I can understand Mr. Scafidi's concern in disseminating too much
    information about collections; I had similar concerns when the board
    of the Arrow 2000 Project first proposed putting our collections
    database on the Web.  But consider this: the heart of most museums are
    their collections.  The mandates of most museums cannot be met by
    simply hoarding objects, or by displaying them with no interpretation.
    Some information about the object has to be communicated to the
    public.  Certainly, some information should be extremely limited in
    it's circulation (such as personal donor information, financial
    information, etc.), but what's the harm in making information that
    would be available in your exhibitions available to the everyone with
    WWW access?  A brief description of the object, plus the object's
    accession number, would be enough identification for most Web-visitors
    and researchers, and would provide the necessary information for
    requests to the institution for more detailed info on any one item.

    We have made the decision to put a limited version of our collections
    database on our website, but as we are still computerizing our
    information (we're still a young museum, just over a year old) and our
    website needs some work, we have not yet publicized our collections
    info in this manner.  I would like to see more dialogue on this
    topic--it will help to guide our actions.

    Incidentally, a big factor in easing my mind over the decision to put
    collections info on our website was seeing what Artefacts Canada has
    done with the collections information from museums across Canada.
    Interested persons may wish to check this out for themselves at:

       http://daryl.chin.gc.ca/Artefacts/e_MasterLayout.cgi?db=1


    ----------------------------------------------------------------------
    Tim McShane
    Curatorial Assistant, Parks Canada
    (also, Co-Chair of the Museum Division, Arrow 2000 Project)

    Views and opinions expressed are entirely my own, and do not
    necessarily reflect those of Parks Canada or the Arrow 2000 Project
    Association