I feel kind of sympathetic to your point of view, but I wonder just what
data should remain secure? Obviously, museums want to share collection
information with the public to some degree (it is their collection, after
all)...keeping sensitive items like donors, insurance information, and the
like more secure. But your comment about "shopping lists" makes me wonder if
you think basic information needs to be kept under wraps - ?


At 09:01 AM 06/01/99 -0400, you wrote:
>I am puzzled by Mr. Ryan's request for information. I hasten to point out I
>have no wish to flame him or dis his request.  But I do want to make some talk
>about the topic, and I think listers - including all you students out there -
>should, too.
>
>There seems a tendency among us to consider all data as equal, since to a
>computer all data ARE equal.  Therefore, the line of reasoning seems to go, all
>data are equally share - able.  The only danger, if we are of a suspicious
>frame of mind, is possible corruption of our data by the occasional hacker or
>careless user.  However, I am not a computer.  I am a human, and I work (I
>think) for the public in the present and in a future which will extend far
>beyond my life span.
>
>We attempt to keep our collections data close, allowing little insecure (so far
>as we know) access. When I entered museum work in the seventies, cheap (free
>for employees) xerographic copying was all the rage; opportunities for data
>leakage on paper were considered dangerous, and potential for leakage via the
>new electronic data storage devices were worrisome. Insecure data were viewed
>as potential shopping lists for industrious thieves.  I continue thinking this
>way and acting out my thinking.  However, I have begun to understand that some
>colleagues may consider my point of view as old fashioned or extreme.  Yet our
>greatest sorrow as professionals is that sometimes our friends, with whom we
>are most anxious to exchange data, have proved to be fifth columnists of the
>worst sort.
>
>(I read what I have written and realize it may appear paranoid to many in the
>field, but...) I cannot see any hope for collections physical security unless
>we attempt to ensure collections data security.
>
>Perhaps this is an extreme point of view.  Let's talk.
>
>John A. Scafidi
>Florida State Parks
>Tallahassee, FL
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>
>
Jane Sproull Thomson