Rachael Cristine Woody
Rachael Cristine Woody is a guest author for Lucidea’s Think Clearly Blog. Rachael is the Owner of Rachael Cristine Consulting, and provides services to museums, libraries, and archives. Previously she was at the Freer|Sackler Museum of the Smithsonian Institution and the Oregon Wine History Archive at Linfield College. She is active in Northwest Archivists and the Society of American Archivists, and is an alumna of the Archives Leadership Institute, a National Historical Publications & Records Commission (NHPRC) program.
Webinar recordings
Rachael Woody Webinars
Storytelling Goals with Collections Online
Enhance Museum Collections Online with “Hidden” Troves of Information
Museum Collections Online and the Potential of AI
How to Construct Museum CMS Projects that Attract Funding
Accessibility Standards for Museum Collections Online
How to Perform Data Enhancement for Your Museum CMS
How to Incorporate Interns in Museum CMS Projects
I Finally Have a Museum CMS; Now What?
What to Do When Collection isn’t Cataloged
AMA: How to Prepare for a New CMS
Building the Case for Museum Job Salaries
How to Build a Paid Intern Program
How to Create a Value-Informed Budget
How to Prepare for a New Museum CMS
Preparing for Museum Data Migration
Figuring Out Museum Digital Storage
Strategies for Museum Data Remediation
Evaluating the Shape of Museum Data
Dismantling Barriers to a New Museum CMS
Ask Me Anything; Museum Digital Projects Webinar
How to Work with a Consultant on Museum Digital Projects
Sustainable Museum Digital Projects
Digital Projects: Staff, Volunteers, or Interns
5 Museum Digitization Myths to Delete Forever!
How to Fund Your Next Museum Digital Project
How to Identify and Select Your Next Museum Digital Project
5 Steps to Intentional Museum Work
Create a Museum Digital Project Workflow that Works
How Much Will Museum Digital Projects Cost Me?
The Essentials of Evaluating Museum DAMS vs CMS
Choose the Right Tools for Museum Digital Projects
Creating a Successful Museum Digital Project
Museum Digital Project Success Factors
Ask an Expert Anything About a Museum CMS
Ask Me Anything About Grants PART 3
Ask Me Anything About Grants PART 2
How to Put Museum CMS Data to Work
Ask Me Anything About Grants
Increase Your Audience with a Discoverable Museum CMS
Why the Multimedia Museum CMS is the New Standard
The Museum CMS Portal: Separation and Integration
Why Your Museum CMS Must be Mobile
Shopping for an Off-the-Shelf Museum CMS
Museum CMS Workflows, Standards, and Tools to Use
How to Select, Buy and use the Right CMS for Your Museum
6 Steps For Successful Museum CMS Implementation and Migration
You Need a New Museum CMS, Now What?
How to Make the Case for a (Better) Museum CMS
Museum Cultural Heritage Online Experiences
How to Evaluate Museum Digital Collections & Build Successful Digital Projects
Museum Digital Visitors: Identify, Understand, Engage
DEAI and What it Means for Your Museum
Prioritize and Plan for Museum Grant Acquisition
Secrets of Successful Grant Funding Applications
Build a Winning Grant Idea
Museum Grant Roadblock Removal: How to Get Around Obstacles and Get Into Grants
Blog posts
Rachael Cristine Woody
Storytelling to Inspire Reflection Using Museum Collections Online
Museum Collections Online: Learning Through Storytelling
The Role of Museum Collections Online in Storytelling & Audience Engagement
Examples of How Archives Can Be Used to Elevate Museum Collections
How Archives Can Enrich Museum Collections Online
How to Enhance Museum Collections Online with New Information
How to Enhance the Museum Object Record with Immediately Available Information
Where the Gaps Live with Traditional Museum Object Cataloging
Considering AI as an Empathy Generator in Museum Spaces
The Application of AI for Museum Collections Online
AI Application to Museum Exhibitions
What Does AI Mean to Museums?
