The Postal Museum Tells 500 Years of Stories with PhotoShelter

Using digital assets to preserve legacy

The Postal Museum is an award-winning independent museum in London that welcomes over 130,000 visitors annually. Its collections tell the 500-year story of British postal communication through hundreds of thousands of objects, from stamps and vehicles to an underground railway. When the museum’s existing digital asset management system was discontinued and no longer functioning properly, they needed a new, stable solution to manage their vast library of historical assets. This new system had to be simple enough for all team members to use, regardless of their technical background, to avoid the disorganized “jumble of stuff” that plagued their old platform.

The challenge: Difficult-to-use and outdated system

As Studio Manager, Louis Porter oversees the digital assets that tell the story of the museum. His team faced significant hurdles with their previous system, which was not only outdated but also difficult for non-technical staff to navigate, leading to widespread disorganization. They needed a platform that could solve these core challenges.

Here’s a closer look at the issues they faced:

• Their previous system was obsolete. According to Louis, “The system that we had beforehand was essentially no longer functioning properly, and it had been discontinued in terms of updates… PhotoShelter was the one we felt would best suit our needs.”
• The platform was too complex. Many museum employees come from different professional backgrounds, and “we have a number of people who aren’t necessarily technical,” Louis explains. This challenging system led team members to store images on their local drives.
• Assets became messy and hard to manage. Without intuitive controls, the old system resulted in duplicated files and disorganized folders. It was nearly impossible to organize the content, making it difficult for people to find what they needed.

“We were having problems with our old system with the downloads and keeping it easy. There were real issues with people uploading duplicates and things like that… it was a free-for-all, essentially. With the last system, you’d come across a folder that was just a jumble of stuff. Something we couldn’t really control.”

Louis Porter, Studio Manager, The Postal Museum

The solution: A stable system for the entire organization

Before implementing PhotoShelter, the Postal Museum team struggled with a hard-to-use and outdated system. Now, they have an intuitive and secure platform that streamlines their entire asset management workflow.

• User-friendly platform for all teams. The museum gained a functional solution that simplifies its processes and allows for more cohesive use of its images. Louis found that PhotoShelter’s simple user interface “has helped to get the job done,” and “people seem to find what they’re looking for now.”
• Straightforward user permissions. They control who has permission to sensitive files, which is crucial for embargoed content. Louis highlights a key example: “We had an exhibition a couple of years ago that had to do with a new stamp that was coming out with the new King’s head. It was controlled information, a top-secret type of thing. So we needed to be able to rigorously control the ability for certain people to look at our library without it going wrong.”

• Secure and GDPR compliant. With data protection being a major priority, the museum required a system that could help them manage asset usage rights effectively. For instance, an image of a child may only be used for five years, and the team needs to take action when images are no longer authorized. “Having that control within PhotoShelter is quite important,” says Louis. “It helps to keep an eye on how to handle our images.”

“With PhotoShelter, we’re able to use images a little bit more cohesively, which is a huge benefit. It’s a functional solution for us, and it seems to be simplifying things and tying things together.”

Louis Porter, Studio Manager, The Postal Museum

Delivering every asset on time

The Postal Museum successfully replaced its outdated system with a secure and user-friendly platform. The transition allowed team members across the organization, regardless of their technical expertise, to easily find and utilize the assets they need to share the rich history of the postal service. 

“We wanted to actually have a stable system that was easy to find your way around. And, with PhotoShelter, that’s been achieved.”

Louis Porter, Studio Manager, The Postal Museum