CollectionSpace Community, Thank you all for contributing to an exciting and productive 2017. We'd like to take a moment to highlight some of last year’s great accomplishments and this year’s exciting new opportunities. First, a warm welcome to our ten new implementers. Stretching across North America, South America, and Europe, these new users span a wide range of collections from vintage computer equipment to contemporary art. We would also like to congratulate our mini-grant recipients at the Queens Museum, Tsai Art and Science Foundation, Columbia Gorge Veterans Museum, and the Ohio History Connection. Our full list of known implementers is up-to-date online: http://www.collectionspace.org/who-we-are/. Know of someone who is considering CollectionSpace? Send them an invitation to one of our bi-monthly walkthroughs. Links to our RSVP form are available online: http://www.collectionspace.org/calendars/. We are very proud of our last public release, version 4.5<https://wiki.collectionspace.org/display/collectionspace/Release+4.5>. The release included new profiles for Anthropology and Botanical Gardens, and a number of architectural improvements designed to keep our back end code running smoothly. Our new CSV migration tool<https://github.com/lyrasis/cspace-converter> continues to improve with the assistance of the LYRASIS digital technology services team. Version 5.0<https://nightly.collectionspace.org/cspace/core/login> is nearing completion, with an anticipated code freeze at the end of this month. In addition to a complete rewrite of the UI code, version 5.0 will also include a number of improvements to the services layer and the first version of the Public Art profile. We will begin QA in February, so get those browsers warmed up! Last year was also great for our partners and community stewards. Material Order, the design materials consortium led by the Harvard University Graduate School of Design and the Rhode Island School of Design has worked to improve the design materials profile, and has led close to a dozen demos for design collections across the country. Material Order will be hosting a CollectionSpace lunch at this February’s ARLIS conference<http://www.collectionspace.org/calendar/art-libraries-society-of-north-america-annual-conference-2018-new-york-city/> in New York City. The Western States Arts Federation (WESTAF) has been working on the rollout of the public art profile, for which they will be the lead service provider. We are excited to kick off this new collaboration at the Americans for the Arts conference<http://www.collectionspace.org/calendar/americans-for-the-arts-annual-convention-2018/> in Denver this June. Finally, the CollectionSpace program team is participating in two exciting grant projects. Megan and Laurie are currently serving as co-directors of an IMLS leadership grant called, “It Takes a Village: Open Source Software Models of Collaboration and Sustainability<http://www.lyrasis.org/membership/Pages/IMLS-OSS.aspx>.” The final report produced as a result of this grant will help guide CollectionSpace and other open source projects serving cultural heritage toward greater sustainability. In November, LYRASIS was awarded a grant<http://lyrasisnow.org/press-release-90000-award-from-mellon/> from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to research current technology uses in museums, especially in relation to collections information management. The results of this grant will help strengthen CollectionSpace, inform LYRASIS’ museum-based initiatives, and improve the work of others seeking to strengthen the value that museums bring to the world through effective implementation of technology. We couldn’t do any of this great work without the support and contributions of our wonderful members and implementers. To learn more about becoming a member or partner, drop Megan a line: megan.forbes@lyrasis.org<mailto:megan.forbes@lyrasis.org>. We’d love to have you! Here’s to a wonderful 2018. Best regards, Megan Forbes, CollectionSpace Program Manager Richard Millet, CollectionSpace Technical Lead Megan Forbes CollectionSpace Program Manager megan.forbes@lyrasis.org 917.267.9676 Cell meganbforbes Skype