Collection Management Systems (CMS)

12 May 2005

A collection management system (CMS) is a piece of software that allows collecting institutions to manage data about their collections and items they hold and are an integral part of managing and documenting collections.

Collections form the focal point for a museum's activities and in most instances the collection is the primary raison d'etre for the institution. Care for collections and collection records then is of the utmost importance if these collections are to maintain their usefulness and value to staff, researchers and the general public. A primary tool for maintaining, managing and recording collection information is the Collection Management System (CMS).

For collections and items, collection management systems typically record:
- administrative information
- transactional information (such as accession, loan and deaccession)
- descriptive information
- information relating to significance/history
- condition information
- donor and valuation information
- rights information
- location and movement information

Below is a list of links to various software packages that exist for collection management in small to medium sized collecting institutions. Collections Australia Network has made this information available but caveat this action by not formally endorsing any of the packages or one package over the others.

To further assist you in implementing a new system and digitising your collection you may wish to complete the Capture Your Collections course created by the Canadian Heritage Information Network (CHIN) and Australian Museums and Galleries OnLine (AMOL) in 2000, click on the link below to 'Capture your Collections course'.

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Enquiries

Joy Suliman
National Project Manager

Tel: +61 02 9217 0347

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