Implementing a Consolidated Collections Information System

FAIN: PW-259034-18

Arizona Board of Regents (Tucson, AZ 85721-0073)
Suzanne L. Eckert (Project Director: July 2017 to present)

The continued development and completion of a single, searchable database for the Arizona State Museum’s ethnographic and archaeological collections, which document 13,000 years of cultural heritage in the southwestern United States and northern Mexico.  At the completion of this phase, over 360,000 database entries would be made accessible online and linked to archival records of original excavation notes and reports.

Funding is requested to implement Phase Two of the Arizona State Museum Consolidated Collections Information System (ASM-CCIS), which is designed to ultimately migrate all ASM collection catalogs into a unified, online system. Phase Two focuses on the archaeology catalogs and will span two years with a request of $331,616 from NEH (total cost for Phase Two is $653,593). Once completed, ASMCCIS will include a single searchable database comprised of ASM’s ethnographic and archaeological collections that will be linked to our archival records of original excavation notes and reports. ASM-CCIS will be available online to students, researchers, tribal governments, and the general public resulting in greater access to ASM collections than ever before possible. This will be a major advancement in ASM’s stated mission to enhance understanding and appreciation of the cultural history of Arizona and the surrounding region.