Make your collection more visible and accessible than ever before

Flexible and purpose-built for museums and galleries, Argus enhances curation and opens your museum’s doors to the world.
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Enhanced Curation and Enriched Experiences

Argus is a flexible web-based collections management system platform for museums and galleries. Argus is built to enhance curation, and to significantly expand outreach and access via the Web, enriching the experience for both in-person and virtual visitors.


I know we are not a big customer and I really appreciate the way you treat us like one.

Adam Pollard
Curator of Collection
Woodstock Museum National Historic Site


[We value Lucidea for] flexibility, complexity. The ability to handle many different scenarios and types of collections. The customer support is really solid as well.

Isabel Tovar
Associate Registrar and Database Administrator
Denver Art Museum


[Lucidea distinguished itself from other vendors with] excellent communication from sales rep, lower cost up front, flexible model of database that feels “customizable”.

Wendy Nichols
Curator Of Collections
Museum of Vancouver


[Lucidea Sales staff] have been incredibly supportive, helpful, and knowledgeable in our search for a collections management system that we are really excited to implement.

Terri Harlow
Digital Platforms Manager
Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21


Being able to customize the public interface and handle multiple collections from various partner sites with multimedia incorporated made [Argus] an easy choice.

Tracy Calogheros
CEO
The Exploration Place and Science Centre


[We chose Argus because] we wish to maintain our fields and as much of our workflow as possible, while adding in some additional features.

Wendy Nichols
Curator Of Collections
Museum of Vancouver


I’m really excited about Argus and the positive impact it will have on internal teams and on our online visitors’ search experience.

Terri Harlow
Digital Platforms Manager
Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21


Argus is easy to use and has functionalities that simplify and guide our actions. We are very pleased with our decision to integrate Argus into our work flow.

Elizabeth Holmes
Senior Registrar
Buffalo Bill Center of the West


We have always wanted to make the collection broadly accessible … when the ability to offer Web access presented itself via Argus… we knew it was the right choice.

Kalamazoo Valley Museum team
Kalamazoo Valley Museum


[T]he efficient integration between the administrative back end and the public portal [was an] overriding factor… in our choice to manage our collection with Argus.

Caitlin Rumery
Associate Registrar / Collections Manager
CU Art Museum of the University of Colorado Boulder


I know we are not a big customer and I really appreciate the way you treat us like one.

Adam Pollard
Curator of Collection
Woodstock Museum National Historic Site


[We value Lucidea for] flexibility, complexity. The ability to handle many different scenarios and types of collections. The customer support is really solid as well.

Isabel Tovar
Associate Registrar and Database Administrator
Denver Art Museum


[Lucidea distinguished itself from other vendors with] excellent communication from sales rep, lower cost up front, flexible model of database that feels “customizable”.

Wendy Nichols
Curator Of Collections
Museum of Vancouver


[Lucidea Sales staff] have been incredibly supportive, helpful, and knowledgeable in our search for a collections management system that we are really excited to implement.

Terri Harlow
Digital Platforms Manager
Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21


Being able to customize the public interface and handle multiple collections from various partner sites with multimedia incorporated made [Argus] an easy choice.

Tracy Calogheros
CEO
The Exploration Place and Science Centre


[We chose Argus because] we wish to maintain our fields and as much of our workflow as possible, while adding in some additional features.

Wendy Nichols
Curator Of Collections
Museum of Vancouver


I’m really excited about Argus and the positive impact it will have on internal teams and on our online visitors’ search experience.

Terri Harlow
Digital Platforms Manager
Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21


Argus is easy to use and has functionalities that simplify and guide our actions. We are very pleased with our decision to integrate Argus into our work flow.

Elizabeth Holmes
Senior Registrar
Buffalo Bill Center of the West


We have always wanted to make the collection broadly accessible … when the ability to offer Web access presented itself via Argus… we knew it was the right choice.

Kalamazoo Valley Museum team
Kalamazoo Valley Museum


[T]he efficient integration between the administrative back end and the public portal [was an] overriding factor… in our choice to manage our collection with Argus.

Caitlin Rumery
Associate Registrar / Collections Manager
CU Art Museum of the University of Colorado Boulder

The Argus Difference

Unlike traditional collections management platforms, fully Web-based Argus enables you to easily offer public portal access to objects and exhibits and to provide more in-depth documentation about each artifact – delivering content in context. You can also leverage efficient purpose-built workflows with minimal training required, and can rest secure in the knowledge that Argus is built on sustainable, cutting edge technology that will remain relevant as your collection and requirements grow.

Museums and galleries stay accessible, visible and relevant with Argus

Museums and galleries stay accessible, visible and relevant with Argus. The combined collection management and portal elements of the system result in greater operational efficiency and strong partnerships between Collections, IT, faculty and other departments. Ease of use and minimal training time leads to rewarding volunteer opportunities and increased accessibility and productivity for staff. Finally, Argus empowers you to offer an educational, inspiring and entertaining experience for visitors the world over.

