. The solid infrastructure and dynamic feature set demonstrate our user-centered design and development philosophy. CollectionSpace combines familiar web interfaces with innovative new tools and workflows. Application programming interfaces (APIs) were developed for 22 services that support a full range of essential functions including authentication, authorization, identification, controlled lists, relationships, people and organization names, acquisitions, deaccessions, loans, movement, locations, initial deposit, and others. These APIs enable other programs and systems, like digital asset and content management systems, and reporting tools, to seamlessly use the underlying services that access the data held within CollectionSpace. CollectionSpace is a collaborative effort driven by museum and higher education professionals. Our goals are two-fold: 1. Work together as a community to develop a well designed, cost effective, high quality software application that museums and related heritage organizations can use to manage their collections and share information about those collections online and 2. Re-define the ways in which collections information is collected, managed, preserved, leveraged, and published. CollectionSpace is freely distributed via the ECL 2.0 license, and an active developer community works together to enhance and improve CollectionSpace with each new release. This effort is led by the Museum of the Moving Image, with partners University of California, Berkeley, Information Services and Technology and University of Cambridge, Center for Applied Research in Educational Technologies. Additional development resources are provided by OCAD University, The Fluid Project. Our implementer community includes: Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology, Miami-Dade Cultural Affairs Department, Statens Museum for Kunst (National Gallery of Denmark), The University and Jepson Herbaria, and The Walker Art Center. For more information, to get involved, or to take a guided tour through CollectionSpace, please visit us at collectionspace.org or email us at collectionspace at movingimage.us.
