Megan Forbes Project Manager & Functional Lead Museum of the Moving Image

CollectionSpace is an open-source, web-based software application for the description, management, and dissemination of museum collections information – from artifacts and archival materials to exhibitions and storage.

Project Partners Museum of the Moving Image, New York University of California, Berkeley, Research and Content Technologies, Information Services and Technology University of Cambridge, Centre for Applied Research in Educational Technologies

Early Adopters Museum of the Moving Image Statens Museum for Kunst University of California, Berkeley Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology University and Jepson Herbaria History of Art Visual Resources Collection Walker Art Center Planning phase: Balboa Park Online Collaborative

Significant Releases CollectionSpace Release 1.0: Eight core procedures and related functionality covered, including: acquisition, cataloging, loans, vocabulary control, media handling, customization, security, and documentation. CollectionSpace Release 1.8 Added support for media handling, hierarchical vocabularies, delete, import, export, and groups. Significant changes under the hood include improvements to performance, increased support for localization, simplification of configuration, and upgrade of the core platform to use PostgreSQL. CollectionSpace Release 2.0 An expansion of the system's support for core collections management functionality to improve the functionality of all of the above; plus, list management, advanced search, reporting, templates, and batch processing.

Functionality Overview Acquisition Cataloging Loans In and Out Location Movement Media handling Reporting Import Export Advanced search Core collections management system activities:

Working with Records

Functionality Continued Vocabulary and authority control Advanced search User management Roles and permissions Procedure-level Vocabulary-level Admin-level Multi-tenant capable (key to CSpace-as-a- Service) User centered design

Advanced Search

User Management

Roles and Permissions

Term List Management

Vocabularies and Authorities Follow standard set out in ANSI/NISO Z , Guidelines for the Construction, Format, and Management of Monolingual Controlled VocabulariesANSI/NISO Z Types: Static term lists Dynamic term lists Controlled vocabularies (hierarchical) Authorities (combinations of controlled vocabs) Currently support person, organization, and storage location, expanding to include place, concept, and work

Development Process The CollectionSpace project team is composed of domain experts, designers, architects, and developers from each partner organization, and is structured around four main work areas:

Development Process Begins with the big picturebig picture Schema, user stories, and workflows (i, ii) are created Schemauser storiesi ii Designs are developed Designs Scope is narrowed down based on what can be accomplished during one development sprint Scope is narrowed Tasks for each layer are created Tasks Development (usually 2-3 weeks per release) QA – full or partial depending on release goals QA Release

Development Challenges Many moving parts Easy to have unrealistic expectations, both within the project team and among early adopters Geography and isolation of roles/responsibilities can lead to developer communication lag CSpace architecture occasionally requires asynchronous development which can extend development times

Communication Wiki IRC Video conferencing Skype lists Jira (issue tracker) Google calendar Face-to-face ALL OPEN! Time and distance require a smörgåsbord of solutions:

Communication Twice-weekly meetings with everyone so that all teams members know whats going on Define workflow and process and stick to it Which questions go to which list? Who is responsible for follow-up? Everyone must learn all tools, must participate, and contribute Openness is key Documentation is difficult, a drag for developers, and essential for deployers. Plan to spend time doing it on a regular basis to lessen the burden Schedule communications and documentation sprints:

CollectionSpace Phase III began January 2012 Phase III will focus on the development of CollectionSpace as a sustainable enterprise, with key activities: Develop a business model and strategic plan Develop and deploy CollectionSpace as a hosted service in two trial environments Complete initial core software development cycle Whats Next

Administration and Management Legal establishment and support Management of software intellectual property issues Maintenance of a repository of core software code and re-usable components Financial management Administrative support Conference logistics Communications CollectionSpace Organization

Software Stewardship and Governance Coordination of support for community-led design of new features and functions Coordination of CollectionSpace hosting and service providers Coordination of quality assurance and distribution activities Maintenance of a repository of core software code and re-usable components Guidance and processes for community code contributions Management and administration of a marketplace for tools and other modules that will operate in the CollectionSpace framework Management of relationships with other open source initiatives and support networks that have synergy with CollectionSpace CollectionSpace Organization

Software Hosting and other External Services Managing and/or contracting with cloud-based computing providers for storage, computation, and preservation services Support to museum professionals who use CollectionSpace Technical and implementation support to organizations using CollectionSpace as a stand- alone application or a hosted service Software development services to end-users for enhancements to/refinements of existing functionality Software engineering services, as required, for new feature development CollectionSpace Organization

Key requirements: Schema extension model Domain-specific extensions Architecture that supports multiple tenants Software-as-a-service trials CollectionSpace-as-a- Service

Schema Extension Model Common Entity Schema (common semantics) Domain-specific extensions (common across many institutions) Deployment-specific extensions (specific to one deployment or workflow)

Domain-Specific Extensions Performing arts Walker Art Center Digital media Museum of the Moving Image Fine Art Statens Museum for Kunst Herbaria University & Jepson Herbaria Anthropology Hearst Museum of Anthropology Visual resources History of Art Visual Resources Collection Common Entity Schema (common semantics) Domain-specific extensions (common across many institutions) Deployment-specific extensions (specific to one deployment or workflow) Extensions in progress

Multi-Tenancy CollectionSpace Server Identity Provider Tenant 1 Identity Provider Tenant 2 authenticate Document Repository Tenant 1 Document Repository Tenant 1 Domain (default) Workspaces CollectionObjects Locations Domain (default) Workspaces CollectionObjects Locations

Nuxeo Nuxeo is an open-source enterprise content management system (ECM) Enterprise content management systems are used to capture, manage, store, preserve, and deliver content – in this case, collections management data Nuxeo provides the model for our schema- based data, version support, search and indexing, a rules engine, and some default security (Auth and AuthZ) Cspace does not require Nuxeo – an abstraction layer is built in that would allow us to swap in another ECM if recommended/required

Nuxeo Pros Open-source Provides good support both from Nuxeo user community and via fee-for-service at their.com arm Allows us to support much more complex schema than other ECMs, a requirement with museum data Many services already exist that we can work from rather than building from scratch Does the heavy lifting for our multi-tenancy framework, one tech option behind CSpace-as-a- Service Provides a framework that includes other tools such as a digital asset management system that may be of use to our community

Nuxeo Pros Based in Europe They have recognized the importance of CollectionSpace and became a supporter of the project in 2011 Very good communications between developers at Nuxeo and CollectionSpace Cons Have dependencies on their development schedule

SaaS Trials CollectionSpa ce Organization Walker Art Center Museum of the Moving Image Balboa Park Online Collaborative University of California, Berkeley Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology University and Jepson Herbaria History of Art Visual Resources Collection cloud storage

Start small and focus on deliverables Commit sufficient resources to user interface design and development Commit sufficient resources to quality assurance Dont underestimate administrative burden Manage expectations with early adopters Ensure that technical support for early adopters is identified as a role/responsibility for all team members Lessons Learned

Commitment to user-centered design Emphasis on configurability Focus on sustainable architecture and components Open and transparent processes Emphasis on standards Documentation, documentation, documentation Lessons Learned

Megan Forbes Collection Manager, Museum of the Moving Image Project Manager, CollectionSpace Slides and links available on the Cspace project wiki, just go to wiki.collectionspace.org and click on events in the left menu bar. Questions?