General

What is CatalogIt?

CatalogIt is a web-based application for cataloging, managing and working with your collections. The record of each thing you document is an “Entry” in CatalogIt. An Entry is defined by the classification you choose for it (what is it? a basket? a textile? a painting?), the data you input about the Entry’s characteristics, and one or more photos and other types of informative or visual media. The Classification delivers a custom set of data Entry fields including the properties and relationships appropriate for that particular type of item. Examples of CatalogIt Classifications are photograph, painting, sculpture, publication, basket, etc.

Throughout the CatalogIt screens are special descriptive fields called Profiles. Profiles allow you to capture and maintain standardized and reusable information — a controlled vocabulary — about a wide variety of things such as a person, place, material, or technique. Once you’ve created a Profile, for example, of a person or a company that made an item in your collection, that profile is available to you to use again anywhere in your account. Profiles also add depth and detail to your Entries — they relate Entries to one another by these things that they have in common. A Profile can even relate to another profile, such as a person that is related to another person, or people to a particular place. As you are creating or editing an Entry, the Profile fields are easy to identify, as they always have an ellipsis after the name, such as, "Artist...," "Material...," or "Color..."

As you create more Entries, you may wish to organize them into groups based on the type of item, workflow, locations, exhibits, etc. In CatalogIt, these organizational devices are called Folders and are displayed in the “Thumbnail View” described below. You can place an Entry in multiple Folders and make edits to it from within any Folder, saving these changes to the Entry in every Folder location.

Who can use CatalogIt?

CatalogIt is used by museums, libraries, archives, organizations, and individuals from a diverse range of fields and backgrounds. CatalogIt is for personal, niche collections and expansive community histories. Whether you're a volunteer-led historical society, or a large established institution, CatalogIt supports a variety of needs and users. 

How can I try CatalogIt?

We invite you to sign up for free and try any of our accounts! Trial accounts are fully-functioning versions of subscribed accounts, with the exception of our web publishing feature. Create up to 50 Entries while exploring all of the features of CatalogIt. There are no obligations, and you are free to export your data at any time. After your free, 30 day trial period, you are welcome to subscribe on a monthly or annual basis. 

What browsers does CatalogIt support?

CatalogIt supports newer versions of Chrome, Edge, Firefox, and Safari on desktop and mobile. If you are using Microsoft Edge please make sure you're using the latest version (133.0.3065.82) to avoid issues with date formation.

CatalogIt also has mobile native apps for iOS and Android. Download the CatalogIt App from the Apple App Store or from the Google Play Store, and log in with your email and password!

Can I use CatalogIt offline?

As a cloud-based software, you will need reliable Internet access to use CatalogIt. Access your data and work with your collections anywhere you can connect to the Internet!

Can I host my own version of CatalogIt?

The CatalogIt platform is shared across all users (to clarify, NOT the data, just the platform), utilizing Amazon Web Services for our hosting and other cloud services, and there is currently no ability for users to host their own instance. This allows us to make updates, fix bugs, etc., that are immediately available to all users and importantly, allows us to keep the costs low by sharing this infrastructure.

Is CatalogIt actively updated and supported?

Yes! CatalogIt is continually evolving while remaining intuitive and user-friendly. We greatly value feedback from our users, and we actively implement new features and updates based on user requests and recommendations. 

We pride ourselves on providing all of our users with exceptional customer service. Get in touch with us at support@catalogit.app and we'll be happy to work with you!

Can I create custom fields for my Entries?

A large part of the value CatalogIt brings to any collection is a rich set of accepted and authoritative classifications and structured, common field names, which gives museums and collectors a universal language for identifying objects and recording their condition, characteristics, and value. Therefore, adding customized or differentiated data fields adds confusion and detracts from the value that CatalogIt offers. That said, the CatalogIt team is happy to take suggestions for new CatalogIt classifications and to enhance existing product features.

Why am I getting a “Network Request Error”?

There are a few things that can cause this error, and thankfully they are quite easy for you to check:

Check your Internet connection: A failed network request can be the result of an insufficient Internet connection. You can quickly test your upload and download speeds by doing a Google search for "Internet speed test".

Storage, or disk, space: We often see errors like this pop up when a user is working on a device that is running low on storage or memory. This particularly seems to happen when scanning and uploading photos. You can check your device's storage through your device settings. Free up some space if you're running low!

Browser: If neither of the above help, you may want to try using a different browser. Some browsers, like Chrome, have memory settings that will optimize your browser's performance.

Does CatalogIt support multiple languages?

