DJK,
  What kind of museum, what kind of collections, and what kind of
information do you want to track?  Accessions, loans, exhibit uses,
catalogs, conservation information and schedules, donors, images? The type
of collections that you have and what you want to use the software for make
a big difference in the software that will most effectively fit your needs.
 There is a wide variety of off-the-shelf collections software available or
you can design your own interface with something like Access, Paradox,
FoxPro, dBase, etc.  Whatever you choose, addressing a variety of questions
in advance - what are your needs, your goals, your budget, how many users,
how computer literate/comfortable are the users, etc.  will save you a lot
of headaches, money, and time in the long run.  I can say this with
conviction because we are in the middle of that same process here at VMNH.
Finding software for natural history collections is especially troublesome
so if that is what you have and you have some questions about what we have
found out already feel free to contact me off-list.

Dr. Elizabeth A. Moore
Curator of Collections and Archaeology
Virginia Museum of Natural History
1001 Douglas Avenue
Martinsville, VA  24112
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> From: djk <[log in to unmask]>
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: collections software search
> Date: Friday, January 23, 1998 5:44 PM
>
> I am a new employee of a small museum.  My job is to take care of all the
> computer business.  We're looking for a software package for our
> collections.  We have Access, but it turned out to be a 'watered down
> version'  (the one that comes with "MS Office Small Buisness Edition")
No
> wonder it was so cheap!!!  Does anybody know about such software?  (We're
> very poor also)
> Thanks...(p.s. I love my new job in the museum!!!  :-)
> dk