Access to Memory (AtoM) Foundation
The AtoM Foundation is a Canadian non-profit that stewards AtoM, an open-source, multilingual, web-based archival description application supporting multiple international standards. It funds itself through tiered membership fees and community-led adoption across archives, libraries, and cultural heritage institutions worldwide.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2018
- HeadquartersOttawa, Canada
- Headcount—
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What Access to Memory (AtoM) Foundation does
The Access to Memory (AtoM) Foundation is a federally incorporated, community-driven non-profit organization established in 2018 and headquartered in Ottawa, Canada. It oversees and supports the development, sustainability, and adoption of AtoM (Access to Memory), a fully web-based, multilingual open-source application for standards-based archival description and access. The software was originally developed by Artefactual Systems and commissioned by the International Council on Archives (ICA), with additional seed funding from UNESCO, the Dutch Archiefschool, Direction des Archives de France, the UAE Centre for Documentation and Research, and the World Bank Group Archives.
AtoM supports a broad set of national and international descriptive standards including RAD, DACs, ISAD(G), Dublin Core, ISAAR-CPF, EAD, EAC, PREMIS, METS, and RDF, and is released under the GNU Affero General Public License (A-GPL 3.0), with documentation under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike. The Foundation's primary near-term strategic priority is the planning and design of AtoM 3, coordinated through an 8-member Roadmap Committee and a Proof of Concept Proposal submitted jointly by an international consortium of six organizations.
The Foundation is governed by an elected Board of Directors and operates on a tiered membership model with annual fees of CAD 2,000 (Steward), CAD 500 (Institutional Member), and CAD 50 (Individual Member). It pursues a community-led go-to-market motion with no direct sales function, relying on four regional user groups (Portugal, South Africa, UK, and a Joint US-Canada group of 100+ members), seasonal newsletters, an annual general meeting, and an open-source self-serve download model to drive adoption among archives, libraries, museums, government archives, and heritage associations globally.
Access to Memory (AtoM) Foundation firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Access to Memory (AtoM) Foundation
- Legal name
- Access to Memory (AtoM) Foundation / Fondation Access to Memory (AtoM)
- Website
- https://accesstomemoryfoundation.org
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2018
- Operating status
- Operating
- Short description
- The AtoM Foundation is a Canadian non-profit that stewards AtoM, an open-source, multilingual, web-based archival description application supporting multiple international standards. It funds itself through tiered membership fees and community-led adoption across archives, libraries, and cultural heritage institutions worldwide.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Where Access to Memory (AtoM) Foundation is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Ottawa
- HQ country
- Canada
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
Access to Memory (AtoM) Foundation business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Technology or R&D, Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Membership Fees: The Foundation generates revenue through tiered membership fees: AtoM Foundation Steward at $2,000 CAD/year (formerly Founding Institutional Member), Institutional Member at $500 CAD/year, and Individual Member at $50 CAD/year. Institutional members have voting rights and can serve on committees and the board.
- Grants and Donations: The Foundation solicits funds from members and others to support the development and maintenance of AtoM software. Additional seed funding for original AtoM development was provided by UNESCO, Dutch Archiefschool, Direction des Archives de France, UAE Centre for Documentation and Research, and World Bank Group Archives.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | Annual | AtoM Foundation Steward - $2,000 CAD/year (voting) |
| Subscription | Annual | Institutional Member - $500 CAD/year (voting) |
| Subscription | Annual | Individual Member - $50 CAD/year (non-voting) |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels1 record
Marketing channels6 records
Access to Memory (AtoM) Foundation product offering
Product offeringCore offering
The Access to Memory (AtoM) Foundation develops and sustains AtoM, a fully web-based, multilingual open-source application for standards-based archival description and access. The software, originally developed by Artefactual Systems and commissioned by the International Council on Archives (ICA), supports multiple national and international descriptive standards (including RAD, DACs, ISAD(G), Dublin Core, ISAAR-CPF, EAD, EAC, PREMIS, METS, and RDF) and is released under GNU A-GPL 3.0. The Foundation governs the project, manages memberships, and coordinates the AtoM 3 roadmap.
Product overview
Access to Memory (AtoM) Foundation offers a single unified open-source product: AtoM (Access to Memory), a web-based, multilingual archival description application designed for standards-based archival description and access. The software supports multiple international descriptive standards including RAD, DACs, ISAD(G), Dublin Core, ISAAR-CPF, and the ICA suite. All code is released under GNU Affero General Public License (A-GPL 3.0) and documentation under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike license.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- AtoM (Access to Memory) AtoM is fully web-based, multilingual, archival description software that supports standards-based archival description and access. It supports many national and international descriptive standards including RAD, DACs, ISAD(G), Dublin Core, ISAAR-CPF, EAD, EAC, PREMIS, METS, and RDF, and is targeted at archives, libraries, museums, and government records institutions. It is released under GNU Affero General Public License (A-GPL 3.0) with documentation under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike.
Companies that use Access to Memory (AtoM) Foundation
Customer profileNamed customers11 records
Segments5 records
Ideal customer profiles2 records
Access to Memory (AtoM) Foundation technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature3 records
Access to Memory (AtoM) Foundation partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Seven partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.
