MCN2015

Situated on 200 acres of land in Maryland, Glenstone seamlessly integrates contemporary art, architecture, and landscape into a contemplative environment for visitors. Since Glenstone’s founding, the museum library, archives, and art collections was un-automated and in desperate need of a management system an overhaul to effectively maintain the growing collections. The management system for the art collection was inadequate; archives content was managed in Excel spreadsheets; and the library collection was tracked through an insufficient database.

In 2012, Glenstone began searching for information management systems for the library, archives, and museum collections. After evaluating different proprietary products designed for individual departmental needs, Glenstone decided to break away from the traditional Integrated Library System (ILS) model and adopt CollectiveAccess, a customizable open source system designed to be interoperable across departments. By creating linked relationships between record entities, CollectiveAccess formed a seamless, integrated discovery platform for users. Since launching CollectiveAccess in early 2015, Archives, Library, Museum Collections, and IT have worked collaboratively to introduce this tool to other staff--through group trainings and one-on-one sessions--while creating and refining workflows within our departments.

The first portion of our presentation describes the state and condition of the Archives, Library, and Curatorial records prior to launch, as well as outline the state of the information architecture at that time. The second-half of the presentation discusses how the launch itself was managed. A handful of staff knew the tool intimately through the nearly two-year long project, leaving approximately 50 staff members--from the Operations staff, Landscape crew, and upper administration--completely unfamiliar with CollectiveAccess and the resources contained therein.

We will discuss anticipated and unanticipated challenges and successes, and outline our next steps as we continue to implement and share this resource with our present colleagues and future users. We will share the goals, successes, and challenges faced throughout the different stages of the project, including: 1) User Needs Assessment 2) Design & Development, 3) Usability & Functionality, 4) Beta Testing, and 5) Implementation.The 20-minute presentation will include a demonstration of the database, highlighting the back-end functionality for internal staff and the front-end functionality for users.

Presenters will include: Ray Barker, Chief Archivist/Librarian, Glenstone; Jason Hedges, IT Coordinator, Glenstone; Cale McCammon, Assistant Archivist, Glenstone; Tessa Brawley-Barker, Assistant Librarian, Glenstone.