As a leader in database management for over 40 years, we have the expertise to securely manage your collection for the long term. Whether you have archival, museum, or library holdings, or a combinations of all 3, we have a solution that will work for your unique needs.
Unlike other solutions, all of our software runs on the MINISIS core database engine which uses a unique markup language. This keeps it safe from hackers targeting more common languages, and allows us to create custom solutions as required.
Share your collection with the world while keeping it secure & easy to manage. Our hosted solutions on the MS Azure Platform allow for redundant system availability without any need for local management. Enjoy the freedom to focus on your daily work activities and not IM/IT.
We are familiar with guiding clients through the process of bringing a collection online for the first time as well as integrating a new collection into an existing website. Having both development and design services in-house allows us to keep costs low and deliver projects quickly.
As a MINISIS client you will have access to our log in area where you can find video tutorials, industry resources, events, and a full client support system. This system allows you to easily contact us using our ticketing system and communicate with other clients as well.
A diverse collection of software tools from the database layer to the web presentation layer to show off content found inside the database management system. The DBMS tool allows users to take advantage of the COTS (customizable off the shelf) applications to manage any type of record with specialized functionality for a wide variety of industries.
TORONTO, CANADA – the Ontario Heritage Trust (OHT) based in Toronto has released their new online public access (OPAC) module today which can be accessed by clicking the embedded link or directly via: https://www.heritagetrust.on.ca/en/index.php/pages/tools/collections-database.
Using the Trust’s Collections database, you can now access thousands of artifacts associated with Trust-owned heritage properties, many of which are not currently on public display. Check out some of the finest curatorial, archaeological collections and properties throughout the Province of Ontario. While there, you can learn more about the OHT and its unique position uncovering, documenting and safeguarding a wide range of holdings. Come, check out the collections, to reveal the layers of history at OHT sites that tell us all about the people and communities that came before us throughout Ontario. Help us celebrate OHT and its staff for the hard work they do to support culture and heritage.
We have been told the email issue has been fixed. If you have emailed any MINISIS staff and there’s been no response, please resend your email (with confirmation receipt requested) or call us at: 1-(604) 255-4366. MINISIS sincerely apologizes for the inconvenience. Users with valid MIN.NET accounts, everything is fine if you prefer to log your email in the system and send your request.
To avoid repetition, however many clients do ask, “How are things going with Covid and the staff?”. Fortunately, our British Columbia and Ontario offices remain Covid-19 free. However, the statistics or “Covid Curve” has been dramatically increasing over the past few weeks. Therefore, nothing has changed for MINISIS since Covid, other than there may be slight delays in communication as staff are working at various on-site and off-site (residential) premises. We have seen a dramatic, 49% increase in email communications since Covid. Therefore, if you have sent an email or left a message and you have not received a response – please do not hesitate to resend/call again. Covid is not stopping MINISIS Inc. MINISIS is in full operations and plans to expand again, in the very near future! So be safe, be kind and be calm. Of course, please wear a mask and maintain your social distancing. We need our clients to stay healthy, so you can see and take advantage of the new evolutions in MINISIS technology!
Ngāi Tahu had this to say about their new online public access catalogue powered by MINISIS:
"We warmly invite you to explore Kareao, our online archive database which was launched at last year’s Ngāi Tahu Hui-ā-iwi. Kareao uses an internationally recognised archival database produced by Canadian social entrepreneurial company MINISIS. While the same software is used by several other New Zealand archives and internationally, this is the first time it has been implemented by an indigenous people."
"Kareao marks a new era in the development of the Ngāi Tahu Archive by providing unprecedented access to the tribal archive, including manuscripts, photographs, maps, biographies, oral histories, taonga and audio-visual material."
