And another thing. Standard CMS software available on the market from a
number of vendors (Argus, Multi-Mimsy, Re:Discovery etc) allow the user
an unlimited number of full text fields, each indexable and searchable
and sortable etc.
One really cannot compare using a standard MS Access template, flat file
database, with the exhibition tracking, conservation status, photograph
reproduction ordering modules, loan modules and registrar reporting,
which can essentially automate much of the Registrar's office,
Curatorial, Exhibition design, Photography order processing, Collections
research etc. Access will give you your $99 worth - and any consultant
or Windows Magazine article which says otherwise is working against your
best interests. The CMS vendors named above, and maybe more even, have
you best interests at heart, and yes, some cost more than $99 to
implement. But you get what you pay for, and the process of human beings
converting you legacy "data" into useful electronic "information" is
going to cost many times more than any CMS software package will cost.
First hand experience: My museum just spent in excess of $400,000
automating its tremendous 75,000 volume maritime library. The CMS module
which holds all the data internally costs no more than $15,000 and the
system runs as quickly searching 75,000 entries as it did when only
8,000 entries were in the database. (Email me directly off-list for more
details on this if you desire.)
Hope this convolutes the discussion a bit :)
Mark
Arthur H. Harris wrote:
>
> Keep in mind (which you may already do) that Access Memo fields
> allow up to about 64,000 characters (I'm familiar to an early
> version, so some facts may have changed). This has the advantage of
> not setting aside large unused spaces for each record while still
> allowing a number of pages of notes for fields that may require
> extensive material. The disadvantage is that although Memo fields
> can be searched, they can't be indexed or sorted.
>
> Jeffrey Bilderback wrote:
> >
> > My 2 cents worth on this subject. I recently took a look at Access and
found
> > that the fields can only hold 255 characters. That is too short for many
of
> > my entries. MS Works' database can hold more. Good luck.
> >
> > Jeffrey Bilderback
> Art Harris
> --
> Laboratory for Environmental Biology
> Centennial Museum (Natural and Cultural History)
> phone (915)747-6985; fax (915)747-5808; [log in to unmask]
> http://www.utep.edu/leb http://www.utep.edu/museum
--
Mark Friedman "The fights are so vicious
Manager of Information Systems because the stakes are so
& Webmaster low."
The Mariners' Museum
(757) 591-7756 VOICE (757) 591-7312 FAX
personal email: [log in to unmask] http://www.mariner.org
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