Proprietary and open source collections management systems: two case studies

This thesis is comprised of two case studies on the selection and implementation of systems Mimsy XG at Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) and AtoM and Islandora at Ryerson University’s Archives and Special Collections. These studies highlight the changes cultural heritage institutions are currently undergoing to digitally structure, manage, and access collections data by using a relational collections management system (CMS). The findings show that the success of a CMS is largely determined by the type of cultural heritage institution implementing it (archives, libraries, and museums), the types of collections within that organisation, in addition to institutional mandates and requirements. The ways in which a CMS platform answers these requirements through the data model and proprietary or open-source implementations determine the outcome of an institutional transition to a CMS.