How to Determine the Best Funding Match for Your Museum CMS Project
Application Information that Makes a Museum CMS Project Attractive
What Funders Look for in Museum CMS Projects
How to Identify Potential Museum CMS Projects for Funding
Museum Collections Online with Accessibility Principles 3 and 4: Understandable and Robust
Museum Collections Online with Accessibility Principle 2: Operable
Museum Collections Online with Accessibility Principle 1: Perceivable
Accessibility Standards for Museum Collections Online
Museum TrendsWatch 2024: Digital Twins and Doom Loops & Combatting the Loneliness Crisis
Museum TrendsWatch 2024: Short Take: Dropping the Degree
Museum TrendsWatch 2024: Trend 3, Decarbonizing the Future
Museum TrendsWatch 2024:
AI Adolescence in Museums
Museum TrendsWatch 2024: Culture Wars 2.0
How to Perform Museum CMS Data Enhancement
How to Create a Plan for Museum CMS Data Enhancement
How to Assess Museum CMS Data for Enhancement Opportunities
An Overview of Common CMS Data Areas to Enhance
What Does Museum Data Enhancement Mean?
How to Incorporate Interns in Museum CMS Projects: Data Cleanup and Refinement
How to Incorporate Interns in Museum CMS Projects: Data Creation
How to Incorporate Interns in Museum CMS Projects: Data Capture
How to Incorporate Interns in Museum CMS Projects
Create a Start-to-Finish Process for Cataloging Objects in the Museum CMS
Determine the Most Effective Way to Capture Data for the Museum CMS
Determine How to Most Effectively Get New Data into the Museum CMS
You and Your First Museum CMS: What to Do First
How to Batch Process Cataloging Museum Objects
How to Prioritize Which Museum Objects are Cataloged First
Building a Strategy to Catalog an Entire Museum Collection
Things to Consider When Nothing in Your Museum’s Collection is Cataloged
Ask Me Anything (AMA): The Impact of AI on CMS Data Creation and Enhancement
Ask Me Anything (AMA): How to Migrate Data into a New Museum CMS
Ask Me Anything (AMA): How to Conduct Efficient Data Cleanup
Ask Me Anything (AMA): How to Prepare for a New CMS — Where do you begin?
Museum Forecast 2024
A Year in Review: An Assessment of the 2023 Museum Forecast
Museum Digital Projects: Capacity & Expectation Setting
Museum Digital Projects: Cost
How to Build the Case for Museum Job Salaries
Examples for How to Calculate Museum Job Salaries Accurately
How to Calculate Museum Job Salaries Accurately
What Information to Gather for Museum Job Salaries
Preferred Resources to Consult for Museum Job Salaries
How to Fund a Museum Paid Internship
How Much Should You Pay a Museum Intern?
How to Create a Meaningful Internship Experience
Why Do Museum Internships Need to be Paid?
How to Influence the Museum Budget
Gather Information to Inform the Museum Budget
How to DEAI the Museum Budget
How to Evaluate the Museum Operating Budget
What a Museum Budget Says About Museum Values
Make a Plan for Non-Standard Museum Data
Craft Museum Workflows That Include the CMS
Document Museum CMS Fields and Function
Gather Data and Evaluate Museum CMS Use
Post-Migration Data Cleanup and Refinement
Items Required for Successful Data Migration
How to Prepare for Museum Data Migration
What Does Museum Data Migration Entail?
