>From:         Craig Deller <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject:      Re: a query
>
>Why would anyone be horrorfied that "anyone" could dial-in and see their
>collection. Is it private collection?
 
I can't speak for all institutions, but at NASM the most commonly stated
reasons for the aversion to placing our collections data online are:
 
1) Other institutions, and individual researchers, could use it as a
   "shopping list" to request loans and research specimens.  The
   curatorial and conservation staff would prefer that requests be
   more generic ("an altimeter" rather than "altimeter 1993-23")
   so they can select the most appropriate artifact.
 
2) Our collections data (like the collections data of most museums)
   is so messy and incomplete that it would be a professional
   embarrassment to have it available online.
 
3) Despite our best intentions, data might be displayed that was
   supposed to be concealed.  Some of our records for armament,
   for instance, contain physical measurements which are classified
   data.  The exact location of valuable or dangerous objects
   might be revealed by text outside the Location: field.
 
These are all legitimate objections.  The answer (which unfortunately
requires planning and work) is to clean up appropriate subsets of
collections data to put online, rather than just opening a window
into the museum's collection management system.
 
Well-defined, important collections (such as the type collections
of natural history museums) are good candidates for online searches.
So are collections of items (such as art) where every object is
unique.  Collections such as NASM's, which contain many instances
of similar objects (hundreds of tires, hundreds of propellors....)
are less well served by this technique.
 
Well-designed summaries could answer most of the questions of the
general public -- descriptions of the kinds of objects associated with
different countries, manufacturers or historical periods.  Most people
don't really want lists of cataloged widgets -- they want to know
trends and significance.
 
More complete data could be made available to other institutions and
qualified researchers (through a passworded account, for instance.)
Specific inquiries could be referred to curatorial staff, as they
are now.
 
At present, we are not doing any of these things.  We are still in
the stage of debate and discussion, and cleaning up our collection
data.  But it is probably something we will do within the next few
years.  Meanwhile, we're collecting examples of how other instutions
are handling this.
 
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