Dear Amber: Here at the Magnes, it's yes to all of the above. I've written extensively on the topic, and CMS's have grown very, very feature-rich over the past 40 years. At the Magnes, we have a CMS (IDEA at ALM) which can also function as a Content Management System, but we don't entirely use it for that purpose. And, as information manager, I do put a limit onto the sorts of information the CMS collects. Namely, any information which has some relation to collection items goes into the CMS. If it has nothing to do with collecting activities or item care, it goes elsewhere. For tracking artist and researcher information, it's slightly different, and we do use the CMS to keep track of researchers who come through our doors. But then researchers are also looking at specific objects or collections, so they're linked in that way.
Here's what ours covers: Basic library, archive, and museum information (object movement, descriptions, valuations, etc.). Label texts Any and all associated media (including dissertations and material found online relating to the item in question) Subjects, translations, synonyms, and other sorts of dictionaries Artist biography and information Reference materials User-generated content, such as social tagging or comments about specific items (we're building that right now) Exhibition and events info Loans Deaccessioned items Researchers and pulled items Reports I'm sure I'm missing a few things, but we have not spent any time focusing the CMS as a tool for the education department. Instead, it functions, for us, as a research and collection management tool. In a meeting yesterday, one of our curators asked if she could scan in all of her notes about conversations she's had about various topics. I hadn't quite thought about using the CMS in that way, but it's something we're mulling over (we did end up telling her that a blog or a wiki might work better for that, but it was something to think about). Our system might be a bit of a special case, though. We've spent the past 8 months custom-tailoring it to be a robust research tool in addition to core collection management activities. At the most basic level, CMS should manage collections, and manage them well. Some systems have a number of extra features which make them functional for managing other activities, but I have not yet seen them function well as a DAMS, or as a way to keep track of development and marketing materials. (Of course, now that I've said that, someone will say that they've gotten theirs to function that way!) Ok, a bit long-winded but I hope it answers some of your questions. ~Perian Perian Sully Collections Information Manager Web Programs Strategist The Magnes Berkeley, CA -----Original Message----- From: mcn-l-bounces at mcn.edu [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Morgan, Amber Sent: Wednesday, December 03, 2008 7:41 AM To: mcn-l at mcn.edu Subject: [MCN-L] What is a Collections Management System supposed to manage? We are addressing some concerns regarding our collections management system. Something that has become clear is that our staff is not in agreement as to what a CMS is and what it should do. We are attempting to address the needs of our education department. It would be very helpful to know how other institutions maintain what could be considered educational content. If anyone out there would be willing to answer a few questions, I would be very grateful! Do you store label copy in your CMS? Do you use your CMS to manage detailed information about artists, events, places, etc? If so, do you limit it to information specifically about your collection, or do you also maintain information about related materials held elsewhere? Does your institution collect any user-generated content, and if so, does it go into your CMS? And finally, if you're feeling up to it - what, in your opinion, is a collections management system; what should it do and what should it NOT be expected to do? Many thanks, Amber the warhol: Amber E. Morgan Associate Registrar 117 Sandusky Street Pittsburgh, PA 15212 T 412.237.8306 F 412.237.8340 E morgana at warhol.org W www.warhol.org The Andy Warhol Museum One of the four Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh Email newsletter http://members.carnegiemuseums.org/email Membership http://members.carnegiemuseums.org/SupportCMP _______________________________________________ You are currently subscribed to mcn-l, the listserv of the Museum Computer Network (http://www.mcn.edu) To post to this list, send messages to: mcn-l at mcn.edu To unsubscribe or change mcn-l delivery options visit: http://toronto.mediatrope.com/mailman/listinfo/mcn-l The MCN-L archives can be found at: http://toronto.mediatrope.com/pipermail/mcn-l/
