CollectionSpace at the Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology: A Strategic Information Platform for Cultural Heritage Collections

Summary

Museums use collection management systems to manage metadata about objects in their collection and track transactions such as loans and exhibitions. At UC Berkeley however, museums are turning the open source CollectionSpace system into a strategic platform for research, education, and public service. The Hearst Museum of Anthropology is in the midst of a major effort to improve the quality of the data documenting its collection of approximately 3.8 million objects. With this improved foundation, the Hearst Museum and its partners in Research IT have turned attention to the most important priorities for cultural heritage information preservation, sharing, research and education. This case study will describe how the Hearst Museum uses CollectionSpace and its partnerships with Research IT and the CollectionSpace community to accomplish these goals. Particular attention will be given to how the Hearst Museum and its community stakeholders have made decisions about when and how to share sensitive information such as field collection location and photos of sacred objects. The paper will conclude with the emerging challenges and opportunities that the Hearst Museum and its partners are considering, including building in support for managing and displaying 3D models and improving support for research, education, and public service.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 83rd Annual Meeting, Washington, DC (2018)

Keywords

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 21351