Evolving Beyond Collections Care to a Focus on Access and Growth
Maclaren Art Centre Goals for a CMS
- Remote access with role-based permissions management
- Scalable as number of users grows over time
- Cloud-based/SaaS to increase accessibility and lower cost of ownership
- Support multiple collections and collections types
Curatorial Assistant
MCLAREN ART CENTRE
The MacLaren Art Centre has implemented Lucidea’s Argus CMS to manage their collection of over 27,000 works, with 23,000 of those being photographs. A review of their requirements for a modern, cloud-based solution with enhanced security and rich public access features led them to Argus, which turned out to be the perfect match.
We sat down with MacLaren’s Curatorial Assistant Yasmeen Kazak to talk about why they selected Argus, and how the first phase of implementation has gone. Their previous CMS had enabled basic collections care, but the organization’s needs changed, in part due to the Canadian Heritage grant requirement for public access, and also due to the need for a more configurable system to better capture and curate their data. Their existing system could not support those requirements so it was time for an upgrade.
Key Success Factors
It is always a challenge to move away from an existing collections management system, with the complexities of data migration looming large, and MacLaren’s implementation might have been especially tricky because Yasmeen took over the project from a former colleague partway through. However, she shared with us that they had an excellent experience working with Lucidea’s Client Services team, citing their expertise in the museum and gallery sector, project management skills, great communication, and the system’s power and user-friendly interface as key success factors.
Argus has many features that are game-changers for MacLaren, e.g., mass editing, customized reporting, multiple collections databases, field assignments that match their workflow, and role-based permissions.
At a higher level, Yasmeen is excited about the ability to highlight their collection more effectively, which has led to several successful exhibitions and a renewed focus on collection development. Our discussion also emphasized the software’s ability to provide a comprehensive overview of the collection for the first time, enabling better decision-making for future acquisitions and improved engagement with board members and patrons.
Upcoming Initiatives Enabled by Argus
Yasmeen mentioned plans to use Argus to catalog their library and archives collection. She also told us they have plans to digitize more of their collection, beginning with a student intern’s project to catalog and photograph their Art Rental and Sales collection.
Most exciting, they are working on developing a public portal for their collections, which will be the perfect complement for future virtual exhibitions, allowing the public more insight into each artwork.
Please stay tuned for Part 2 of this client success story where we will share information on that project and other developments in the ways the MacLaren Art Centre uses Argus to fulfill their goals.