In CatalogIt, you are able to enter text in any language you have installed on your computer, and a single field can contain multiple languages. CatalogIt does not currently store values for multiple languages separately, and you cannot change the language for the field labels or hint text, but we do plan to support both of these features in the future.

Data & Security

How does CatalogIt ensure that my data is secure?

It is our top priority to ensure that the CatalogIt system is secure and trusted. Our infrastructure operates in a VPN (Virtual Private Network) behind a firewall fronted by load balancers that restricts traffic to a single port. CatalogIt infrastructure runs on AWS (Amazon Web Services) and utilizes their monitoring tools (CloudWatch) to notify us of performance issues and oversee memory, load, disc usage, etc. 

Traffic to our database servers, search engine, and worker processes can only originate from within the VPN; our database servers cannot be accessed from outside the VPN. All communication between client and server happens over secure HTTPS/TLS connections. We do not use cookies or store any personally identifiable information on your computer or mobile device. Authorization utilizes the OAuth2 protocol that is used by Apple, Google, and other top-tier technology-dependent businesses to secure their data and transactions. CatalogIt stores the OAuth2 refresh and access tokens on the client’s devices; the client token expires every few minutes and the refresh-token can be revoked at any time. 

For added security, CatalogIt supports MFA (multi-factor authentication). MFA adds an additional layer of security to your account by requiring an additional code to log in that is either sent to your mobile device via text message or generated by a third-party authenticator app such as Microsoft Authenticator, Google Authenticator, etc.

How does CatalogIt protect my data from loss or disaster?

CatalogIt utilizes Amazon S3's virtual private cloud to securely store data. Amazon S3 stores data redundantly across Availability Zone's (AZ) for protection against the possibility of permanent loss of an entire data center. CatalogIt stores all data in two geographically separated data centers. The primary data center is in Eastern Oregon and the secondary data center is in Virginia.

Storing data in two separate locations protects data from natural disasters and technological failures. If anything happens that affects one data center, the other data center is there as a backup. This includes the possibility of digital decay. If it were to occur in one location, the probability of it happening in the other is statistically near zero.

Amazon S3 is designed to provide 99.999999999% (11 nines) data durability. Its design for durability is a function of storage device failure rates and the rate at which S3 can detect failure and then re-replicate data on those devices. S3 has end-to-end integrity checking on every object upload and verifies that all data is correctly and redundantly stored across multiple storage devices before it considers your upload to be successful. Once your data is stored in S3, S3 continuously monitors data durability over time with periodic integrity checks of all data at rest. S3 also actively monitors the redundancy of your data to help verify that your objects are able to tolerate the concurrent failure of multiple storage devices.

Who has access to my data?

You have full and absolute control over your data. Only you and those you have authorized in your CatalogIt account can view or edit your account's data. CatalogIt staff does not view or access any User or Account data without obtaining your express permission. 

How can I export my data from CatalogIt?

Your data can easily be exported at any time by using the Export function in the Actions Menu. Data can currently be exported as a CSV file or as a JSON file. The file is emailed to you, so you can access and save it from any device. 

Bulk exporting of images and attachments is currently unavailable for users. If you would like your images and attachments exported, please contact us at support@catalogit.app and we will be happy to help you.

We have plans to support exporting data as XML and HTML, as well as enabling users to complete bulk exports of images and attachments. We strongly believe that your data belongs to you, and you should always be free to access and retrieve it!

Import & Migration

How can I import my data into CatalogIt?

Data can be imported into CatalogIt as an Excel file (.xls, .xlsx) or as a CSV file (.csv). CSV is a universal format, and many applications enable exports of CSV files.

For more information, please refer to our article on Importing Data.

How can I migrate my collections data to CatalogIt?

Our team will work with you to prepare your existing data for migration to CatalogIt. We have successfully migrated accounts from the following CMS (Collection Management System)/Inventory databases:

• PastPerfect
• Eloquent
• EmbARK
• FileMaker Pro
• Koha
• TMS
• Mimsy
• Collector Systems
• Omeka
• Content DM
• Vernon CMS
• Spreadsheet Software (Excel, Numbers)
• Microsoft Access
• Microsoft Word

Don't see yours listed? Reach out to us at support@catalogit.app and we'll be happy to take a look!

What happens after I migrate to CatalogIt?

Our team will work with you to review your data, address any questions, and plan any follow-ups. Our support team is available at support@catalogit.app.

Images, PDFs, & Audio/Video Files

What types of files and images can I upload to CatalogIt?

You can currently attach JPG, PNG, GIF, TIFF, RAW, Excel, Microsoft Word, PDF, and most video and audio formats, including MP4 and WAV, to CatalogIt Entries and Profiles.