City of Toronto launches new MINISIS Inc OPAC, look what Mayor Tory is saying: https://www.toronto.ca/news/city-of-toronto-residents-get-a-peek-at-torontos-unique-past-through-historicto/ or search directly at: https://www.toronto.ca/explore-enjoy/history-art-culture/museums/
Just an update to let clients and the community know that MINISIS Inc and its staff are doing well. Some staff are working from the office or home or, a combination of both. MINISIS will announce its official return to the office; once it is safe for everyone to return. The office tower has been marked and signage updated to match current health requirements. MINISIS Inc is finalizing its new post-Covid office policies to respect the current best practices. MINISIS trust you are doing well. Remember, its more important than ever, “to be safe, be calm and be kind!”(Dr. B. Henry)
Over the past few weeks, Christopher’s email box has become full, several times. If you have emailed Christopher and there’s been no response, please resend your email. Christopher apologizes for the inconvenience but with Covid and numerous projects underway, the volume of email had unexpectedly spiked.
COVID 19 is still surviving and doesn’t seem to care about firewalls. MINISIS Inc, continues to find new inspiration in the new normal. MINISIS continues working at near capacity throughout the pandemic.
However, unlike many organisations planning a return to the office- MINISIS Inc is in no hurry. Ensuring our staff, vendors and clients safety is paramount. MINISIS Inc is devising new policies and procedures for working in enclosed business office and massive tower complex.
That said, all staff are healthy and we continue to self isolate as much as possible, so that any pending return to the office does not spread the virus. MINISIS Inc appreciates everyone’s patience and know that - with no assistance form the government or investors or anyone, MINISIS Inc has avoided layoffs and is planning for the future. Without prudent management and the dedication of our staff, loyal clients- we would not be here today. Thank you, stay safe and let’s all start looking towards the future!
As time goes by, all of us are still challenged by Covid. However, in British Columbia, the province has moved to Phase 2 where aspects of our society are starting to reopen. As MINISIS Inc has decided to follow the government’s mandates, you can find details on the phases at: the Province of BC’s Reopening Phases. MINISIS staff are still healthy and working from home mostly. Once Phase 3 becomes in effect, some of the staff will start the transition back to the head office. Regardless, MINISIS Inc is fully operational with: phone, email, fax and internet services available to contact MINISIS Inc personnel.
COVID 19 is still surviving and doesn’t seem to care about firewalls. MINISIS Inc, continues to find new inspiration in the new normal. MINISIS continues working at near capacity throughout the pandemic.
However, unlike many organisations planning a return to the office- MINISIS Inc is in no hurry. Ensuring our staff, vendors and clients safety is paramount. MINISIS Inc is devising new policies and procedures for working in enclosed business office and massive tower complex.
That said, all staff are healthy and we continue to self isolate as much as possible, so that any pending return to the office does not spread the virus. MINISIS Inc appreciates everyone’s patience and know that - with no assistance form the government or investors or anyone, MINISIS Inc has avoided layoffs and is planning for the future. Without prudent management and the dedication of our staff, loyal clients- we would not be here today. Thank you, stay safe and let’s all start looking towards the future!
Dear Clients and Friends of MINISIS Inc,
Latest COVID19 update:
The HQ in Vancouver is open with skeleton staff. All other staff are working diligently from home. All staff can be contacted by phone and email (as per before the COVID19 crisis started). The COVID19 virus is still increasing around us - but to date, all MINISIS staff remain free from the virus. Please, pay attention to your local health authority, self isolate if you can and MINISIS Inc is still around to assist for any of your technological needs.
And for those #coronamecrazy here’s something we should all remember to do:
Dear Clients,
As the spread and lack of specific details around the corona virus continue, many organisations have approached MINISIS Inc about how to continue operations if the staff are instructed to work for home. For those clients in the Microsoft-MINISIS Cloud, the contingency planning is straightforward. If users access via a browser, there is no issue working from home. If users are hosted and if you have the Parallels additional security module, again, you can work from anywhere, securely. There would be nothing you or your organisation would need to do.
The only issues are for:
1) hosted desktop clients and 2) On-premise (perpetual, local) configurations.
