No, no.  Never throw away your original paper documentation.  If your
database crashes (not infrequent to any software) what would you do for
records?  We maintain paper records for archive and legal purposes but enter
the information into a database for ease of access.  An electronic database
that can be edited and manipulated with no evidence of the trail of changes
(unlike a paper document) will never replace original paper work.  Not to
mention that you have to have original deeds-of-gifts, donor forms, etc. to
prove title to specimens should question of ownership ever arise.  If you
had a dispute about whether a specimen belonged to a museum who would you
believe - someone who had a database of information that someone typed in
stating that they were given an object or a paper document that had a donor
signature, date, and approval on it?  I know who I would pick, the paper
every time.  Not that paper can't be forged but it is harder than simply
editing a database to reflect what you want.

Dr. Elizabeth A. Moore, Curator of Collections
Virginia Museum of Natural History
1001 Douglas Avenue
Martinsville, VA  24112
[log in to unmask]



-----Original Message-----
From: Veronica B|rger <[log in to unmask]>
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.museum-l
To: [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Thursday, March 04, 1999 8:04 AM
Subject: Sotware for museums


>Hi,
>
>    I work in a museum that's beginning to introduce a software to
>handle it's collection this year. The guys in charge of this activity
>think that the old records of collection, which are on paper, should be
>thrown away, and from now on we should rely on the database of the new
>system.
>    I'm afraid that this could cause some inconveniences in the future.
>Did somebody else in this list experience this kind of situation ?
>
>    Is there some texts talking about the use of software systems to
>handle a museum's collection in the net, or in some magazine or book ?
>
>    Thanks for any information ....
>
>    Bye,
>    Armando
>