Can I bulk upload or import my images?

There is not yet a system for users to bulk upload or import images, but we plan to implement one in the future. If you send us your images, we'd be happy to upload them for you. Just make sure that the image file names correspond to an Entry by using the exact Entry name or the Entry ID.

Is there a limit to the number or size of images that can be added to an Entry?

There is no limit to the number or sizes of images you can add to an Entry. CatalogIt recognizes that there are many cases where multiple images can be particularly valuable for documenting an Entry. You may want to keep in mind that large, high-quality image files can take up a lot of the allotted storage of your account. To ensure that the images you are uploading are compliant with imaging and digitization standards, check out our MasterIt article, Digital Imaging Guidelines.

Does CatalogIt compress or otherwise alter the images I upload? How can I download my images?

CatalogIt stores all original images in their original sizes and formats, with their original file names, making them available to you whenever and wherever you might need them. We like to think of CatalogIt as a mini/lightweight DAMs (Digital Asset Management system). CatalogIt enables you to aggregate all of the digital assets related to your collections in a single repository, safely and confidently.

You can download your images by selecting your Entry, then clicking on an Entry photo to view your original image. In the upper-left corner, you can choose the version of the photo that you'd like to download, and then select where you'd like it to save — in this case, a memory stick!

Do images taken with the CatalogIt app take up space on my mobile device?

CatalogIt does not store the images taken in the app on your mobile device. This is so the photos don't consume your device's memory. The downside of not storing the photos on your device is, in the event the upload fails or you forget to click "Save," you will have to retake the photos; the upside is that we don't contribute a bunch of images to your camera roll.

Why do some of my images appear “fuzzy”?

CatalogIt uses a few different image sizes in the app: 
1. A very small, low-quality thumbnail
2. A "small," medium-quality image that is used in the Entry view and Edit screens
3. A "full" sized, high-quality image for viewing, and zooming into, a single image.  

CatalogIt utilizes these different images to minimize network bandwidth and ensure app performance. The small, medium-quality images may suffer from "fuzziness" produced as a result of resizing the image. When viewing an Entry, however, if you click on a single image to view it in the image viewer, it will appear clear. Rest assured that your original image is safe, and the full, high-res version appears clean and crisp. This fuzziness only appears in Entry view and edit derivative image "previews."

Why can I only see the first page of my uploaded PDF?

When you upload a multi-page PDF, CatalogIt uses the first page as a preview, or placeholder, for the file. To view the entire file, you simply need to download it to your computer or mobile device. To do this, click on the preview image in the Entry, and then the "cloud" download icon that will appear in the upper-left corner.

Can I play the audio and video files attached to my CatalogIt Entries?

Yes and no. Currently, CatalogIt supports audio and video playback in the app, but not through the HUB. Audio and video playback will be added in a future update to the HUB.

What are “Top Level Images”?

"Top Level Images" are any image attached to an Entry.

HUB & Web Publishing

What is the HUB?

The HUB is a web-based platform where CatalogIt accounts can choose to publish their collections online. The ability to publish to the HUB is included with every subscribed account. With a few clicks of the mouse, hundreds or even thousands of Entries can be accessible and searchable. You select the Entries you'd like to make available, and when. The HUB is an easy and secure way to share your collection with your community and the world. 

See our MasterIt article, Web Publishing for Collections Access, to learn more about web publishing and the benefits of sharing your collection online.

How do I publish to the HUB?

The ability for subscribed accounts to publish to the HUB first needs to be enabled on the back-end. To enable publishing to the HUB, just reach out to us at support@catalogit.app and let us know! Owners of the account have access to set up the publishing profile with your logo and banner image, as well as a description of your institution or collection. Select which Folders you'd like to publish, and which data fields you'd like to share with the public.  

Can I change the arrangement of Entries in the HUB?

There isn't yet a user interface for you to manage this. The arrangement defaults to a sort based on Name/Title, though we can enforce a different sort option on the HUB for you (some people have had success using the Other Number field for this). In future releases of the HUB, we are looking at implementing a click and drag sort order, though that is further out on our roadmap.

Does the HUB capture visitor traffic data?

Not yet, but this is a frequently requested addition. User metric tracking will be a feature of a future release of the HUB.

Who can see what I publish to the HUB?

Your account page will appear on the HUB portal and will be accessible to the public via searching or general browsing. You can request that we hide your account page from general browsing, but your Entries will still appear if someone were to search for them. We plan to implement an option for password protected access at some point in the future. 

Can I add or edit a watermark on the images that I upload to the HUB?

