Apologies for sending this to the whole list, but I tried the individual
address for joseph mella and it didn't work.
>I AM IN THE PROCESS OF GATHERING MATERIALS FOR A PRESENTATION AT THE
>TENNESSEE ASSOCIATION OF MUSEUMS MEETING IN MARCH ON THE USE OF COMPUTERS
>IN COLLECTIONS MANAGEMENT. I HAVE BEEN USING FILEMAKER PRO FOR THE PAST
>SIX OR SEVEN YEARS. I WILL BE USING THIS SOFTWARE TO DEMONSTRATE ONE WAY
>OF MANAGING A COLLECTION. DOES ANYONE HAVE A LIST OF CURRENT VENDORS OF
>SOFTWARE FOR MUSEUM COLLECTIONS? I WOULD LIKE TO SUPPLEMENT MY PRESENTATION
>WITH INFORMATION ON OTHER OPTIONS ONE MIGHT TAKE.
Joseph,
There's been a lot about this on the list over the past month or two--your
best bet is to search the archives. Here is one that might be helpful to
you. this was based on info garnered from users.
SNAP! (Willoughby Associates, Limited, 266 Linden St., Winnetka, IL 60093.
312-645-5500) Windows format. 1. Well worth it
2. Low in functionality and technical support 3. Out of date
4. Has windows format and is inexpensive, but is not
user-friendly and is not flexible re fields. 5. Worth its price tag.
Ask Sam
1. Had a bad experience
2. A free form database for indexing.
First Choice
1. Primitive
ACCESSION 2.1 (OakTree Software Specialists, 498 Palm Springs Drive, Suite
100, Altamonte Springs, FL . Phone 407-339-5855. Mac only. Accession 2.5
due out soon. 1. Has a segment for archives
2. 60,000 specimens on it. Very good.
3. Satisfactory for small museum of history and
science.
PARADOX (Borland, 100 Borland Way, PO Box 660001, Scotts Valley, CA
95067-0001. 408-431-1000. For product information, 800-331-0877. Price: c.
$200. Mac or Windows.
1. Good for straight forward problems.
2. Friendly; large fields; must type exact entry; sorting is easy.
3. Versatile and easy to use.
4. For sheer bang for buck couldn't beat it. 5. Time-consuming to learn,
but can do ANYTHING
Fox Pro (Microsoft Corporation, Redmond, WA. 800-426- 9400, or
206-882-8080.) Windows application. 1. Not user-friendly, but can do fuzzy
searches. 2. Good for straight forward problems.
3. Takes a lot of space.
4. Relational.
5. Faster to work with than FileMaker Pro.
Argus Collections Management Systems (Questor Systems, 899 El Centro St.,
South Pasadena, CA 91030 (818- 403- 0808). (Company info).
Titan (KE Texpress 5.0) (Knowledge Engineering, Melbourne, Australia.
Canadian distributor, Andrzej Kowalski, Dingo Software Systems.
604-737-0103. e-mail: [log in to unmask] Cost: $5,000 for two-user. 1.
Friendly; can link databases.
LibraryWorks (Casper) Mac or Windows.
1. Fabulous
2. For libraries; MARC cataloguing.
PC FILE (Available from Dave's Computer World, 317-563- 3504. E-mail:
[log in to unmask] c. $100. 1. Good for archives and artifacts
History Database, 24851 Piuma Rd., Malibu, CA 90265. 818-591-99371.
contact: David L. Clark. IBM $495. 1. Suggest looking at it.
2. Tried it and sent it back.
File Maker Pro (Claris, 5201 Patrick Henry Drive, Box 58168, Santa Clara,
CA 95052-8168. 408-987-7000. Mac or Windows. c. $100. (Company info)
1. Can customize fields.
2. Flat database program.
3. Can't link databases.
4. Fields easy to manipulate.
5. Better option than Ask Sam or First Choice. 6. Instructions written for
non-computer people. 7. Simple, but amazing what it can do.
8. Can handle large number of records.
REGIS (Museum Research Associates, 11 Spring St., Hallowell, ME 04347.
207-395-4837) DOS Based. 1. Easy; can enter artifacts and archives.
4th Dimension (several versions) (ACI US, Cupertino, CA. 800-384-0010,
demos, brochures; 408-2520-4444, sales info) Mac. c. $100.
1. Use for objects and paper collections, museum store database,
membership, with great success. 2. Like, but complicated.
3. Harder to learn than FoxPro or Filemaker Pro. 4. Like, but requires an
on-site person to design and
maintain the system. Is user-friendly.
5. Somewhat limited by the number of files. 6. Relational.
7. Consider it--easy to set up.
Standard Collections (from New Zealand, can get more information) c. $4,000.
1. Fully relational; complex level of retrieval. Pat Miller
We are about to set up a database using FileMaker Pro because it is the
campus standard. Can you give me any tips? Things you found didn't work
etc? I have good Filemaker Pro support here, but am on my own as far as the
museum aspect goes. Anything you can share as far as fields you found
useful (or not), the kinds of reports you generate, whether you use pop up
lists, etc, would be really helpful.
Thanks much,
ivy
Ivy Fleck Strickler Phone 215-895-1637
Drexel University Fax 215-895-4917
Nesbitt College of Design Arts [log in to unmask]
Philadelphia, PA 19104
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