I would be a bit wary of having staff transfer content, since each type of
device has its own quirks about how content is loaded and synced. In
addition, many front desk staff (at least in our museum) are older and are
not as tech-savvy. Having a designated "download" station in the museum is a
neat idea, although people may not always have the right cables with them.

We encourage folks to download our MP3 tour to their personal devices via
our website, but there are still people who do not have MP3 players or do
not have them at hand, so we think it makes sense to have some in-house to
loan out. 

We have not had any issues of loss/theft--we require a driver's license as
collateral and have the player on a neck lanyard, so they don't end up in
people's pockets by mistake. Have other institutions had problems?

Kathy

Katherine Haas
Curatorial Assistant
Rosenbach Museum & Library
2008-2010 Delancey Place
Philadelphia, PA 19103
Tel: 215-732-1600 X129
Fax: 215-545-7529
Email: [log in to unmask]

-----Original Message-----
From: Museum discussion list [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf
Of Cheryl Fogle
Sent: Monday, June 22, 2009 2:31 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [MUSEUM-L] mp3 players

Would it be easier and cheaper to load the podcast on the 
visitors own mp3 players rather than purchasing them, 
handing them out, and then risking loss or outright theft. 
 I'm picturing a situation where the front desk person who 
handles admissions has a USB cable attached to their 
computer and the visitor gives them the mp3 player to 
transfer the file. Then the admissions person hands the 
player back to the visitor. An alternative scenario would 
be a sign directing visitors to a particular site to 
download into their phone or mp3 player before they enter 
the exhibits.

Cheryl Fogle
University of New Mexico


On Mon, 22 Jun 2009 14:01:44 -0400
  "Daniel J. Bish" <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> The Sansas are good mp3 players.  Another one to 
>consider may be the Sansa
> Clip.  These come with built in clips on the back and 
>can be purchased at
> 2 and 4 GB increments.  They are very small as well. 
> The only downside is
> that the interface is an LCD screen, so videos cannot be 
>played.  I
> imagine that their size would make them more prone to 
>theft as well.  Good
> luck with your search.
> 
> Daniel Bish
> 
>> I bought Sansa Fuzes for our gallery podcasts and have 
>>been quite happy
>> with
>> them. I bought refurbished 4 gig versions from 
>>newegg.com for $40 each,
>> which was a darn good price. The sound is good, the 
>>controls make sense,
>> and
>> it can even handle video if we ever decide to go that 
>>route. We haven't
>> been
>> using them long enough for me to evaluate long-term 
>>survival, but I
>> personally have an older model Sansa which has chugged 
>>along wonderfully
>> for
>> several years with no problems. The one annoying thing 
>>is that there is no
>> lanyard attachment on the Fuze-what I ended up doing was 
>>buying silicone
>> covers on Ebay (about $1 apiece) and then attaching neck 
>>lanyards to the
>> covers.
>>
>>
>>
>> Kathy
>>
>>
>>
>> P.S. If you end up buying Fuzes, let me know and I can 
>>e-mail you the
>> little
>> flyer of directions we give out at the front desk when 
>>we loan out the
>> device.
>>
>>
>>
>> Katherine Haas
>>
>> Curatorial Assistant
>>
>> Rosenbach Museum & Library
>>
>> 2008-2010 Delancey Place
>>
>> Philadelphia, PA 19103
>>
>> Tel: 215-732-1600 X129
>>
>> Fax: 215-545-7529
>>
>> Email: [log in to unmask]
>>
>>   _____
>>
>> From: Museum discussion list 
>>[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On
>> Behalf
>> Of Stacy Slavichak
>> Sent: Thursday, June 18, 2009 5:10 PM
>> To: [log in to unmask]
>> Subject: [MUSEUM-L] mp3 players
>>
>>
>>
>> Hi All,
>>
>>
>>
>> We are in the process of producing a gallery podcast for 
>>our permanent
>> collection. We would like to make this available to 
>>patrons at the museum
>> via a mp3 player. Can anyone give some recommendations 
>>for (relatively
>> inexpensive) models?
>>
>>
>>
>> Thanks,
>>
>> Stacy
>>
>>
>>
>> Stacy Slavichak
>>
>> Collections Manager
>>
>> Museum of Art | Fort Lauderdale
>>
>> Nova Southeastern University
>>
>> One East Las Olas Blvd.
>>
>> Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33301
>>
>> 954-262-0248
>>
>> 954-262-0200
>>
>> Fax: 954-524-6011
>>
>> [log in to unmask]
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
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