Museum TrendsWatch 2023: The Metaverse, Web 3.0, and Climate Change
Ready to Read: Prepare for Takeoff: Get Your Museum Digital Project off the Ground
Museum TrendsWatch 2023: Repatriation, Restitution, Reparations
Museum TrendsWatch 2023: The Partisan Divide
Museum TrendsWatch 2023: A Digital (R)evolution
Museum TrendsWatch 2023: The Future Workplace
Strategies Toward a Museum Digital Storage Solution
Considering a Museum Digital Storage Approach
Requirements for Museum Digital Storage
The Purpose of Museum Digital Storage
Create a Plan for Museum Data Cleanup
Strategies for Effective Museum Data Cleanup – Part 2
Strategies for Effective Museum Data Cleanup – Part 1
Common Museum Data Messes to Look For
Evaluating the Location of Museum Digital Assets
Evaluating the Location of Museum Data
Evaluating the Format of Museum Data
Evaluating the Quality of Museum Data
How to Prepare for a New Museum CMS
Museum Digital Projects: Digital File Storage
How to Chart a Course Toward a Better Museum CMS
The Pros and Cons of Sticking with an Ill-Fitting Museum CMS
Barriers that Prevent Museums from Moving to a Better CMS
Museum Digital Projects: Choosing Software
Leveraging Existing Content with a Museum Engagement App
Increasing Museum Enrichment with a Museum Engagement App
Museum Forecast 2023
A Year in Review: An Assessment of the 2022 Museum Forecast
Museum Digital Projects: Tool Challenges
Museum Digital Tools: Budget and Funding
Museum Digital Projects: Standards to Follow
Applying DEI to Museum Collection Development — Part 2
Museum Digital Projects: Elements to Include
Museum Digital Projects: Order of Operations
Museum Digital Projects: Pre-Project Evaluation
Ready to Read: Museum Digital Projects and You. Where to Begin?
Applying DEI to Museum Collection Development — Part 1
Museum Digital File Preservation: File Access
Museum Digital File Preservation: File Integrity
3 Things to Consider When Purchasing Museum Digitization Equipment
Museum Digital Project Consultant: Training
Museum Digital Project Consultant: CMS Selection and Implementation
Museum Digital Project Consultant: Project Management
Museum Digital Project Consultant: Create the Project Framework
Museum Digital Project Consultant: Assess and Recommend
Museum Digital Project Sustainability Hacks
3 Strategies for Museum Digital Project Sustainability
Project Management for Museum Digital Projects
Strategies to Effectively Work with Museum Staff, Interns, and Volunteers
How to Ethically Build Museum Intern and Volunteer Opportunities
How to Ethically Adapt Museum Staff Capacity for Digital Projects
Museum Digital Project Roles for Staff, Volunteers, and Interns
Museum TrendsWatch: Right-Sizing the World
Museum TrendsWatch: Emergency Response in the Face of Disaster
Museum TrendsWatch: Mental Health for All
Museum TrendsWatch: Livable Communities for Our Elders
Museum TrendsWatch: Education for Our Children
Myth #5: If it’s Digital, Toss the Original
Myth #4: Digital = Permanent
Myth #3: It’s too Hard to Digitize Museum Collections
Myth #2: It’s Easy to Digitize Museum Collections
Myth #1: You Should Digitize All the (Museum) Things!
How to Calculate an Appropriately Sized Funding Request
How to Construct a Fundable Museum Digital Project
Who Funds Museum Digital Projects?
An Interview with Arc/k Project’s Brian Pope: Citizen-Science & CHE
Building a Blueprint for Future Digital Projects
How to Choose Your Next Digital Project Idea
The Most Common Museum Digital Project Types
How to Identify Museum Digital Project Ideas
How to Win Museum Grant Funding for “Boring” Projects
Museum Professional Development: Invest in Yourself
Engage in ‘Degrowth’ for Intentional Museum Work
How to Evaluate Your Museum Work and Calculate Your Worth
Create a Museum Grant Writing Roadmap for 2022
Tips for the Museum Worker: Survival Edition
Museum Forecast 2022
A Year in Review: An Assessment of the 2021 Museum Forecast
7 Actions to Take for Museum Funding Readiness
Applying the Liberation Model to Museum Grant Funding Inequity
Part 3: Create a Museum Digital Project Workflow that Works
Part 2: Create a Museum Digital Project Workflow that Works
Part 1: Create a Museum Digital Project Workflow that Works
Part 3: How Much Will Museum Digital Projects Cost Me?
