If you’ve been exploring our online collections over the past few years, we have good news—researching with us just got easier thanks to some exciting upgrades! Previously, some of our collections were available for viewing right on our website, such as our Oral History Collection. Other materials were on a separate website called LUNA, like our digital Map, Photograph, and Quilt Collections. And while we had a database that kept track of everything for our staff, it was not available for the public to view things that were not yet digitized. In lieu of that, we created Finding Aids where researchers could view online lists of archival material in our collection related to Montclair and New Jersey history that they may want to explore further. At the end of the day, researchers and the general public had to look in three separate places just to find what they were looking for. What a hassle!
That brings us to our shiny, new collections database, PastPerfect Web Edition! This cloud-based database takes all the familiarity of our old database and brings it into the modern age. Our staff can access the database from anywhere we have internet (believe it or not we could not do that before!), making the management and updating to our records a breeze. MHC staff, interns, and volunteers can now even search across our collections remotely when conducting research requests for the public. The new system is fully integrated with our Online Collections portal, allowing the public to view many of the items in our collection. This integration eliminates the need for duplicate data entry and streamlines the process of making our collections accessible online.
A behind-the-scenes look at our new Collections Database
A sample record in the new Collections Database
Now, how did we get here? Well it was a long and arduous process that would not have been possible were if it not for funding from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) Inspire! Grants for Small Museums. Our request for funding was fortunately accepted by IMLS and thus the project began last fall. With funding, we were able to bring in Collections Assistant and recent MSU graduate Jess Titterington who has experience with museum collections and a former MHC Collections Management Intern (you may recognize her name from the blog posts she’s written for us!). To get the process started, the project team underwent a comprehensive updating of our collections data, this includes over 16,000 objects and archival materials, before we could migrate to the new system. Jess Titterington began this 5 month long process with supervision from our Collections Manager, Erin Benz. The result is a stream-lined process of managing our artifact and archival materials in our collection and making them accessible to the public through our Online Collections portal.
Our new Online Collections portal!
A sample of a Keyword Search on our Online Collections site
Currently, you can view our digitized Maps, Quilts, Postcards, Photographs, Oral Histories, MHS Football, and Montclair Dramatic Club collections through our Online Collections portal. Over the next few months we will continue to add ore history collections such as the Montclair Ambulance Unit Collection and Lantern Slide collection that had previously been available on LUNA. Over the next year, we will make even more of our non-digitized records available, and slowly phase out the use of Finding Aids.
When using the online portal, the public can use the ‘Keyword and Advanced Search’ functions (see an example on the right) to find any photographs, letters, deeds, books, newspaper articles, oral histories, physical objects, and more that are preserved in our collections and that are related to the various families, buildings, communities, organizations, and everything else that make up Montclair. While not everything will be digitized with an image or photograph, overtime all research materials in our collection will appear in the portal so that the public knows what we have and that it is available. As we work on adding more content to the portal, you can explore the material that is available on our Online Collections portal to get a taste for what you can find at MHC.
Click the button below to check out our new Online Collections site!