Firstly, hosted desktop clients in the MINISIS-Microsoft Cloud, will need the Parallels security add-on, unless the client access devices (eg: PC) can be locked down to one’s IP address.
If you are using an on-premise solution, and your organisation cannot set up a VPN for you to work from home – you might have to consider going to the cloud. For those desktop/on-premise clients, again your IT department can set up a VPN connection, you don’t need anything from MINISIS Inc. However, some clients cannot get VPN set up or the licenses in time. As a result, Some on-premise MINISIS clients have been asking about how to move and asking MINISIS Inc for a contract to convert the on-premise solution to a hosted version the Microsoft-MINISIS cloud.
MINISIS Inc has a COVID-19 Policy engaged and the corporation fortunately has 3 separate offices in Canada and 2 more remote offices in different continents. Therefore, MINISIS Inc is optimistic that it can continue operations regardless - if the virus does affect our offices. Currently, no staff, in any location, has reported any symptoms nor issues related to the COVID-19.
Clients are reminded to use MIN.NET, so that any issues over the next few weeks are logged and can be circulated amongst support staff - should our office ever have to close.
MINISIS Inc resources in Port of Spain, Tunis, Woodstock, Toronto and Vancouver have all been alerted to the current state of affairs and will work together to help all clients as need be. Therefore, clients regardless of their location, can contact or ideally use their MIN.NET account to log their issues/questions. If your organisation doesn’t have a MIN.NET login, you should get one. Please contact minisis@minisisinc.com to get one. Again, all clients of MINISIS regardless of TSM level, can now use the MIN.NET site until the initial crisis is over.
For any issues, concerns, or efforts required to move your solution, please do not hesitate to contact your normal MINISIS representative or use the minisis@minisisinc.com email address.
Best wishes, stay calm and together we carry on.
For our USA/American clients and supporters, we point out the following request from the American Alliance of Museums (AAM) for the US House and Senate representatives to “Sign On” to call for federal funding to OMS and IMLS:
Representatives Paul Tonko (D-NY), Andy Barr (R-KY), Chellie Pingree (D-ME) and David McKinley (R-WV) and Senators Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) and Susan Collins (R-ME) are now circulating letters in their respective chambers calling for robust funding for the Office of Museum Services (OMS) at the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS). It just takes a couple of minutes to use our template and ask your Representative and Senators to sign on today. These letters are a key measure of legislators' support for federal funding for museums, and they are especially important now to build on our momentum from Museums Advocacy Day. The deadline for Representatives to sign this letter is Wednesday, March 4 while the deadline for Senators is Friday, March 13.
VANCOUVER–Tuesday, Feb 11, 2020.
MINISIS Inc will be undergoing the latest round of updating infrastructure to the MINISIS Inc Headquarters in Vancouver. As a result, the Internet Fibre will need to be worked on. Therefore, staff may not be as accessible as per the norm, (no internet means no VOIP phones, no Wifi, no outside live connection - except via cell phones…). This update will have no affect on anyone’s hosted services in the MINISIS-Microsoft Azure Cloud. This update will have limited, to no effect on the other MINISIS Inc offices.
If you have any concerns or problems on/around Tuesday and possibly Wednesday morning, please know there may be a delay in responding. This updating of infrastructure will allow MINISIS Inc to take advantage of faster and more robust web processing and services. As well, this update will see the implementation of an LTE add-on that will provide internet access to our facilities, (ongoing should the new internet service ever go awry, while providing added redundancy). The service is being implemented late afternoon and onward through the evening. Clients may not even notice any issues, but we wanted to reach out and ensure everyone knew there could be some minor disruption in contacting MINISIS during that fibre update.
To the best clients a company could have, we appreciate your understanding in advance. Will we be able to work twice as hard with the fastest internet speed possible? Well, will let you know on that front!
