Hi nick

CAN (Collections Australia Network) attempted this model a few years ago
to service regional and volunteer museums. We abandoned it after there
were problems with connectivity and bandwidth issues in some areas
(which in Australia still isn't solved). 

We have a hybrid model at the moment whereby we can host collections,
host feeds, and also harvest collections. It isn't altogether
satisfactory but we hope after we relaunch with a new design and search
(the current beast is 5 years old), it will be considerably better.

The CaaS (collection as a service!) model is potentially a winner and I
believe that Vernon has been doing work in this area especially in New
Zealand. However it relies on a level of internet access that is rarely
distributed evenly amongst small museums - even now in the supposed
broadband age.

The OCLC has also, I think, put up a digital preservation hosting model
similar to Amazon S3 recently.

seb

Sebastian Chan 
Manager, Web Services 
Powerhouse Museum 
street - 500 Harris St Ultimo, NSW Australia 
postal - PO Box K346, Haymarket, NSW 1238 
tel - 61 2 9217 0109 
fax - 61 2 9217 0689
e - [log in to unmask] 
w - www.powerhousemuseum.com 
b - www.powerhousemuseum.com/dmsblog

 


-----Original Message-----
From: Museums Computer Group [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of
Nick Poole
Sent: Thursday, 22 May 2008 8:19 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Collections Management Systems as hosted applications

Dear MCGer's,

I was wondering whether I could enlist your help in a research paper
which the Collections Trust is considering at the moment. We are looking
into the potential for museums to move towards the use of Collections
Management Systems as remotely hosted, browser-accessible applications.

With the rise of utility computing and improvements in bandwidth, it
seems as though many industries are revisiting the Application Service
Provider model
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Application_Service_Provider) as a
cost-effective way of managing both applications and data. On the face
of it, there are some appealing benefits to the ASP (not Active Server
Pages) model for Collections Management Systems. These include:


*         Centralising (and therefore simplifying) the upgrade path for
software

*         Enabling developers to rollout extensions to functionality
globally across their client base

*         Reducing the requirement for local data storage and management

*         Potentially facilitating the processes of Digital Preservation
for museum data

*         Potential cost-savings on technical support and development

On the other hand, there is the risk that museums could perceive a move
towards an ASP-based CMS as a loss of control or potentially integration
with other museum systems, or that connectivity isn't robust enough
provide a service as reliable as a Local Area Network/client-side
application.

The cost-savings and efficiency gains of this development could
potentially be significant, but at the moment we have no clear evidence
about how this model might be/is being applied. I would therefore
welcome any and all thoughts or comments on this issue, and
particularly:


-          Is anyone on the list using a Collections Management System
under an Application Service Provider model?


-          Are any software developers on the list already providing or
planning to provide such a service?



-          What do people think would be the reaction to this if it were
to become a clear direction of travel for information systems?

Hope you don't mind acting as a reference group, but if there's
sufficient interest, we'll follow up with some concerted research and
publish a paper on it later in the year.

With thanks,

Nick




Nick Poole
Chief Executive
Collections Trust

www.collectionstrust.org.uk
www.collectionslink.org.uk
www.cuturalpropertyadvice.gov.uk


Tel:  01223 316028
Fax:  01223 364658


Until the end of April 2008, the Collections Trust's legal trading name
is: MDA (Europe) Ltd Company Registration No: 1300565 Reg. Office: 22
Hills Road, Cambridge, CB2 1JP.

The Collections Trust believes that everybody, everywhere should have
the right to access and benefit from cultural collections. Our aim is to
develop programmes and standards which help connect people and culture.

The Collections Trust was launched from its predecessor body, the MDA,
in March 2008.


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