Sophisticated Web Presence

Significantly expand outreach and access through a public web and mobile portal linked directly to your entire collection (beyond the 1-4% that’s on exhibit). Reach visitors near and far, and highlight specific exhibits and objects, or enable browsing of your entire collection through powerful search options including Google.

Enriched User Experience

Provide more documentation in more depth, for both individual objects and collections—with relevant multimedia and links to related artifacts.

Full Integration, Minimal Training

Integrated public portal and back end administration lets you push real time updates and makes data entry easy, leading to streamlined workflow and reduced training time for new staff, interns and volunteers.
Spectrum Partner logo

Lucidea is a proud Spectrum Partner, helping support the British international reference standard that establishes management procedures for cultural heritage collections. Spectrum is Collection Trust’s seal of quality and represents a commitment to global best practice that we embrace unreservedly. Learn more.

Web access that reaches virtual audiences

Open your doors to the whole world with a public access portal that offers powerful search and makes your collection discoverable via Google. Offer sophisticated image galleries and links to related objects, highlight special exhibits and share curated collections – use the Web to “show, tell, engage and inspire.”

Our team of experts can answer your specific questions, evaluate your needs, and show you what Argus can do for you.

Mobile access for museum visitors and staff

Staff can work anytime, anywhere using a mobile device; they can search for and record data wherever they are, check the condition of objects on site and do inventories from within warehouses and galleries on-the-go. Visitors, in-person and virtual, can explore using mobile devices (accessing the full portal from a tablet) and you can inspire visits with mobile read-only sessions specific to a particular exhibit or event.

Efficient, streamlined workflows

With dynamic updating, information entered once behind the scenes is automatically refreshed in the public portal, with no need for exporting or connectors. Intuitive, easy to use navigation minimizes training requirement for your staff, interns and volunteers, giving them more time with the collection.

Request management

Lucidea’s feature-rich Request Management Solution offers end-to-end capabilities that take museum research workflow seamlessly from request or project capture, to request handler assignment and resource allocation, to collaboration, to (multimedia) documentation, to communication with the requester—and finally to automatic creation of a database for reuse and reporting—all within a single venue.

Built with LucideaCore

LucideaCore is the culmination of 20 years’ worldwide experience serving thousands of organizations in multiple industries, combined with intensive R&D. LucideaCore applications help special librarians create and deliver valuable, user friendly information resources driven by a powerful KM engine.

Integrate with your current system and resources

Argus helps you meet the needs of staff and end users as the organization grows and/or changes – without depending heavily on IT. Customize the user experience, add fields for new content, and modify workflows with the easy configuration settings to suit your needs – now and in the future.

Argus Success Stories

Confidence Factor; Leveling Up with Argus

BC Sports Hall of Fame Goals Accessibility for staff and the public) Consistency and standardization) Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) “For every collections management challenge we have there is a solution within Argus because it is so flexible and adaptable. Our...

Visualize, Customize, Optimize, with Argus

The Woodstock Museum National Historic Site Challenges Configurability, expandability Single venue for all databases SaaS (Canada-based) Mobile capabilities Integration between databases with bilateral linkages Predictable cost “The great thing about Argus is that...

Argus and Kalamazoo Valley Museum

The Kalamazoo Valley Museum’s collection was a bit of a secret until they went online with Argus collections management software from Lucidea.

Argus and CU Art Museum

Argus collections management software lets Colorado University Art Museum offer a public portal, expand curation, and enjoy easy customization.

Argus and History Colorado

History Colorado uses Argus’ SaaS collection management app with its robust Web publishing, enabling public access, reporting, and easy import/export.

Argus and Buffalo Bill Center of the West

The Argus implementation at The Buffalo Bill Center of the West simplifies collections management and maximizes audience engagement.

Use Cases

Curation: Share Important Additional Resources

There is always a wealth of information related to any single artifact in a museum or gallery collection. Curators know that providing supporting materials to researchers, authors, students and faculty is critical to expanding knowledge – and to demonstrating added value through easy access to these additional resources. With Argus’ enhanced curation options, a University Art Museum shares important supporting information relating to single objects, and structures collections of related artifacts to enrich the museum visitor’s experience, whether in person or virtual.

Support System: Operational Efficiency

A museum of Western history selected Argus because it presents minimal training requirements, integrates seamlessly with existing IT projects and architecture (including gallery kiosks), and offers ease of use for staff, interns and volunteers. Argus enables supportive partnership between curation staff and the IT department, with a system flexible enough for IT to easily adapt as needed while also reducing their training burden. The combined elements of the system result in operational efficiency and great partnership between departments.

