Hi Folks:
 
I am going to be doing some more work for the Malki Museum on the Morongo
Indian Reservation after Thanksgiving.  (The people are Cahuilla and
Serrano.)  I am going to be designing and building a database system to
track artifacts, historical documents, newspaper clippings, and all the
other stuff they have there.  I hope to do some language preservation and
teaching software also.  Part of my work is going to include putting
photographs of artifacts, etc. into the database, so you can see what is
being described.
 
This museum is tribally owned and funded (i.e., not much money), and I am
going donate my time.  However, I don't have much money due to circumstances
at home right now, so I can't donate much else.
 
I would be interested in hearing about others' experiences with databases
used for their collections, or any other software used in museum's.  Because
of the money situation, I am probably going to write the database system,
rather than purchase one.
 
The Malki Museum is a non-profit organization (I suspect most museums are).
Has anyone had experience getting corporate America to donate old '386 or
better computers (I would prefer to work on the IBM-PC platform, rather than
Macintosh)?
 
ANY advice anyone could offer me would be greatly appreciated.  We are a very
small museum (one room display area, cardboard boxes for storage areas).  My
personal opinion is that a Native American owned and operated museum is a
worthy cause, hence my volunteering so much time that could otherwise be used
to make money to help feed my kids (my time is worth money, so in a sense
I'm donating money to this project).
 
Thanks in Advance,
Chuck Coker
[log in to unmask]
 
PS:  Anybody travelling on Interstate 10 through the San Gorgonio Pass
(between Palm Springs, CA and San Bernardino, CA) is more than welcome to
stop by and visit.  We are off the Fields Road exit near Banning.  (This
is a genuine offer -- not an advertisement.  :-)  )
 
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There have been no dragons in my life, only small spiders and stepping in gum.
I could have coped with the dragons.
                                                        -- Anonymous (but wise)
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