We can’t believe it’s December and 2020 is almost over- this has been a crazy year for everyone. We have had a very busy year - full of upgrades and updates. Earlier in the year we made updates to the Location profile and as a final step of that process we will be removing the “Storage Location” field and renaming “Current Location” to just “Location.” As “Location” is now a repeating field and you can indicate the category of the location (permanent, storage, exhibit, etc.), having both fields has become redundant. We will be sending out an email to explain this change prior to the update. And not to worry, you will not lose any data in this process. Your data will all remain and be easier to understand moving forward.
Our team at CatalogIt regularly refines, updates and expands our capabilities to provide the best service to our subscribers and lead the field in Collections Management System ease, flexibility, security and responsiveness. We really want you to love your CMS!
Last month, we presented a thought-provoking webinar, “Connecting with your Community through Collections”- it was very well received! Our wonderful panelists provided a variety of great ideas. In case you missed it, please visit this link to view a recording of the webinar. We’ll be presenting more webinars so if you’d like to suggest a topic please let us know. Visit the same link and send us your thoughts.
This month is a month for giving- we hope you will consider supporting a museum or organization that you care about. This year they will likely need your support more than ever!
It’s that season again - Year End Gift time. This is when arts patrons, desiring to make donations of objects for tax purposes*, gift museums their treasures at the very end of the year. Some of these gifts will augment permanent collections and some will be given in order to benefit museums in some other way. While museums rely on these donations to fill out their collections, they often struggle to process these gifts quickly at the end of the year in order to properly track and document them.
In order for a gift of property to count for that particular tax year, it needs to be in the physical possession of the museum or the museum's agent (for example - a Fine Art Shipper or contract conservator). Once in the museum's possession, they are ethically and legally responsible to track and document the items given. But how do they quickly and easily track these eleventh hour gifts - especially this year when many museums have limited staff or hours? Simple - CatalogIt! For more information on how you can use CatalogIt to manage your year end gifts, visit our recent [blog post](www.catalogit.app/blog/2020/12/7/year-end-gift).
*Note that tax regulations vary from year to year and from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. Please consult your legal counsel.
Toronto’s First Post Office, operated by the Town of York Historical Society, showcases a range of archives and artifacts— from inkwells to scales to seals— representing the heritage of the historic post office as well as the Town of York, an area that was incorporated as the city of Toronto in 1834. At that time, the Post Office served the town’s entire population of 9,000. The historic Post Office building, dating from 1833, was included within a restoration project alongside a block of historical buildings in downtown Toronto. One of the core functions of the staff is to continue to preserve and share the history of the area while maintaining Post Office operations as an authorized full-service dealer for Canada Post.
Check out some of the collections of this Canadian National Historic Site on their CatalogIt HUB page!
Hello, I’m Nathan Kerr, Software Engineer and Support Specialist for CatalogIt. I work with clients to migrate their data into CatalogIt- I love the process of making the data fit just right and meeting each organization’s needs. I have a background working in museums managing collection information systems and digitization programs. My interest in museums blossomed as an undergraduate studying art history. I feel very fortunate to be able to pursue my passion for technology in the service of the individuals and institutions who are working to keep our histories and tell our stories.
Personally, I use CatalogIt to help my partner document the history of ChiFresh Kitchen, a worker-owned business run by formerly incarcerated folks here in Chicago which she co-founded. I catalog everything from business and legal documents to digital photographs, and even custom painted Nike Air Force 1’s. I’m humbled to be able to help document and keep ChiFresh’s important and inspiring story. When I’m not working, I enjoy riding my bike along Lake Michigan, going rock climbing with my partner, cooking noodle soups, making hot sauce, and folding paper airplanes with my six year old.
