Hunched over an antique mahogany desk, Suzor works in the shadow of a series of huge oak file cabinets that line the back wall of her office. More than 100 drawers across, the cabinet contains nearly 45,000 fading index cards with information about every item the museum has owned since it opened in 1916. The science of online collaboration White Papers Electronic Catalog Management Technology has displaced old card files from Chief Registrar Mary Suzor's work. Collections managers of yesterday referred to these cards 20 to 30 times a day, constantly updating information by hand as it became available. Today, however, the catalog is more of a museum relic, thanks to a new, Windows-based collections management system and museumwide strides in information technology.
Technology is responsible for it all.
IT is transforming the museum experience around the country, from the venerable CMA to the Experience Music Project, a new music museum in Seattle. Once remarkably low-tech institutions, these nonprofits are turning to IT in record numbers to streamline processes and cut costs across the board. At most museums, IT efforts are led by someone in the finance department or by a technologist who reports to a vice president. Fresh off a three-year stint at his hometown's Guggenheim Museum, Steinbach is regarded by many industry bigwigs as a champion of IT in the nonprofit world. One year into his tenure at the CMA, he's proven himself with innovative initiatives that include a spanking new website, a highly regarded distance education curriculum and a grandiose effort to digitize every object in the museum's collection.