MINISIS Inc is extremely happy to announce that the State Bar of Texas has officially launched their new OPAC! The OPAC was designed, developed and implemented using MWI running on top of M2A. The Bar is a new client to MINISIS Inc. And what better way to welcome the Bar to our community then by checking out their new site. Check out the latest OPAC template that was designed to promote the digitization initiatives that the Bar has been performing, as well as creating a more open archival repository for the Bar and its members – as well as the public-at-large. Congratulations to the State Bar of Texas and in particular, Caitlin and Emma who put a lot of work into updating the archives and making this new site a reality.
As the end of support for Windows 7 and Office 2010 coming in 2020, Microsoft is encouraging clients to plan now to make the shift to a modern desktop. Likewise Windows 2008 and SQL 2008 are coming to an end. Maybe your organisation wants to consider cloud/hosted options? If you want help to know what MINISIS and MS Azure cloud options can do, don’t hesitate to give us a call.
VANCOUVER – Do you want to participate or have your say on the design of the new Hierarchical Tree UX for our online products like M2A_ONLINE? If so,please download the form on the min.net web site to get you copy of the questionnaire. If you do not have an online min.net account, then please contact, Lorna (via email or call the office) to request the form.
WASHINGTON D.C. - MINISIS will be attending the SAA 2018’s Annual Meeting in Washington, DC from August 15th to 18th. If you are near or going to be in Washington during this time, let us know so we can plan a time to meet. For those of you not familiar with MINISIS and why the SAA…Integrated, innovative and imaginative. MINISIS Inc is a software house that has everything from: a proven archival management system, to a Trusted Digital Repository, to the latest in web technology.
If you cannot go outside and visit a nearby indigenous community, or an indigenous event or reserve, there is still plenty to do online! Why not review artefacts, books and archives at the Cree Cultural Institute? Or, go to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s archived web site to read about the Indian Residential School (IRS) System and the findings of the Commission. Or, perhaps research IRS documents, videos and images in one of Canada’s largest, coast to coast to coast digital archives at the NCTR . Review the findings of years of research and hearings into the Indian Residential School System, that the Canadian government supported from the 1800s to late 1900s. See if you can find the actual start and actual end dates to the IRS (Hint: at the NCTR, there is an interactive timeline under the map! The answer may surprise you.). Let everyone, indigenous or non-indigenous, take the time to explore how all of our cultures and languages have been interlinking and shared! Take the time to ask questions, and realize we are not so different . Learn where words like “kayak”, “igloo”, “caribou”, “chipmunk” or “muskeg” come from. Again, open the dialogue, do what you can to learn more about indigenous peoples and communities. With knowledge and respect we can ensure there is a united powerful future for all of us in our “Kanata”. (…And hey, don’t stop there, review information on the Ngai Tahu indigenous peoples of New Zealand and other indigenous collections at the University of Canterbury and Otago University . Let’s celebrate our differences and cherish our similarities!
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Heading to New Orleans in June? Then be certain to visit our booth (#3718), at the American Libraries Association’s 2018 annual conference. If you would like to schedule an appointment with our staff, please contact us at: minisis@minisisinc.com with a subject line : “ALA2018 appointment request”. We also look forward to visiting with one of our oldest clients, (and check them out if you are in the big easy or even online today!) the Historic New Orleans Collection (www.hnoc.org)
Wondering about what to do with your digital assets? How to manage them? How to preserve them? You may be interested in an online webinar being delivered to the Council of State Archivists by one of the most knowledgeable and practical experts on Trusted Digital Repositories and Archives, Marisa Villeneuve Bruhns of MITLL. The following link will lead you to the free registration page.
Check out the updated collections homepage for the Adler Planetarium! Users can now browse a set of featured objects, as well as a series of featured collections like telescopes, historic photographs, and globes.
Are you new to advanced querying? Watch our quick intro to boolean operators to learn more about these powerful search tools!
The LMA recently launched a new updated online catalogue with the help of the team here at MINISIS ... Read more here
“The Little Database Engine That Could...”
