To CSM Daniel M. Sebby:

I began using PastPerfect3 in 2004, and first of all can tell you that the
support staff are very helpful and thorough, and you should feel comfortable
directing these questions to them for the best answers.  I can also tell you
don't even think about PastPerfect without including funds for training
workshops!  It is quite possible to teach yourself using the detailed
tutorial provided with the program, but that is a very painful way to go
about it (trust me on this!), especially since you are incorporating
existing collections at several satellite facilities.

Loaned collections, secondary sites, satellite museums, off-site libraries
all are no problem with PastPerfect. Inventorying away from the main center
and downloading is possible and easy with their "Scatter-Gather" feature. We
do this with zipped disks, but I believe you can upload to PastPerfect as
well-- be sure and ask the support person about that need. I did a similar
inventory for the National Park Service once, and by identifying each
satellite location with a unique accession prefix we made no errors in the
compilation. PastPerfect does this by identifying "Collections" and
secondary sites. You can transfer data freely from the main computer or
server to the off-site locations and vice versa.

I have trained two volunteers to use PastPerfect, one to bring old
accessions (1976 to 2001) into the system, and another to catalog the photo
collections on PastPerfect. Both caught on after just a few entries and an
hour or so of practice. One was an experienced museum volunteer in her '60s,
the other is 86 and had never volunteered in a museum or dealt with
collections management before. I do have problems with the older fellow's
entries in that he fat-fingers accession numbers, but it is easy to pick
them up in the Browse format. Since they must be correctly identified, after
the first few times I showed him how to proofread in the Browse format and
now he corrects his own errors before he goes home.

It took me longer to learn, because I use more depth in recording each item
(the system is layered) and I accession a full range of materials, from
books to instruments to gowns to political buttons to taxidermy specimens
and much, much more. No tanks though!

So, call them up and ask for a demo program and a sales pitch. Ask if you
can observe one of their workshops, they are held in your area; that way you
can see the types of problems that are encountered. Find out who their users
are in your area, and talk with them.  We bought ours after another history
museum nearby began using it and training their volunteers. It is
wonderfully complete and a pleasure to use once you know how. If you have
any other questions, I will be happy to offer my opinions and experience,
but you do need to talk to their staff. Good luck!

Micki Ryan
Museum & Archival Services
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-----Original Message-----
From: Museum discussion list [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On
Behalf Of CSM Daniel M. Sebby
Sent: Sunday, January 09, 2005 3:33 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: PastPerfect


The California State Military Museum is considering going to a new artifact
accountability system and of course, we checked out the website for
PastPerfect.  However, we have a unique situation and we hope that maybe
someone will tell us if they think PastPerfect will fill the bill.

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