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As museums slowly reopen, we know that one-on-one collections access will be limited at first. Knowing that allowing research access is a continuing and ongoing part of collections care, it is important to utilize all the resources you can as effectively as possible. Aside from the CatalogIt HUB, reports - whether sent in the mail or saved as a PDF and emailed - are key in sharing information with your researchers, students, community, and scholars.
Since CatalogIt allows you to keep your collection information at your fingertips, compiling information for research requests is simple. Easily create a new private folder for that research request (remember, you can have as many folders as you need and you can easily delete the working folder when you are done with it) and include any and all object records in the folder that match the request. Once you have populated your folder, all you have to do is create your report, save it as a PDF or print it and send it out. It cannot be easier to share information with your community!
While some Collections Management Systems rely on complicated report writers such as Powerbuilder or Crystal Reports, CatalogIt allows you to create your customized report, with as much or as little information as you would like, on the fly. You may choose to include the primary image only or all images. You can print as a nicely pre-formatted document or extract the data in a spreadsheet. Even if your records are published online through the HUB, these reports can be a great tool to capture additional information that you may not have chosen to publish on the web but would like to share with researchers or scholars.
CatalogIt includes a few pre-formatted reports, but creating your own is a more targeted way to share your information. And it is so easy! Simply start by selecting “print” from the actions menu, the three dots in the upper right corner of your screen. From here you can choose to print “pages”, “table”, or “labels”. For a researcher I would select pages - it is a friendly format that allows for a larger image and offers more room for text. Next, you can choose to print the primary image or all images and select exactly which fields you want to include in your report. When you are done, select “print,” and use your computer’s settings to print either as a PDF or to your printer. It cannot be easier to provide your researchers exactly the information they are looking for.
We know that reopening to the public is going to bring on a new set of problems for you to solve. We do hope that CatalogIt can help make it easier to share your information and give you one less thing to think about.