The NWA Continuing Education Fund is Sponsoring a Miniseries on Digital Collection Essentials -- Free to NWA Membership. Presented by Rachael Woody of Rachael Cristine Consulting LLC.

COVID-19 has highlighted the essential role digital collection tools play in the day-to-day access of collection holdings. Due to the pandemic many archives have shuttered or are open for limited hours and access. And yet, archives and museum staff are still trying to meet their mission to facilitate access to their collections. Some are lucky and already have a robust CMS in place. Many more are struggling with a lack of staff, knowledge, tools, or all of the above. This two-part miniseries will support all NWA members who find themselves consumed with trying to deliver their collections online in an easier and more engaging way. Digital collections work and the tools we use are more essential now than ever, and will likely remain so long after the pandemic is over.

Date: February 23 (Tuesday) @1pm Pacific. Can't make it? Register anyway and you'll receive a link to the recording.

Registration Link: https://rachaelcristine.mykajabi.com/discoverable-digital-collection-registration-page

Webinar #1 Abstract: Over the years digital collections have steadily increased in their importance to how archivists and other collection workers serve up collections. And COVID-19 has shown us just how critically important it is for archives and museums to provide a public way to access digital collections. But what if you have little to no collections online? What if they’re online, but they’re failing to engage the community by any meaningful metric? If your collections aren’t online and in front of people, then they don’t exist. This webinar will define what an engaging point of access is, outline creative ways to deliver collections online with or without a Collections Management System (CMS), and review strategies for how to create meaningful digital collection experiences with non-traditional (read: not CMS) platforms.

Webinar #2 Title: The CMS: What’s Essential, What’s Hackable, and What Does it Cost?

Date: February 25 (Thursday) @1pm Pacific. Can't make it? Register anyway and you'll receive a link to the recording.

Registration Link: https://rachaelcristine.mykajabi.com/the-cms-essentials-registration-page

Webinar #2 Abstract: The Pacific Northwest is home to a wide array of cultural heritage organizations with varying budget sizes to accomplish the Sisyphean task of digital collections management. For those who have no Collections Management System (CMS), have cobbled together CMS tools, or are looking for a new CMS; there are questions that require answering:

1. What is “essential” when it comes to serving up digital collections via a CMS?
2. How can I hack various digital collection tools to accomplish my goals?
3. What costs do I need to be aware of when considering my options?

Whether you’re a large and well-funded organization, or a lone-arranger at a modest shop, the truth is we could all use more information to evaluate our digital collections management options. There’s no one-size fits all CMS option, so instead this webinar will provide strategies for how to critically evaluate the essential (to you) functions of a CMS, how the CMS can be flexed to creatively fit needs, and review *all* of the costs to consider when considering digital collection management.