Currently, you can select the text of the watermark and the location of the watermark that will be displayed on your image. To set your watermark, click on the Main Menu, Web Publishing, then select the Media tab and make changes under “Watermark.”

The size of the displayed watermark depends on the amount of characters the watermark contains — less letters = larger font; more letters = smaller font.

How can I publish to my own website?

With an additional subscription to the CatalogIt API, you can utilize our API and iFrame integration, or our WordPress plugin, to publish your collections directly to your own website. 

Account owners can add the API integration to the subscription by clicking on the Main Menu, Settings, then Subscriptions and Add-ons.

Our API integration and WordPress plugin guides can be found by clicking the links below:

CatalogIt Public API Reference Guide

iFrame Integration Guide

WordPress Plugin Installation Guide

Accounts, Users, & Subscriptions

Where can I find the End User License Agreement?

You must agree to the terms of the End User License Agreement when you create your account. A copy of the End User License Agreement may be accessed on our website.

How can I change my email address that is associated with my account?

You can change your email address by logging in, clicking on the Main Menu, Settings, and then Email. From there, input and confirm the new email address and click Change Email.

Can multiple users share a CatalogIt login?

For readonly logins, it's fine for multiple users to share a single login, although it is best not to use it concurrently. However, if the users are going to be making changes, it's best if each user has their own login. First, you maintain a strict and unambiguous audit log of who made what changes, and when. Secondly, when users change certain preference settings, that can create conflicts with other users who are utilizing the same login credentials.

How many users can I add to my account? How do I add additional users to my subscription?

Subscribed accounts can have as many users as they need to manage their collection. Subscribed Museum, Organization, and Conservator accounts includes ten users; every Personal account includes three users. Additional users can be added to any account to accommodate interns, volunteers, increased staffing, or more family members. Prices and account breakdowns can be found on our website.

Account owners can add an additional user to the subscription by clicking on the Main Menu, Settings, then Subscriptions and Add-ons.

What are the permission or access levels for users?

CatalogIt currently has several permission levels, which can be found at User Permissions. 

Account Owners can change the access levels for their users, or remove them if needed. To do this, click on the Main Menu, Settings, and Users, then click on the corresponding edit pencil next to the User. There, you will have the option to edit or remove the selected user.

How do I add or remove a user from our account?

Account Owners are able to add, edit, and remove users from the account.

To add a user and set their access level, click on the Main Menu, Settings, then Users, then click Add User. Once you've added their email address and set their access level, they will receive an email invite!

To remove a user, click on the Main Menu, Settings, then Users, then click on the pencil next to the user's access level and select Remove. You will be prompted to confirm the users removal by typing in "Remove [user name]."

Does CatalogIt offer discounts to not-for-profit organizations?

The majority of our users are not-for-profit museums, historical societies, and educational institutions — as such, we cannot offer discounts on our subscriptions.

We strive to be competitive, fair, and transparent with our pricing. We are currently offering PastPerfect 4 or 5 users free account migrations, followed by a free 60-day full-use trial of our program. If you choose to utilize CatalogIt after your trial period, you can then subscribe on a monthly or annual basis — annual subscriptions do have a 20% discount over monthly subscriptions.

How much does CatalogIt cost?

Users can set up a free Museum, Personal, Organization, or Conservator Account with full functionality (with the exception of Web publishing) for up to 50 Entries. When your Account exceeds 50 Entries, you can subscribe and continue using the same account. Annual and monthly subscription prices can be found on our website.

How do I subscribe?

To create your subscription, log in to your account on your desktop, click Main Menu, Settings, then Subscription, and click Subscribe. You will choose your billing frequency (monthly or annual), your plan size, and any additional add-ons.

If you prefer to receive an invoice, please contact us at support@catalogit.app and we'll be happy to set that up for you!

How do I update my billing information for my subscription?

The account owner that created the subscription can log in, click the Main Menu, Subscription, then update the billing information.

If the person who created the subscription is no longer with your organization, please contact us at support@catalogit.app and we'll work with you to update your subscription!

How do I cancel my subscription?

You can cancel your subscription by logging in from your computer (not via your phone or other mobile device), clicking on the Main Menu, Settings, and then Subscription. Click on the "trash can" icon next to the subscription. At the end of your subscription period, your account will revert to read-only status. After it reverts to read-only status, you can resume working in your account at any time by re-subscribing.

What happens to my data if my subscription lapses or is canceled?

Your data will not be deleted or altered in any way, but your account will be placed into read-only status. You will still be able to login, access, and download your data, but you won’t be able to make any edits or additions. Your account will be waiting for you exactly how you left it if you choose to re-subscribe.