The Magnes launches Maven, a new digital gateway to global Jewish heritage

The Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life at the University of California, Berkeley, is proud to announce the launch of Maven, its new, user-friendly online collections catalog. Developed by Terentia, a leader in integrated software for collections management, digital asset management, and digital storytelling, the platform provides unprecedented access to one of the world’s preeminent collections of Jewish material culture.

“The investment in Maven will have an impact for years to come,” said Hannah Weisman, Executive Director of the Magnes. “This state-of-the-art digital catalog with enhanced search capabilities ensures that the stories embedded in the Magnes’s collection are available to anyone, anywhere, seeking to connect with Jewish history, culture, and art.”

The new platform serves as a vital bridge between the museum’s physical objects and its mission to generate new knowledge and understanding of Jewish cultures. Whether you are a scholar conducting research, a student writing a paper, or a visitor exploring Jewish ritual objects from across the diaspora, Maven offers a seamless online experience for accessing information the Magnes has compiled about materials in the permanent collection. Simultaneously, dedicated links on each object’s catalog page invite users to share their own knowledge or provide feedback to enable Magnes staff to improve and expand catalog records. By publishing the museum’s holdings on this new platform, the Magnes is dramatically expanding its reach by removing geographic barriers to access and seeking collaboration from its academic and public communities.

“The investment in Maven will have an impact for years to come. This state-of-the-art digital catalog with enhanced search capabilities ensures that the stories embedded in the Magnes’s collection are available to anyone, anywhere, seeking to connect with Jewish history, culture, and art.” — Hannah Weisman, Executive Director of the Magnes

The launch of Maven also marks a critical step in the Magnes’s preparations to publicly share the Roman Vishniac Archive, a collection of approximately 30,000 images comprising the renowned photographer’s full body of work. With support from Taube Philanthropies and an anonymous donor, Magnes staff are meticulously processing by hand the archive that Mara Vishniac Kohn donated in 2018. The Magnes is publishing materials from the archive to Maven as they become available. 

“As an institution stewarding fragile objects of cultural significance from around the world, we want to limit handling and exposure to environmental elements that may compromise their longevity,” said Tina Kremzner-Hsing, Magnes Database & Digital Asset Manager, “Maven allows us to offer broad access to the collection while helping preserve it for future generations.” 

“We’re proud to support the Magnes in bringing Maven to life, a digital experience that reflects the importance, depth, and global relevance of its collections. The Magnes team has done the hard work of preparing their collections data and digital assets for broader access, and Terentia is honored to provide the platform that helps scholars, students, and the public discover and connect with Jewish art, history, and culture from anywhere in the world,” said Neal Bilow, Terentia CEO and Founder.

Following a series of successful user training sessions in mid-May, the catalog is now live and available to scholars, students, and the public. The transition to Maven is part of a multi-year initiative to update the museum’s digital infrastructure and moves the Magnes into a new era of collaboration and knowledge sharing.

To explore the new online catalog, please visit maven.magnes.berkeley.edu. To learn more about navigating the platform, view the recorded user training session on youtube at https://bit.ly/4nSL3PS.

About the Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life, UC Berkeley

Located in downtown Berkeley, just steps from campus, the museum and research center is home to one of the world’s preeminent collections of Jewish art and life. The Magnes generates new knowledge and understanding of Jewish cultures with and for its academic and public audiences through its collections-based exhibitions and programs.

About Terentia
Empowering cultural institutions. Terentia is a next-generation platform to manage collections, organize and preserve digital assets, and tell compelling stories. Purpose-built for mission-driven organizations, the cloud-native solution integrates digital asset management, collections management, and digital exhibitions into a single interface.