My Resource for Excellence.

Canadian Heritage Information Network

Collections Management Software Criteria Checklist

Heather Dunn, CHIN

Presentation Summary

What is the Criteria Checklist?

What functions are included?

How was the Checklist developed?

How was the Checklist used during the Review process?

How is the Checklist used by museums?

Online customizable version

Future plans

My Resource for Excellence.

CHIN Criteria Checklist

A list of over 500 functions that can be performed by a collections management system

Collections Management Data Management User Interface Query Reports Technical Requirements System Administration

What Is It for?

The Checklist was a key tool in the creation of the Review—it was the basis for comparison used to assess and rate each function performed by the various software packages

Continues to be used by museums to define their requirements and select software

How Was It Created?

Checklist was created by CHIN Based on similar analyses from the Victoria & Albert

Museum, the Info-Muse Regional Network (Quebec), and the Saskatchewan Arts Board

Informed by SPECTRUM standard (UK) and ICOM’s CIDOC standard

Draft reviewed by 20 members of Canadian museum community

Checklist Revisions

Major review of Checklist conducted by a team of museum professionals in 2003

Functionality of collections management software has evolved considerably in recent years, so the Checklist is now in need of another update

Checklist: Collections Management Section Collections Management

1.1 Object Entry 1.2 Acquisition  1.3 Inventory Control  1.4 Location & Movement Control  1.5 Cataloguing  1.6 Conservation Management  1.7 Rights and Reproductions  1.8 Risk Management  1.9 Insurance Management & Valuation Control  1.10 Exhibition Management 1.11 Dispatch  1.12 Loans  1.13 Deaccession & Disposal 

Checklist: Data Management & User Interface Data Management

2.1 Data Field Structure  2.2 Data Entry  2.3 Data Validation  2.4 Data Update  2.5 Indexing of

Fields  2.6 Vocabulary Control

User Interface 3.1 Help Features  3.2 Date Formats 3.3 User Customization  3.4 Bilingualism  3.5 Other Languages  3.6 Public Access  3.7 Multimedia Files  3.8 Metadata 

Checklist: Query & Reports

Query 4.1 General Requirements  4.2 Range Searches  4.3 Wildcard Searching  4.4 Query Results  4.5 Features 

Reports 5.1 Pre-defined Reports  5.2 User Defined Reports 

Checklist: Technical Requirements & System Administration

Technical Requirements 6.1 Import/Export Functions  6.2 Documentation & Support  6.3 Training   6.4 Features  6.5 Special Features 

System Administration 7.1 Security  7.2 Index(es)  7.3 Backup  7.4 Audit Reports

Checklist Use

How it was used in Request for Information (RFI) from software vendors

How it was used in demonstrations

How it is used by museums selecting software

Checklist Used in Request for Information (RFI)

Software vendors completed an online version of the checklist

Indicated which functions within the Checklist they could perform and were prepared to demonstrate

Vendors were not told in advance which of the 500 criteria they would be required to demonstrate

Checklist – Used in the Demonstrations Early Editions: All criteria demonstrated Later Editions: 169 of 500 criteria demonstrated

Skipped criteria that were: Impossible to demonstrate/rate (e.g., Help Desk support) Common to all software (e.g., record alpha-numeric

values) Repetitive (e.g., questions about specific functionality

that had already been demonstrated as part of an “overview” of functionality)

Focus on criteria that were: Handled differently by different software, so that users

could compare Showing a general overview of the functionality in a

key area (e.g., movement control, accessioning, etc.)

Checklist Used by Museums Selecting Software

CHIN created an online version of the Criteria Checklist

Museums could customize the online version of the Criteria Checklist to indicate which functions they needed

Online Checklist would compare museum’s “mandatory” functions with the functionality offered by each software product in the Collections Management Software Review

Future Plans

The last update of the Criteria Checklist was in 2003

Still popular – gets 1,500 hits per month, and CHIN gets many requests for the Criteria Checklist (as well as the Software Reviews) to be updated

In need of another update, to reflect changes in technology and scope of Collections Management Software Packages

Thank You!

Heather Dunn

Heritage Information AnalystCanadian Heritage Information Network (CHIN)Department of Canadian HeritageGovernment of Canada

heather.dunn@pch.gc.ca