Hi, Regarding the following suggestion: " I also have an external 250 zip drive which is essential for backing up the database. (100 will work too -- but more is always better, isn't it??)" I have some serious reservations about using transient media for accomplishing any critical tasks. The Zip disks are nothing more than bigger and glorified floppies and DO fail -frequently, in my experience. They also degrade over time, as does everything in the computer world. I would push for investing in some sort of external hard disk array, kept separate from your main computer drives and write/back-up your data to the external drives on a regular basis (nightly or weekly) so that you can access the materials WHEN (not if) your primary drives crashes . I 'll be happy to 'talk' to folks about this -off-line so as not to hog the list. Guha Shankar Media Production Specialist P.S: Also check out this link for standards from Smithsonian for digitizing images http://voom.si.edu/anthro/imaging_standards.htm ----- We are digitizing our collection at this time too. This is what I have: **Dell Optiplex GX260 with 2 hard drives (one is devoted only to the database -- which came in VERY useful when Windows 2000 locked me out one day mysteriously when I first got the computer -- the database was untouched through all of the trauma of moving files off the C drive and reinstalling everything -- it serves for peace of mind). I also have an external 250 zip drive which is essential for backing up the database. (100 will work too -- but more is always better, isn't it??) **PastPerfect with the Digital Imaging Module and Networking interface **Sony MVC-FD75 digital camera with 10x OPTICAL zoom **Epson 1000 ICS printer/scanner All of this is working wonderfully for me. I don't use the scanner as often for digitizing the collection because we seldom make prints of anything anymore. I know you are doing archival work, so the scanner is something you will be using far more than I do. The camera takes jpegs directly onto a disk, which allows me to have volunteers taking pictures of the collection -- they clip a full disk (usually about 36 pictures) to a form listing the numbers of the objects they photographed and the storage location. (I love to design forms...) Then it is simple for me to insert the photos into the records in PastPerfect. If we get a photo of someone wearing a dress, or for some reason a donor has a good photo of an object, then we scan it. It goes right into PastPerfect from the scanner. PastPerfect is the simplest collection software I have ever worked with. The digital imaging is fool-proof! You can manipulate the photo within PastPerfect to rotate it, lighten, darken, etc. Not real fancy stuff, but enough to make the image better. Hope this helps. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions about what we use. Kim Kenney --- Ruth Lang <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > I work for the Fresno Historical Society which > administers the Kearney > Mansion Museum (valleyhistory.org). We are > currently looking at funding to > digitize and computerize our archival collection. > What computer equipment do > other organizations on this list use? What do you > like or dislike about the > equipment? We are looking at Dell models. What > collection software do you > recommend? We have looked at Past Perfect. How > does that compare with other > programs? We have also looked into the Epson > Expression 1640XL Graphic Arts > scanner. > > Any help would be most appreciated! > > Ruth Lang > Archival Assistant > Fresno Historical Society > 7160 W. Kearney Blvd. > Fresno, CA 93706 > 559.441.0862 > 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).