Hi Folks: At my institution we are in the process of purchasing a new Collections Information System to replace our homegrown Collections Management System. Like so many of us in this situation we are moving from a system that served primarily the needs of the registrar's department (in service to the whole museum) to a system that is going to need to meet the various needs of a number of departments: registrars, curatorial, education, conservation, etc, etc. This process requires a change in workflows and business culture for the entire institution. And so, I was wondering if any of you out there in Museum-Land have gone through a similar process and would be willing to share with me examples of policies, procedures, and workflows.
If it helps, we are an encyclopedic art museum with around 45,000 objects--all types, all time periods, all countries. We don't have a single squid preserved in fluid, 1950s automobile, or experiment to determine how bats are able to navigate without running into things (except my cat). Looking forward to your generous assistance in this. Send emails. Don't call. I'm going on vacation in two hours. Yours sincerely, Holly Witchey Cleveland Museum of Art 11150 East Blvd. Cleveland, OH 44106 216-707-2653 hwitchey at clevelandart.org<mailto:hwitchey at clevelandart.org>
