At the NGA, we create both internal (private) and external (public) TMS data extracts for security and performance reasons. We then combine the collection data with image meta-data from several sources. A series of views is applied to the aggregated data tables and used to create read-only system-specific exports, e.g. public web site, Intranet, etc. and these are refreshed nightly.
Beginning with the NGA's OSCI implementation, we author scholarly essays directly in our web content management system (Adobe AEM) and we are currently considering plans to expand those tools. In general, we seem to be trending towards a distributed model for collection data management which is probably a healthy direction since no collection management system is a panacea. However, an increase in the number of authoritative sources of collection data suggests there must be a corresponding evolution of data aggregation and access services. The Getty and Cooper-Hewitt are inspirational in this area with their DOR (digital object repository) and public APIs respectively. I suspect there must be similar efforts underway at other institutions and would be very interested to learn more about them. Collection management, content management, and DAM systems come and go. By creating well defined interfaces, applications that consume collection data become more sustainable since they don't have to be changed every time core systems are updated or replaced. Perhaps even more importantly, the sustainability and compatibility of open source software built by the museum community and third parties is greatly amplified by open standards and common APIs.
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