Overview

CDAI provides affiliated catalogue raisonné projects with the following services:

TECHNICAL

Software license, including:

Database (backend for researchers)
Online Catalogue (frontend for public and/or selected user group)

Managed hosting
Regular technology upgrades and ongoing new feature development
Data backups and preservation of underlying assets
Training and continued support
Ability to customize catalogue

EDITORIAL

• Consultancy on catalogue raisonné process and project management, as well as on publication and cataloguing decisions
• Ability to digitize catalogues raisonnés published in book form
• Ability to have CDAI manage your research team
• Ability to have CDAI provide design and image production services

PUBLISHING

• Copy editing and other pre-pubication review
• Online publication
• Digital distribution through CDAI subscriber network to a growing list of museums, universities, libraries, and art market institutions
• Book publishing at cost through CDAI imprint
• Ability to have CDAI manage post-publication editorial updates

Software

A RESEARCH + ARCHIVE TOOL

Digital content management: Our software has been custom-designed to serve as a digital archive and cataloguing tool for artist studios, estates, foundations, and other arts institutions.

Create links between artworks, publications, exhibitions, collectors, venues, institutions, and other relevant categories.

Build artwork records with data fields such as title, date, medium, dimensions, inscriptions, editions, provenance, condition, installation instructions, and comments.

Store multiple images and private documents in each record.

Web-accessible: The software is available anywhere with an internet connection, on any web-enabled device.

Unlimited storage: There are no storage limits, and the performance of your catalogue will not be affected by large data sets.

Attention to your needs: Our software has been shaped by the feedback of multiple catalogue raisonné editors, researchers, and artist studio managers to determine the most useful, practical, and intuitive tools and features. We can customize new features for you, as well.

Compatibility: We can help you to import existing databases and convert them to fit our fields without losing any of your information.

A PUBLISHING TOOL

Ready to publish? By entering information into our digital content management system, you are automatically preparing your content to be published for public view (should you decide to do so). Publish quickly, economically, and according to the schedule of your choosing.

Publish to a selected audience only: Control your user group or make your content available to the wider public.

Publish while withholding confidential information: Protect private portions of your database while sharing other sections with the public. You control what is published and what is archive-only.

Flexible design: Customize the look and feel of your catalogue — including the homepage, artwork views, and all editorial pages.

Ease of navigation: Our design features have all been rigorously tested to ensure ease of use.

Multimedia content: Include any number of images, videos, audio clips, and other multimedia content.

Real-time accuracy/real-time cataloguing: By updating provenance as well as exhibition and literature histories, you can maintain the accuracy of the content; you can also expand the catalogue to include newly discovered information and newly created artworks.

Assistance: Publishing digital catalogues raisonnés is our area of expertise and we are available to make the editing and publishing process as easy as possible.

PUBLISHING PROGRAM

RESEARCH CONSULTANCY

Cahiers d’Art Institute has worked with a wide range of artists and is able to offer advice on all aspects of the cataloguing process, from archival research, to provenance outreach, to challenging conceptual issues related to works in nontraditional mediums, to developing processes and committees for artwork authentication, to image processing and other publication decisions.

We offer consultancy on these and related issues to all the artists, estates, and foundations we work with.

We have access to a network of researchers and editors who can help with any aspect of a catalogue raisonné project.

We can also help you to realize a catalogue raisonné, from the early conceptual stages to final publication.

EDITORIAL SUPPORT

Cahiers d’Art Institute offers pre-publication editorial support for all partner catalogues.

We have a house Style Guide, and can also work to customize a Style Guide for a given artist.

We will work with you to ensure consistency in language and presentation of materials throughout your catalogue.

We can help with image management and production.

We will help to copy edit all artwork records, notes, comments, photo captions, and texts.

We can partner with traditional book publishers for physical editions of your digital archive.

DATA PRESERVATION

In taking steps to ensure the longevity of our catalogues, Cahiers d’Art Institute regularly backs up our databases, allows for immediate exports, frequently introduces new technology to our software, and prioritizes working with third-party archives on issues of long-term data preservation. Our ultimate goal is to leverage our expertise in software development and catalogue raisonné publishing to preserve the legacy and intellectual property of participating artists and estates.