Free Museum database software

I started this project because of my involvement with a local historical society. They have a collection of photos, books, documents, and other artifacts, but they do not have adequate space to store everything, and they don't have resources to waste on some database software to help them get organized.

I thought it would be fun to develop a software package that would do the job, and offer it (free of charge) to other organizations. Nonprofits, schools, museums, historical societies, clubs, and others might be able to use this tool, and they wouldn't have to spend hundreds or thousands of dollars - those funds can be put to better use.

An expanded project
A simple project soon expanded into a more complex software application. If this software was going to help a variety of organizations, it needed to address the range of artifacts found in the real world, and not simply the photos and documents accumulated by a local historical society.

I wanted the software to remain free, but I realized that the effort it takes to develop, distribute, update, and support the application cannot go on without compensation forever. So I came up with a plan: I'd write a small book about the process, and use the proceeds from the book to help finance any future work on the project. I've written a couple of other books:

Bookkeeping for Nonprofits: A Step-by-Step Guide to Nonprofit Accounting

The Budget-Building Book for Nonprofits: A Step-by-Step Guide for Managers and Boards (w/CD)

with my writing partner, Murray Dropkin, so I had some idea aboout the effort it would take (and some idea of the possible revenue it might generate).

Buying the book is NOT a requirement. I took the basic software and added some useful features - what is now the Premium version - and I give it to anyone who buys the book. The basic version works great, and most organizations will use it and be very happy with its functionality. The Premium version lets you add references to images and it gives you more options for printing or exporting the data, but both versions have the same capability to keep track of your artifacts.

If I sell some books, that's great - I'll have some revenue to justify spending more time on the project. In any event, the Museum Archive software package will be free for anyone to use, and I hope it helps some organizations get organized.

http://www.musarch.com