Requirements checklist
What to ask for when choosing software for museums.
A checklist built from how museums work, to print or save as a PDF and bring to any supplier meeting.
What the software should cover
Tick each one that matters to your business.
- Accession register and object records
- Movements, loans and condition reports
- Exhibition planning and installation
- Timed tickets and group bookings
- Membership and donor records
- Shop, cafe and event hire
- Volunteer and learning programme rota
Roles that need their own access
Who logs in, and what each person may see or change.
- For registrars
- For curators and exhibition teams
- For visitor services
- For the learning and volunteer coordinator
- For the director and trustees
Reports to ask for
Ask to see each one with your own sample data.
- Objects by location, status and last condition check
- Loans in and out with return dates and insured values
- Condition checks overdue by collection area
- Admissions by ticket type, day and group
- Membership renewals due and lapsed members
- Gifts and pledges by donor and appeal
- Shop sales and stock below reorder
Systems it may need to connect to
Note which ones you already run.
- Online ticketing page
- SMS
- Card payments
- Barcode and label printer
- Accounting export
Questions for any vendor
Put these to every supplier you are comparing.
- Does it follow a collections documentation standard?
- Can we track an object that is out on loan to another museum?
- How are condition checks scheduled?
- Can visitors buy tickets on our website?
- Does it handle membership and gift acknowledgements?
- Can the shop and cafe use the same system?
- Can volunteers see their own shifts?
- What happens to our existing catalogue?
- How is the system priced?
Where the work usually breaks today
Circle the ones you recognise. They set the order of the project.
- Object location is known by memory
- Loan paperwork runs separately from the catalogue
- Condition checks are not scheduled
- Visitor and member data is split
- Exhibition plans change without the object list
Prefer to talk it through? See the museums page.