Stay Local while going Global

A (previously) hidden gem of a regional museum uses Argus to fulfill their goal of focusing on technology based outreach through a Web portal, enabling research and general perusal of their collection by visitors around the world, expanding their reputation and even inspiring in-person visits. Historically a hands-on family friendly place focused on educating and entertaining the local community, their new strategy includes showcasing their collection to virtual visitors further afield—offering a great Web-based “global community” resource that is modern and sustainable well into the future.


Being a private organisation we rely on grant money therefore have a limited budget – Lucidea genuinely found ways of working within that.

Richard Sebo
Project Consultant
Friends of the Vern McCallum Photo Collection


[Lucidea distinguished itself from other vendors with] excellent communication from sales rep, lower cost up front, flexible model of database that feels “customizable”.

Wendy Nichols
Curator Of Collections
Museum of Vancouver


[Lucidea Sales staff] have been incredibly supportive, helpful, and knowledgeable in our search for a collections management system that we are really excited to implement.

Terri Harlow
Digital Platforms Manager
Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21


Argus came out on top every time, they had great references, offered capabilities that would make both gallery staff and IT happy, and were well within budget.

Shannon Parker
Curator
The Art Gallery of Nova Scotia


…we went through a rigorous procurement process with a number of different applicants, and we scored every element. Argus came out on top every time.

Shannon Parker
Curator
The Art Gallery of Nova Scotia

Essentia Program

Enterprise-class solutions “right-sized” for your small-but-mighty organization

Lucidea supports clients with enterprise class museum collections management software, whether you’re large, small, or somewhere-in-between.

Think the power, flexibility and impact of our solutions are beyond your reach? If you’re small-but-mighty, we’ve got you covered with our Essentia program, designed to deliver outstanding value to smaller clients. Everything you need, at a price you can afford.

Essentia Program

Enterprise-class solutions “right-sized” for your small-but-mighty organization

Lucidea supports clients with enterprise class museum collections management software, whether you’re large, small, or somewhere-in-between.

Think the power, flexibility and impact of our solutions are beyond your reach? If you’re small-but-mighty, we’ve got you covered with our Essentia program, designed to deliver outstanding value to smaller clients. Everything you need, at a price you can afford.


I know we are not a big customer and I really appreciate the way you treat us like one.

Adam Pollard
Curator of Collection
Woodstock Museum National Historic Site


Being a private organisation we rely on grant money therefore have a limited budget – Lucidea genuinely found ways of working within that.

Richard Sebo
Project Consultant
Friends of the Vern McCallum Photo Collection


[Lucidea distinguished itself from other vendors with] excellent communication from sales rep, lower cost up front, flexible model of database that feels “customizable”.

Wendy Nichols
Curator Of Collections
Museum of Vancouver


[Lucidea Sales staff] have been incredibly supportive, helpful, and knowledgeable in our search for a collections management system that we are really excited to implement.

Terri Harlow
Digital Platforms Manager
Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21


Argus came out on top every time, they had great references, offered capabilities that would make both gallery staff and IT happy, and were well within budget.

Shannon Parker
Curator
The Art Gallery of Nova Scotia


…we went through a rigorous procurement process with a number of different applicants, and we scored every element. Argus came out on top every time.

Shannon Parker
Curator
The Art Gallery of Nova Scotia

Training and support… unparalleled and included

We offer training throughout the life of your partnership with us, helping you maximize the value of your investment in our solutions. Our instructors and materials show you how to fully leverage Argus, ensuring that the application is optimized to fit your organization’s needs.
Our team of experienced technical experts is available to solve your technical problems and provide exceptional customer service, 24/7/365.


Our museum converted from Open Edition to Argus at the end of 2013. Lucidea has been a responsive resource throughout the experience.

Isabel Tovar
Associate Registrar and Database Administrator
Denver Art Museum


Our biggest problem[with our current system] is the number of glitches that we were continually working around so we look forward to the help desk support that we will receive with Lucidea.

Wendy Nichols
Curator Of Collections
Museum of Vancouver


With Argus…training that used to take at least half an hour now requires “maybe a minute or two over the phone.”

Elizabeth Holmes
Senior Registrar
Buffalo Bill Center of the West


Argus came out on top every time, they had great references, offered capabilities that would make both gallery staff and IT happy, and were well within budget.

Shannon Parker
Curator
The Art Gallery of Nova Scotia

Argus and Museum Resources

Recorded Webinars

Missed one of our topical webinars delivered by our museum collections experts?
 

Videos

Quickly get familiar with our Museum Collections Management products; watch these short videos.

Success Stories

Read real-world examples of how Lucidea’s clients leverage Argus

eBooks

Download professional development content from our Lucidea Press authors & other sponsored resources

Upcoming Webinars

View our schedule of upcoming free webinars and register today!
 

Data sheets

Detailed product information – you can even share it with your IT department

Think Clearly Blog

Read or subscribe to our popular blog, covering issues impacting museums
Grants Directory

Grants Directory

Struggling to carve out time to craft a competitive museum grant project, find appropriate opportunities, and successfully work through the application?

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