A collections management system (widely referred to as CMS) maintains data about collections and can include information on acquisition, cataloguing and a location database. This guidance is focused on if your organisation already has a collection management system and are looking to manage a migration project to a new system. Being prepared for this undertaking can make the process smoother and easier to manage.
Below are some important areas to think about when undertaking a project like this:
Your current system
- Know your data – you may find an audit of your current system helpful in understanding the datasets relating to your collections.
- Does your current CMS have customisable fields? This may have an impact on costings for any new system you migrate to.
- Were any additional databases created by your supplier alongside your CMS? These will need to be factored into any planning and discussions with new suppliers.
- Think about your other systems and what might be connected? For example, do you have a digital preservation system that is currently integrated to your collection management system? This will need to be a priority consideration for any new system if you don’t want to lose this functionality.
- Understand that your CMS is a key business system for your organisation. Collections data is valuable and the project should have institutional buy-in.
The new system
- Desk research – undertake market research on other options that are viable contenders to your current system. This can include looking at other archives online presence to get a sense of the look and feel of different systems. We have a list of CMS solutions for archives available on our cataloguing systems and archive networks webpage.
- Consider areas of research that could include (dependent on your situation):
- Does the software meet your must-have’s?
- Is the new solution scalable and future-proofed? (does the system you’re looking at integrate with other software? This may be an important consideration for your forward plans).
- Will the system be compatible with your organisation’s IT infrastructure? This is key and emphasises the importance of bringing your IT department into the conversations at the beginning.
- Will your system need to speak to any other collections management systems your organisation might have? This again will be an area where you’ll need to bring relevant colleagues into the conversation if it’s applicable to your organisation.
- Reach out to an archive that may have the system you’re interested in to see if they’d be willing to have a brief chat about it, what they like and perhaps what they’d change if they could.
- Reach out to the companies whose product you’re interested in and ask for a demo and indicative costings. An important point here is to ask if the vendor has experience with the type and size of your collection. Ensure they can meet all your requirements.
Internal project management
- Know who to involve to adequately resource the project. Do you need a cross-organisation working group for the project? Depending on how your organisation is structured, you may need colleagues from IT and from digital website teams involved.
- Plan early and try to give the project as many budget cycles as you can if this will be helpful. This sort of project may need to be included in the forward plans of other departments (e.g. IT) if they will need to provide resource for it.
- Know what your procurement rules are and timeframes are. It may have been a very long time since a procurement process has been undertaken for a CMS and rules may have changed.