We have organized the following resources into either paid or free resources and have indicated whether each one is a closed (C) or open (O) resource. Please note, "closed" or "open" resource does not determine whether a program is free or not. Instead, it indicates whether the program's source code is made public or not (for propriety, licensing, and business-related restrictions). A program with an open source code is more likely to be sustainable because access to the code will still be available years after you've built the site.

Paid Sources:

• ContentDM (C)

• PastPerfect Museum Software (more for archiving collections online) (C)

Free Sources:

• Omeka.org or Omeka Classic (provides more flexibility than Omeka.net) (O)

  • Neatline (Omeka add-on)

  • Curatescape (Omeka add-on)

• KnightLab (O)

  • Storytelling apps

  • Timeline

• Google Open Gallery (C)

• Collective Access (archiving collections online) (O)

• ArchiveIT (archiving online - Larissa Ringham of UBC Library's Digital Initiatives Unit has a service for this) (O)

• Conifer (archiving online) (O)

• CollectionBuilder (archiving online) (O)

• Islandora (O)

• CollectionSpace (O)

• Open Exhibits (O)

• Pachyderm (O)

• Spotlight (O)

• Scalar (O)

• Wax (minimal computing - intermediate) (O)

You may need to design exhibition layouts, catalogues, item labels, posters, or other print collateral for your exhibition(s). The following design softwares can be used to assist with any of your graphic design needs.

• Adobe Creative Suite (Free to UBC faculty and staff)

• Adobe Spark (Free)

• Canva (Free)

You may need to host your

UBC Hosting Options

• UBC IT's shared (bronze) web hosting:

  • Limited size of database which is negotiable

  • Cost: $100 per year which includes 2GB (possibility to increase via request to IT)

  • IT maintains server infrastructure; user responsible for the site itself and any updates needed (including security)

• UBC CMS Wordpress site hosted at UBC

  • UBC common-look and feel template; very limited styling and plugin options.

Non-UBC Hosting Options

• Reclaim hosting

• Inexpensive web hosting service based out of the US

• Aimed at Educators

• Good for future-proofing if the project will eventually be maintained with minimal resources; has some migration support from their hosting service to other services.

• ~$40 CAD - ~$140 CAD for canned versions of hosting. For more hands on support, can cost $750 CAD.

• Not for secure data; not FIPPA compliant, some account PII stored on US servers; FERPA compliant; align with GDPR where possible.

• Digital Ocean

  • A branch of Reclaim

  • Digital Ocean has servers internationally including in Canada (Toronto, Canada: TOR1.)