Never, never throw away information! Your system could go down (I've had a bad motherboard shut down my server for a week), and paper systems are still useful (I've never had a card catalog crash on me). There may also be additional information on the cards which doesn't quite make it into the computer. For instance, I can get an idea of the reliability of comments written on paper cards by the handwriting (some people who worked here did better research than others). I still keep two copies of all of our paper cards: one in the office for staff use, and a duplicate set in our vault in case cards are lost or damaged. You can never have too much information (as long as it is organized). Veronica B|rger wrote: > > Hi, > > I work in a museum that's beginning to introduce a software to > handle it's collection this year. The guys in charge of this activity > think that the old records of collection, which are on paper, should be > thrown away, and from now on we should rely on the database of the new > system. > I'm afraid that this could cause some inconveniences in the future. > Did somebody else in this list experience this kind of situation ? > > Is there some texts talking about the use of software systems to > handle a museum's collection in the net, or in some magazine or book ? > > Thanks for any information .... > > Bye, > Armando -- James H Tichgelaar Registrar, Arkansas State University Museum http://museum.astate.edu "All we ever wanted was everything. All we ever got was cold."