Custom Spectrum integration for collection management
A museum or heritage institution works with a collection management system, but the work around an object often also happens in other systems: the image bank, the website, the loans administration, the storage planning. Appfront builds integrations that we design around Spectrum, the international standard for collections management, so that an incoming object, a movement or a loan is recorded in the same way everywhere.
What are integrations for collections management according to Spectrum?
Spectrum is the collections management standard from Collections Trust in the United Kingdom. In 21 procedures, it describes what an institution does with its collection, such as object entry, acquisition, location and movement control, cataloguing, loans in and out, condition checking and disposal. Spectrum 5.1 is the current version; the Dutch web version corresponds to 5.0. Institutions that want to meet the requirements of the Museum Register (Museumregister) are advised to use Spectrum as a guideline.
A Spectrum integration is therefore not an integration with a system called Spectrum. It is an integration that we design starting from the procedure in question. When an object comes in, registration in the collection system follows, then the photo in the image bank and later publication on the website. When an object goes out on loan, location, condition, insurance and transport must all be correct. Without an integration, this is done by hand, and the systems drift apart.
We build custom integrations because every institution has a different landscape. Which collection management system you use, which image library, how the website presents the collection and which procedures you use most all determine what the integration needs to do. If your collection management system already has a standard integration that does what you need, custom work isn't necessary, and we'll tell you so.
Per procedure
Following the Spectrum steps.
One record
The same object everywhere.
Every movement
Where, when, by whom.
How we build your Spectrum collection management integrations
We start with your collection and your systems: which collection management system, which other systems, which procedures you use most, and where data is currently transferred by hand. We then build a first integration for the procedure with the biggest gain, often cataloguing to the website or image library, or the storage location for loans. You work with it for a while. Further procedures and systems follow if that goes well. After that, we maintain the integrations as your systems change.
Systems alongside Spectrum.
The first integration.
One step at a time.
Go-live, monitoring, and maintenance when things change.
What Spectrum collection management integrations actually do
The components below appear in almost every collection management integration. Which ones you need depends on your collection and your systems.
Cataloguing
To website and image library.
Storage location
Every move recorded.
Loans
Incoming and outgoing, with conditions.
Condition
Reports linked to the object.
Image library
Photos linked to the record.
Log
Every exchange logged.
Who we build Spectrum collection management integrations for
The integrations are intended for institutions that work with a collection management system and no longer want to update other systems by hand, and for suppliers who want to connect their software to a collection management system.
Museums
Large and small.
Collection centres
Depots and provinces.
Archives
With a museum collection.
Suppliers
Connecting collection software.
Technology and integrations
This page is about integrations based on Spectrum. For the registration itself, see our page on collection registration and loan administration, for museums in general our page on museum collection management software, and for images our page on a DAM system. You can read about our approach at custom software development.
Why Appfront for your Spectrum collection management integrations?
An object that is in one place in the collection management system and another in the depot, a photo that isn't linked to the right record, or a loan whose conditions are buried in an email all cost an institution time and trust. That's what we build on: integrations based on a standard the sector knows, with one record that is correct everywhere.
Correct everywhere
One source per object.
Less retyping
For registrars.
A shared language
With colleagues and suppliers.
Security and privacy in Spectrum collection management integrations
Collection data sometimes contains sensitive information, such as storage locations, insured values and lenders' details. The integration only shows on the website what may be public, access is set up per role, keys are stored encrypted, and every exchange is logged.
The part we build runs in a European data centre or in your own environment, with encrypted storage and daily backups. We document the processing in an agreement and align with your institution's security policy.
Frequently asked questions about Spectrum collection management integrations
Questions institutions ask before they get started.
Spectrum is the collections management standard from Collections Trust. In 21 procedures it describes what an institution does with its collection, from incoming objects and cataloguing to loans and disposal. Spectrum 5.1 is the current version; the Dutch web version corresponds to 5.0.
No. Spectrum is a standard, not software. A Spectrum integration is an integration between your collections system and other systems, designed around the Spectrum procedures so that every step is recorded in the same way.
With any collections system that can send or receive data, via an API, an export or a harvesting protocol such as OAI-PMH. We look at which route your system offers in the first step.
Yes. The integration takes objects that may be made public from the collections system, along with the right images from the image bank, and publishes them on your website. A change in the collections system then appears there automatically too.
For an outgoing loan, the integration records location, condition, terms and transport against the object, and keeps the loan administration in line with the collections system. For an incoming loan, the object receives a temporary record with the lender's agreements.
The integration reports it and records what went wrong. The exchange is retried or queued for review, so no record is lost or created twice.
For institutions with a collections system alongside an image bank, website, storage planning or loan administration that are not connected to it, and for vendors who want to connect to collections systems. If your collections system does everything and you are missing nothing, you do not need your own integration.
Your collection the same everywhere?
Tell us which systems you use alongside your collections system and what is still done by hand. We will show you how an integration based on Spectrum can solve it.