Musetoba Collections Database

Explore Musetoba! The Public Portal is NOW OPEN!

 

Musetoba is collections management software tailored to museums across Manitoba.

The idea of a common database for Manitoba museums has been in the AMM's plans for many years. The project started when museums looking to re-new or purchase collections management software discovered that their previous software was no longer being supported and/or the cost was prohibitive.

Five museums looking for an answer to this problem came together at the AMM office and their solution to the problem was to create collections management software for all museums in Manitoba. It had to be user friendly, tailored for Manitoba museums, and affordable.

Representatives of the 5 museums and the AMM put their heads together to discuss what they needed the software to do, which platform to use, and to choose a software company to put everything together.

Collections software had already been developed and was being used with great success by the museum associations in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Saskatchewan and the platform they were using was Collective Access, which was developed by Whirl-i-gig.

The Association of Nova Scotia Museums had been using the software the longest and were a great resource as the group decided on what they felt was required of the new software before work began on its actual development. Funding was secured for the project, an intern (Kiersten McLeod) was hired to manage the project, and Whirl-i-gig and Collective Access were chosen as the company and software to go with.

Through the process the 5 partner museums became willing guinea pigs to help work out the kinks and to supply feedback to produce software that was user friendly, applicable to all museums in Manitoba, and was affordable.

It was from all this effort that Musetoba, our new collections management software, was born and is now being used by 14 museums and growing.

The original group of 5 museums are:

1. Dalnavert Museum
2. Manitoba Crafts Museum & Library
3. Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame & Museum
4. Ogniwo Polish Museum
5. Transcona Museum

The Public Portal is NOW OPEN!

If you'd like to sign up for Musetoba, please read and fill out the Expression of Interest letter and send it to database@ museumsmanitoba .com

Dates and times for information sessions, as well as additional information as things progress, will be posted here as well as in the AMM Messenger. If you have any questions in the meantime please contact the Project Manager, Austin Quagleini, at database(at)museumsmanitoba(dot)com or call the AMM office (204-947-1782).

 

Musetoba is supported in part by / Ce projet est financé en partie par:

   

 

 

This project is funded in part by the Department of Canadian Heritage - Museums Assistance Program, The Winnipeg Foundation, Department of Canadian Heritage - Young Canada Works, and the province of Manitoba’s Heritage Grants Program.