actually, i did exactly this same thing for a local youth hockey/skateboard
park.  they had a minimal budget to work with as well.

we went with a Wasp barcode reader which plugs directly inline with the
keyboard cable.  and then implemented a barcode font (code 39) on the
printed id card that they use for their members.  whenever a members enters
the park they scan the card and it "check" them in.  we have included
features to track their time against prepaid visits as well.  often times,
parents will prepay for their children to allow for skate time and snack bar
foods and drinks.  by having the members database keep track of these
prepayments it makes short work for the people working both front counter
and snack bar in keeping up with the tabs.  in addition, it makes it very
easy to track demographics on the age groups and frequency/durations of
visits.

if you would like further advice or assistance in doing yours, feel free to
contact me off-list.

Cheers,
Gary Acord
[log in to unmask]

-----Original Message-----
From: Museum discussion list [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On
Behalf Of Glen Moore
Sent: Monday, July 01, 2002 4:11 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Barcoding member cards


Although we are a small centre our family membership numbers have
grown to around 1000.

I would like to barcode the membership cards so that we could
track visitation patterns, quickly check for card validity,
benefits used etc. At the moment we write down details as members
enter. This is time consuming, often not done very diligently in
busy times and still needs to be entered into a computer later.

I would like to put barcodes on cards and have a card reader
connected to a computer.

Has anyone done something similar? We are a self supporting
facility with good computer skills but little funding.

Thank you for your ideas!
Glen Moore
Science Centre and Planetarium
Wollongong, Australia
[log in to unmask]

=========================================================
Important Subscriber Information:

The Museum-L FAQ file is located at
http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed
information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message
to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help"
(without the quotes).

If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to
[log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff
Museum-L" (without the quotes).

=========================================================
Important Subscriber Information:

The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes).

If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).