Part 2: How Much Will Museum Digital Projects Cost Me?
Part 1: How Much Will Museum Digital Projects Cost Me?
Figuring out a Museum DAMS Solution When You Only Have a CMS
The Evolution and Overlap of Museum DAMS and CMS
Does Your Museum Need a DAMS?
Ray Harryhausen | Titan of Cinema: Reminiscing with Fantastical Creatures from Childhood
Ray Harryhausen | Titan of Cinema: How the Archives Enrich Virtual Exhibit Storytelling
How to Choose the Right Tools for Museum Digital Projects
Include these Museum Digitization Standards in Your Next Project
Considering Museum Digitization Tools by Item Type
Ray Harryhausen | Titan of Cinema: The Translation from Physical to Virtual
Ray Harryhausen | Titan of Cinema Virtual Exhibition Experience
The Top 3 Museum Digital Project Strategies That Lead to Success
How to Establish Museum Digital Project Core Areas
A Thoughtful Approach to Museum Digital Project Creation
The 4 Most Important Museum Digital Project Components
How COVID Has Changed Museum Digital Projects Forever
The Difference Between Museum Digital Programs and Projects
TrendsWatch 2021: Strategic Foresight
TrendsWatch 2021: COVID on Campus
TrendsWatch 2021: Who Gets Left Behind?
TrendsWatch 2021: Digital Awakening
TrendsWatch 2021: Closing the Gap
TrendsWatch 2021: Navigating a Disrupted Future
How to Make Your Museum Grants Search More Efficient
Where are the Best Places to Find Museum Grants? Part 2
Where are the Best Places to Find Museum Grants? Part 1
The First 3 Things to Do if You’re New to Museum Grants
Museum Forecast 2021
Revisiting 2020’s Museum Issues; Some Progress
The CMS: What’s Essential, What’s Hackable, and What Does It Cost?
The Essentials for a Discoverable CMS
Digital Asset Management Systems Vs Collections Management Systems; Part 2
Digital Asset Management Systems Vs Collections Management Systems; Part 1
LAMs are More Alike Than Different: Generational Change
LAMs are More Alike Than Different: Physical vs Digital Nature of the Work
LAMs are More Alike Than Different: Precarious Labor
CMS Data Can Prove the Value of Collection Work
How to Make Museum CMS Data Work for You
You Need to Pay Attention to This Museum CMS Data
LAMs are More Alike Than Different: Disaster Preparedness
The Benefits of a Discoverable CMS
How to Test and Improve the SEO of Your Museum CMS
SEO and the Discoverable Museum CMS
We Invite You to Leverage a New Grant Resource for LAMs
A Multimedia Museum CMS Supports User Experience Best Practices
Meet Baseline Visitor Expectations with a Multimedia Museum CMS
A Multimedia Museum CMS Makes a Bigger Picture Possible
The Benefits of an Integrated Museum CMS Front and Back-End
The Cost Involved When the Museum CMS Front-End is Separate or Less Than
Considering Different Options for Delivering a Museum CMS Public Portal
How to Improve Collection Discovery in the Museum CMS
The Internal Uses and Benefits for a Mobile Museum CMS
The External Uses and Benefits for a Mobile Museum CMS
The Future is Here: Why Your Museum CMS Must be Mobile
Left Behind: The Inequity of Pandemic Relief Funds
How to Sell an Off-the-Shelf Museum CMS to Your Boss
What to Look for in an Off-the-Shelf Museum CMS
Off-the-Shelf Museum CMS: When to Buy One and Where to Find One
How the National WWI Museum and Memorial Kept Its Employees
The Critical Difference Between Museum Deliverables and Outcomes
How to Determine Museum Grant Suitability: A Check List
How to Determine Museum Grant Eligibility: A Check List
How to Increase Museum Grant Success by Mastering the Lexicon
Museum TrendsWatch 2020: Fostering Financial Sustainability
Museum TrendsWatch 2020: Financial Capital
Museum TrendsWatch 2020: Government Funding
Museum TrendsWatch 2020: Charitable Income
Museum TrendsWatch 2020: Earned Income
Museum TrendsWatch 2020: Financial Sustainability Introduction
When and How to Ethically Create Museum Term Positions
Economic Disaster Planning for Museums
Go Visit a Museum – Doctor’s Orders!
