Diane, You/list members can review/peruse/download our Free WhitePaper an "Executive Guide to Managing Your Orgs Email Commerce'. Use code/id 109 at <http://www.surveyssay.com> Topics include latest ecommerce management and list serve technology for Ecom and maintaining your member database(s) for (i.e., E-zines, targeted email, personalized email, conditional content, campaigns, webforms for registrations, trackable URL's, measuring effectiveness, statements/billing, and more. *Note* you may also use this code/id 109 for additional Free trial demos/evals & White Papers . . .i.e. **UnityMail features above**. Please feel free to extend this invitation to your Staff/Depts. At 09:24 AM 10/7/1999 -0400, Beverly Balger wrote: >Diane, >Thanks for the very good explanation of the difference between data >bases and collections management systems. I found it helpful and >interesting. > >One point of disagreement - > >>Why would any sane person want to spend so much time and energy developing a >>system when there are very good systems already developed? > >I chose to hire someone to develop a database on FilemakerPro for me >because I work on a Mac. While there are tons of wonderful options >for PCs, when I went to AAM in Cleveland and visited every vendor >there, there were exactly 2 options for us Mac users. One system was >so well hidden that I couldn't find them (not reassuring when >thinking about future support) and the other got very bad reviews >from the users I polled. Well, come to think of it there was a third >option, but no way is my small museum going to spend $20,000 on a >collections database. One of the salespersons of the $20,000 system >took me aside and suggested I get FilemakerPro. > >All of the concerns you state are valid, and shared by me. I once >swore that I would never build my own database because it is so >dependant upon the whims of the person who builds it. Over the past >10 years I've walked into three museums with databases no one knew >how to use because the person who developed them had moved away. >However, in my current situation, building my own system on >FilemakerPro was the best choice. It's an off-the-shelf piece of >software which we've modified very little. Anyone who's used >Filemaker in any situation should be able to figure it out. There is >lots of support for Filemaker here at Penn State, so even if my >museum didn't have anyone who knows how to use it, there are people >around who do. Plus, it's affordable. What we ended up with is >clearly a database, not a collections management system, but it's a >step towards a CMS and has helped tremendously in keeping track of >the collection. > >Just my 2 cents from a small museum perspective. >Beverly Balger >Registrar, Palmer Museum of Art >The Pennsylvania State University >University Park, PA 16802 >(814) 865-7672 > >========================================================= >Important Subscriber Information: > >The Museum-L FAQ file is located at >http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ museum-l.html. 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). - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Jim Henry, Ex Dir Strategic Alliances <mailto:[log in to unmask]> JH&A 614.771.4805 / 888.859.8644 VOICE / 614.771.4806 FAX <http://www.surveyssay.com> Updated 9-2-99 'E Mail Solutions' Free Trial Demos/WhitePapers Use code/id 110