See what’s possible.
Know where to start.
The Digital Discovery Audit helps cultural institutions understand where their digital collection stands, where the strongest opportunities lie, and what to prioritize next.
Start where you areYou don’t need to know the solution to knowyour collection could do more.
You don’t need a finished plan or all the answers before you begin. The Digital Discovery Audit gives you a structured way to understand what’s working, what’s getting in the way, and where to start.
Often, it starts with knowing more is possible — but getting there feels like a massive undertaking.
Visitors, researchers, and even internal teams can’t always find what you know is there.
Departments work differently, and building a shared vision for digital access can be difficult.
Years of digitization have put the collection online. You want that investment to reach more people.
Existing collection systems can limit change, while replacing them may not be realistic or necessary.
The way objects are described doesn’t always match how people search for them.
AI is raising new possibilities — and new questions about authority, governance, and stewardship.
5 things we look at closely.
We explore your digital collection the way your audiences do — and look behind the scenes at what shapes that experience.
- 1Discovery experienceCan people find, understand, and keep exploring?
- 2Language & findabilityDoes collection language match the way people search?
- 3Collection knowledgeDoes each record reveal enough of what’s known about the object?
- 4Systems & infrastructureDo current systems support the experience you want to create?
- 5Institutional readinessAre ownership, workflows, and governance clear?
The Audit can focus on the public experience alone, or go deeper into the systems, workflows, and institutional conditions shaping it.
Sometimes the work begins with one person who sees an opportunity for the digital collection to do more.
Let’s talkKnow where you stand.Know where to focus.
Understand
We start by clarifying the purpose of your digital collection — what it should make possible, and for whom.
Assess
Across a representative sample, we look at the experience, the knowledge behind it, and the conditions shaping it.
Prioritize
A clear findings readout with prioritized opportunities and a path forward.
Everything we assess is grounded in what your collection is meant to make possible. This is a collaborative assessment, not a compliance review. We’ll show you what’s already working as clearly as what isn’t. Scope, timing, and fee are established after our first conversation. You don’t need all the answers before we talk.
Start a conversationEvidence you can take to your director, board, or funders.
A shared North Star
What your digital collection is for, and for whom, agreed across leadership and teams.
Findings you can see
What people can and can’t discover today, with examples from your own collection.
A prioritized roadmap
What to tackle first, why it matters, and what should come next.
Possibility concepts
Concrete examples of what better discovery could look like for your collection.
The audit stands on its own. When you’re ready to act on it, LexMuse can continue with you — from structuring your collection knowledge to designing the discovery experience your teams and audiences can actually use.
Built for the complexity, and possibility, of collections.
Bernadette Houston founded LexMuse after two decades working with collections, metadata, controlled vocabularies, search behavior, and digital discovery. She brings those disciplines together to turn complex institutional realities into clear, practical direction. Every engagement starts the same way: by listening to what your institution is actually facing.
Frequently asked questions
No. Most institutions reach out with a sense that their digital collection could do more, not a finished plan. The first conversation is simply a chance to talk through what’s working, what feels limiting, and what you’d like to make possible.
No. The Audit works for any institution with a digital collection — including museums, libraries, archives, historical societies, university collections, and other collection-holding cultural organizations.
Yes. Many Audits begin with a single collection or department, and what we learn often reveals opportunities that apply more broadly across the institution.
We’ll ask for focused input at a few points along the way, but LexMuse carries the work. Depending on the scope, that may include a few conversations, access to relevant materials, and a findings review.
The Audit looks at where AI could strengthen discovery, what foundations need to be in place, and where human judgment, authority, and stewardship still matter.
No. The Audit is designed to work with the systems and workflows you already have. We look at what those systems can support, where the real constraints are, and what can be improved without disrupting how your teams work.
Yes. Your findings belong to your institution and are shared only with the people you choose. For some engagements, we may ask permission to share selected findings as an example of our work. Nothing is shared without your approval.
The Audit is a fixed-fee engagement. Scope, timing, and fee are set after our first conversation based on your goals and what you want to understand.
Every institution is different.Let’s spend 30 minutes understanding yours.
You don’t need to arrive with a finished strategy, or all the answers. We’ll begin with a complimentary 30-minute exploratory conversation about what prompted your interest, what your institution is considering, and where its digital collection currently stands. Together, we’ll identify the most useful place to begin.
The conversation is exploratory, with no obligation to proceed. Its purpose is to help you determine whether the Audit, and the timing, are right for your institution.
Your note is on its way.
If you’d like, choose a time now for a 30-minute introductory conversation. Or wait, and LexMuse will follow up personally.
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