What I have found in my internships is that IT systems at museums fall
mainly into four categories: administration, contact management, collection
management and financial management.  A fifth that is coming on fast is
internet presence.

Admin would encompass the the general task of getting the museum staff
connected to each other and the various operational system they would need
to use each day and encompasses the basic setup and maintenance of networks,
security, internet access and all the accompanying hardware.  Most
institutions with the resources to do so hire specialists to keep these
systems running, or engage a pro on a contract or consulting basis to do
so.  Many museums probably do this using their own (non-IT) staff for one
reason or another, but it seems to me a special set of skills that are best
left to trained professionals since the services are critical to the proper
functioning of the staff.

Contact management is the process of keeping track of museum membership,
visitors, volunteers and donors.  It is key to maintain a solid
understanding of the institution's constituency, both to maintain attendance
and encourage participation, financial or otherwise.  This is usually
conducted using a specialized system such as Past Perfect, but can also be
home grown using standard commercial database tools-especially if there is
an IT pro on the staff.  There are many opinions about which is best.
Canned applications are more expensive, but usually well-designed to perform
all the necessary functions out of the box and have the advantage of large
programming staffs supporting them.  Home grown apps in this area are
usually based on fairly limited technology like MS Access, are rarely
well-documented and usually rest on the shoulders of a single person whose
presence is necessary to maintain or modify the code.

At a high level, collections management is contact management for your
artifacts, documents and images.  There are quite a few commercial products
for these needs as well.  Past Perfect is quite common in this area, but
there are others.  Programming this type of application in house is probably
much more challenging than the contact management piece because it
incorporates quite a bit of knowledge unique to curators and conservators
and can require interaction with outside databases, the internet etc.  DIY
is pretty hard and probably requires a very talented programmer(s) and a lot
of money.

These systems are engineered for use by museum professionals, not
technicians and are reasonably easy to understand and use by the layman who
has limited IT knowledge and skills.  I have not only used most of the
functions in Past Perfect, but taught secretaries and volunteers to use them
without undue strain.

Financial management systems track income and outflow of funds via standard
accounting processes.  Smaller institutions almost always use a product like
Quick Books because it is comprehensive, fairly easy to learn and not too
pricey.  It is also well maintained and keeps in step with changes in
accounting rules, tax laws and so forth.  These systems require an
understanding of accounting, but are designed as tools and don't require
IT-specific training.

Finally, many institutions are now expanding their presence into the virtual
world, especially through the use of the internet, specifically with web
sites, but now including so-called social networking sites like Facebook and
MySpace as well.  There is a lot of flak around suggesting you can do these
tasks easily and many job posting are asking for people who can develop and
publish information on the internet.  In my opinion, if you are thinking
about any IT training, this is the best place to go.  It seems more and more
museums want you to come in the door with these skills while they are
willing to train on the other systems they may use for internal operations.



On Thu, Oct 15, 2009 at 10:31 AM, Michele Sabol <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> Hi,
>
> I am a student in an MA program for museum studies. I am currently
> doing an internship where my main responsibility is information
> management and accountability using TMS.
>
> I do not have an IT background. However, most of the professional
> experience that I have includes data entry and info management using
> various database systems. I have experience in medical records, and
> payroll using both HR systems and payroll data systems, among others.
>
> What type of positions if any in the museum field consist of manly
> information management? Is it necessary to have an IT degree for these
> types of positions?
>
> I am concentrating in museum registration. However, I am struggling to
> get experience in the object care side of the job. I am not even sure
> that it is for me. However, I am a strong advocate about record
> keeping and the importance it has to collections care.
>
> If any one has any advice, it is much appreciated.
>
> Sincerely,
>
> Michele Sabol
> Graduate Student, MA Museum Professions
>
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