> 1) Do most museums which utilize databases continue to catalog initially on a
> hardcopy worksheet?  If so, what guidelines/suggestions might there be for
> designing a "database" worksheet?
 
We still use a hard copy sheet to inventory and catalog collections in
locations where staff do not have access to computers.  To design the
worksheet we first printed the examples from the on-line version
(complete with text in 14 pt. font) to see how much people can write.
Then we adjusted the size of the boxes to compensate.  My only real
suggestion is not to allow the paper form to have too many long text
fields.  In the end, the job of entering the prose thus provided will
be overwelming.  Ultimately it might be more productive to give them
only the formatted text fields and let them know what the character
restrictions are for them.  You can always catch vocabulary control at
the input stage.  (Isn't it too bad we all can't have 486 notebooks
for htis task!  ;-)).
 
 
Richard Gerrard
Registrar, Toronto Historical Board
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