The Tools Needed to Support Remote Museum Staff
Museums as Places for Democratic Dialogue and Uncomfortable Learning
Museum Advocacy: How to Write a Letter to Congressional Representatives
Prioritize These Remote Museum Projects During Coronavirus—Part 2
Prioritize These Remote Museum Projects During Coronavirus—Part 1
What Does the Millennial Museum Visitor Want?
Do You Know the Millennial Museum Donor?
Analysis of the US Stimulus Package and What’s in it for Museums
The Numbers on the Millennial Museum Visitor
Is There a Decline in Museum Attendance?
Removing Museum Barriers to Entry for Aging Adults
Museum Labor Resources for Professional Advocacy
Unpaid Internships: A Reason to DEAI the Museum Budget
The Role of Museum Core Values
Teens, Smartphones, and the Myth of What Museum Engagement Looks Like
Museum Digital Project Specifications
When to Consider Museum Digitization Vendors
Using the Museum CMS to Offer Cultural Heritage Experiences
Museum Conferences Share 2020 Vision
Museum Forecast 2020
Resources for Museums on How to Identify and Articulate Value
A 2019 Recap of Museum Issues
#AskACurator Day
Establishing Museum CMS Best Practices
Museum CMS 101: Workflow and Record Construction
Ready to Read: How to Select, Buy, and Use a Museum CMS
How to Test, Vet, and Purchase a New Museum CMS
How to Identify Specifications for a New CMS
How to Form a Museum CMS Procurement Team
How to Prepare for a Museum Collections Management System Migration
Museum Opportunities and How a Collections Management System Can Help
The Changing Definition of Museums
5 Steps to Museum Volunteer Project Success
7 Steps to Kick-Start Museum Diversity, Equity, Accessibility, and Inclusion Practices
How to Begin Your Search for the Right Museum CMS
Why You Need a (Better) CMS
The Importance of Internal Stakeholders to the Museum CMS
Museum Challenges and How a CMS Can Help – Part 2
Museum Challenges and How a CMS Can Help – Part 1
The Cost of Free Collections Management Systems
Hamilton: The Exhibition – A Review
Museum TrendsWatch 2019: Homelessness and Housing Insecurity
Museum TrendsWatch 2019: Self-Care
Museum TrendsWatch 2019: Blockchain
Museum TrendsWatch 2019: Decolonization
Museum TrendsWatch 2019: Truth, Trust, and Fake News
Who are the Stakeholders in Museum Digital Projects?
Responsible Practices for Working with Communities and Collections
How to Construct a Museum Digitization Equation
What to Do When It’s Your First Museum Digitization Project
Building a Comprehensive Museum Digital Program
How to Build Sustainability into Museum Digital Projects
How Museums Can Effectively Collaborate
3 Common Hurdles to Get Over and Get into Grants
Shared Museum Catalogs Are the Future
How to Build a Successful Museum Strategy
5 Methods to Improve the Museum Digital Experience
Museum Digital Collections User Types & Expectations
Museum Online Presence: Critical to Income Stream
Museum Social Media and the Museum Collections Management System
Creating a Museum Grant Writing Roadmap for 2019
5 Prompts to Prioritize Museum Digitization Projects
How to Evaluate a Museum Digital Collection
The Importance of Sustainable Museum Cataloging & How to Achieve It
3 Things to Look for When Choosing a Museum Collections Management System
Museums in Financial Trouble: Sell, Close, or Plan a Museum Merger?
