Robert Miller
Chief Executive Officer
LYRASIS
David Greenbaum
Director, Research IT (RIT)
Office of the CIO
University of California, Berkeley
Ann Baird Whiteside
Librarian and Assistant Dean for Information Resources, Frances Loeb Library
Harvard University
The current patchwork of homegrown databases, proprietary systems, spreadsheets, and paper files used to manage object collections at many academic institutions is an inadequate solution to a growing problem. Objects suffer from lack of proper documentation and care, and their use is limited to those who have knowledge of and access to the often non-networked resources describing them. These limitations do a disservice to the faculty and curators who create and maintain these collections, and the students, researchers, and members of the public who would benefit from exposure and access to them. With a single platform, CollectionSpace, an open-source solution for collections information management, allows collections of all sizes and disciplines to benefit from proper management and higher-quality data. The benefits of improved management are myriad; for example, faculty and curators may engage in initiatives that require high quality information, e.g. web-based portals for discovery and sharing, accelerated digitization projects, and object inventories. Webapps and APIs provide a method for integrating object collections information into the broader digital ecosystem of library and archival collections. This session will include project briefings from the University of California, Berkeley, the Harvard University Graduate School of Design and LYRASIS. It will also include discussion of relevant elements of code contribution, governance, and overall end-to-end cost and fiscal sustainability.
