Diane,
Thanks for the very good explanation of the difference between data
bases and collections management systems.  I found it helpful and
interesting.

One point of disagreement -

>Why would any sane person want to spend so much time and energy developing a
>system when there are very good systems already developed?

I chose to hire someone to develop a database on FilemakerPro for me
because I work on a Mac.  While there are tons of wonderful options
for PCs, when I went to AAM in Cleveland and visited every vendor
there, there were exactly 2 options for us Mac users.  One system was
so well hidden that I couldn't find them (not reassuring when
thinking about future support) and the other got very bad reviews
from the users I polled.  Well, come to think of it there was a third
option, but no way is my small museum going to spend $20,000 on a
collections database.  One of the salespersons of the $20,000 system
took me aside and suggested I get FilemakerPro.

All of the concerns you state are valid, and shared by me.  I once
swore that I would never build my own database because it is so
dependant upon the whims of the person who builds it.  Over the past
10 years I've walked into three museums with databases no one knew
how to use because the person who developed them had moved away.
However, in my current situation, building my own system on
FilemakerPro was the best choice.  It's an off-the-shelf piece of
software which we've modified very little.  Anyone who's used
Filemaker in any situation should be able to figure it out.  There is
lots of support for Filemaker here at Penn State, so even if my
museum didn't have anyone who knows how to use it, there are people
around who do.  Plus, it's affordable.  What we ended up with is
clearly a database, not a collections management system, but it's a
step towards a CMS and has helped tremendously in keeping track of
the collection.

Just my 2 cents from a small museum perspective.
Beverly Balger
Registrar, Palmer Museum of Art
The Pennsylvania State University
University Park, PA  16802
(814) 865-7672

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