Identifying Museum Funding Roadblocks
2019 Master Plan for Museum Professionals
Shifting Concepts of Preservation in a Digital World
RTI Digitization in the Museum
How to Increase Museum Conference ROI
How to Conference on a Museum Budget
Ready to Read: A Survivor’s Guide to Museum Grant Writing
Relevance & The Museum’s Role in Social Wellbeing
Museums: Actions for Integrating Empathy
Museums: Cultivators of Empathy
Making Museums Accessible
The Decay of Museums Leads to Irreparable Loss
The Value of Cultural Heritage Experiences in the Museum
3D Digitization in the Museum – Part 2: LIDAR
3D Digitization in the Museum – Part 1: Photogrammetry
Who Owns Digital Culture? An Important Question Museums Must Consider
The End of Net Neutrality & The Museum Digital Visitor
The Future of Augmented and Virtual Reality (AR & VR) in Museums
Working Your Museum’s Problems to Find Solutions
Museum Grant Application: What Happens if You Fail?
Museum Project Break Down—A Template
Museums with Zero Funding—Stop Saying These 4 Phrases
5 Times LAMs Should Bring in a Consultant
When Your Archives and Special Collections Aren’t Special
Navigating the Museum | Archive Relationship
Define Museum Success & Measure It
How to Best Leverage Museum Volunteers
Effective Technology Training for Museum Volunteers & Interns
The Intersection of Libraries, Archives & Museums
8 Tips to a Bulletproof Grant Proposal
Museum Grant Pitfalls—Know & Avoid Them
Top 4 Funding Ideas for Museums
Museum Diversity, Equity, Accessibility & Inclusion Resources and Practices
eBooks
A Survivor’s Guide to Museum Grant Writing
Rachael Cristine Woody
A Survivor’s Guide to Museum Grant Writing takes a pragmatic approach to such topics as seeing each grant application as an opportunity, learning and moving on from inevitable failures, using grant acquisition to provide valuable financial sustenance to the museum without negatively impacting staff, and applying a systematic, common sense methods that builds the necessary skills to survive the grant writing process and thrive within it.
Demystifying Data Preparation for a New CMS
Rachael Cristine Woody
Learn how to prepare museum data for a new CMS.
This book outlines how to prepare museum content (data and assets) for migration to a new museum collections management system through a process of data evaluation, data remediation (cleanup), and data preparation—demystifying what can be an intimidating process and leading to the other side, where your data awaits you in a shiny new CMS.
Grants Workbook & Templates
Lucidea Press
Grant funding is increasingly important to the future of heritage institutions. We know how challenging it can be to apply for grant funding, especially when time and expertise are hard to come by. This workbook provides an introduction to grant application elements, an overview of information to prepare for each application section, and four sample project templates.
How to Select, Buy, and Use a Museum CMS
Rachael Cristine Woody
How to Select, Buy, and Use a Museum CMS explains how to search for, select, buy, implement, and maximize the value of a museum collections management system. In order to deliver the best return on investment in a collections management system, staff need to know:
How to begin the search for the right CMS; how to navigate the procurement process; how to prepare for what migration will entail; what workflows, standards, and tools they should be aware of, and how to use a CMS to its maximum potential.
Museum Digital Projects and You. Where to Begin?
Rachael Cristine Woody
Digital projects are critically important to a museum’s mission of caring for and providing access to its collections. With that in mind, Museum Digital Projects and You. Where to Begin? covers the components of a successful museum digital project, how to create and manage a successful digital project, how to choose the right tools for museum digital projects, evaluating the museum DAMS vs CMS, how much museum digital projects cost, and creating a museum digital project workflow that works.
Prepare for Takeoff: Getting Your Museum Digital Project Off The Ground
Margot Note
Learn the secrets of successful museum digital projects
Museum digital projects require personnel who are subject-matter experts, technologists, and project managers. Once you have knowledge, skills, and abilities accounted for, it is time to learn the strategies necessary to create and execute your project. Prepare for Takeoff: Getting Your Museum Digital Project Off The Ground will guide you through all aspects of the initiative and help set you up for success.