We had our collections database on Access and it was awful. Currently, we've begun
the task of moving it all over to Filemaker Pro. It's a visually gorgeous,
user-friendly, highly flexible program. You can do soooo much with it, it's
phenomenal. Plus, the latest versions allow you to bring in scanned photos (I'm
not sure if the old ones do too?). Whatever you do, I recommend that you find
another museum (or any facility really) that is using the program and have them
show you how it works. It's a big committment (I'm sure you know) and you want to
make sure that not only do you like it, but that the program will be around for a
littl while. (I think FMP will be around for awhile). And make sure that you
define your users: Will it just be you and your staff using it? Will volunteers be
entering data? Will the public or researchers have access to it?

Good luck.

Kiersten



Clugknot wrote:

> We have been using Paradox 3.5 & Paradox for Windows to set up and mantain
> databases for our photographs and collections of various artifacts.  We have
> recently looked at the possibility of switching to Access but, have made no
> decision yet.  We would be interested in hearing what software others are using
> and the reasons why.
>
> Sid Colquitt
> Escondido Historical Society
> Escondido, Ca.