- AIM 25 (UK)minorPart of international group that submitted AtoM 3 Proof of Concept Proposal to the Foundation. AIM 25 is dedicated to developing and supporting open-source software for archives.
- Docuteam (Switzerland)minorPart of international group that submitted AtoM 3 Proof of Concept Proposal to the Foundation. Docuteam provides open-source software services for archives.
- Imagiz (UK)minorPart of international group that submitted AtoM 3 Proof of Concept Proposal to the Foundation.
- Nothing Interactive (Switzerland)minorPart of international group that submitted AtoM 3 Proof of Concept Proposal to the Foundation. Nothing Interactive provides open-source software services.
- Zazuko (Switzerland)minorPart of international group that submitted AtoM 3 Proof of Concept Proposal to the Foundation. Zazuko specializes in open-source software for data management.
- Artefactual Systems InccoreArtefactual Systems originally developed AtoM and continues to develop the current iteration (AtoM 2.x). They commissioned AtoM with ICA and have been the primary developer supporting significant upgrades. They also submitted the AtoM 3 Proof of Concept Proposal to the Foundation.
- International Council on Archives (ICA)coreICA commissioned the development of AtoM to support the organization's descriptive standards. This established AtoM's foundation in international archival standards and remains central to the software's purpose.
Scale indicators2 records
Recent moves7 records
Expansion highlights4 records
Access to Memory (AtoM) Foundation competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Docuteam: Docuteam is a Swiss open-source software and services provider for archives. Comparable as a co-development partner on AtoM 3 and a provider of open-source archival software solutions to similar European institutional customers.
- ArchivesSpace: ArchivesSpace is an open-source archives management application developed by Lyrasis with contributions from NYU, UC Berkeley, and other universities. Directly comparable as a competing open-source platform for archival description and access in academic and cultural heritage institutions.
- EPrints: EPrints is an open-source repository software widely deployed by academic libraries and archives. Comparable as an open-source platform used for managing and providing access to institutional archival and research outputs.
- CollectiveAccess: CollectiveAccess is an open-source collections management and cataloging application used by museums, archives, and galleries. Directly comparable as a community-driven open-source platform serving the same archival description and access use cases as AtoM.
- Islandora: Islandora is an open-source digital asset management and repository framework used by libraries, archives, and museums. Directly comparable as an open-source solution for managing digital collections in cultural heritage institutions.
- Omeka: Omeka is an open-source web publishing platform for digital collections, widely used by libraries, museums, and archives. Directly comparable as a free, community-supported platform for describing and publishing cultural heritage holdings.
- Artefactual Systems (Archivematica): Artefactual Systems develops both AtoM and Archivematica, its open-source digital preservation system. Directly comparable as the primary technical partner behind AtoM and as an adjacent open-source archival tool serving the same institutional archives market.
- DSpace: DSpace is an open-source repository application used by academic libraries and archives worldwide. Directly comparable as a free, community-driven platform for managing and providing access to institutional digital and archival collections.
Broad incumbents
- Preservica: Preservica is a commercial digital preservation platform serving archives, libraries, museums, and government organizations. Comparable as a broader, well-funded commercial incumbent offering overlapping archival management and access capabilities to enterprise/government customers.
- OCLC ContentDM: ContentDM is OCLC's digital collection management software used by libraries and archives worldwide. Comparable as a broader, established commercial platform offering digital archival description and access to a similar institutional base.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Access to Memory (AtoM) Foundation social profiles
Digital presenceAccess to Memory (AtoM) Foundation financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Access to Memory (AtoM) Foundation leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles9 records
Access to Memory (AtoM) Foundation funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Access to Memory (AtoM) Foundation M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Access to Memory (AtoM) Foundation
What does Access to Memory (AtoM) Foundation do?
The Access to Memory (AtoM) Foundation develops and sustains AtoM, a fully web-based, multilingual open-source application for standards-based archival description and access. The software, originally developed by Artefactual Systems and commissioned by the International Council on Archives (ICA), supports multiple national and international descriptive standards (including RAD, DACs, ISAD(G), Dublin Core, ISAAR-CPF, EAD, EAC, PREMIS, METS, and RDF) and is released under GNU A-GPL 3.0. The Foundation governs the project, manages memberships, and coordinates the AtoM 3 roadmap.
Is Access to Memory (AtoM) Foundation a public or private company?
Access to Memory (AtoM) Foundation is a private company. It is classified as nonprofit foundation owned and is currently operating.
When was Access to Memory (AtoM) Foundation founded?
Access to Memory (AtoM) Foundation was founded in 2018.
Where is Access to Memory (AtoM) Foundation based?
Access to Memory (AtoM) Foundation is headquartered in Ottawa, Canada, in the North America region.
How does Access to Memory (AtoM) Foundation make money?
Two revenue lines are on record. Membership Fees are the primary driver. The others are grants and Donations.
Who are Access to Memory (AtoM) Foundation's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Docuteam, ArchivesSpace, EPrints, CollectiveAccess, Islandora, Omeka, Artefactual Systems (Archivematica) and DSpace. Broad incumbents are Preservica and OCLC ContentDM.
Does Access to Memory (AtoM) Foundation have an API?
No public API is recorded for Access to Memory (AtoM) Foundation.