Laurel Heap <[log in to unmask]> wrote in message
news:199910082101.OAA07898@bengali.npl.com...
> First of all, I would like to thank everyone for the overwhelming response
regarding the types of database
> systems being used at your museums...
================================
At Burnaby Village Museum (BC, CANADA) I have been working with museum
databases for 10 years. A key decision at the beginning was which of the
following three options should I go with?
1. AN OFF THE SHELF SPECIALIZED MUSEUM DATABASE APPLICATION - Such a
program has 'museum' named fields already set up, may have museum help info
for each field, is expensive costing thousands of dollars (you pay for
someone else's design work and professional museum thought that has gone
into it), the authority tables may be set up (e.g. computer will ONLY accept
entries on the authority list which is great for consistency so that the
province of Ontario is always "ON" not "Ont." or "Ontario" or "ON"), it may
be configured to a national standard (e.g. CHIN in Canada) etc. It will be
able to answer questions that you have not even thought of yet. You just sit
down, maybe have some classes, learn how it works, and start entering data.
You may get telephone support, on-site training etc. but there is a tradeoff
of course. You may not be able to make changes yourself to the structure
e.g. fields. (It is somewhat like going to a new car dealer, buying a brand
new car off the lot at a premium price, and driving it home the same day. It
comes with a manual, and a nice long warranty, but you take what it has, no
real options. You also pay for regular dealer servicing to maintain it's
warranty. No problem if it is a Ford or Toyota, but a problem if it becomes
an orphan brand like a DeLorean.)
2. A PARTIALLY CUSTOMIZABLE DATABASE APPLICATION perhaps a generic database
application that you customize for your museum. You can make some changes
yourself, e.g. add fields, but it comes pretty much ready to use. I know of
a museum that did this, and then the key staff person left and current staff
have some operating mysteries on their hands. (see note about need for
documentation below).
3. A FULLY CUSTOMIZABLE DATABASE (like Microsoft ACCESS or PARADOX). You can
customize it any way you want but you have to take the time to learn how
databases work to get a really good result. You can probably operate it at a
basic level very quickly BUT to make it sing and dance someone will need to
study it intensely and learn how to make it tick. Trial and error. Total
flexibility. See note below re: documentation. Using the car analogy, it is
a bit like buying a "kit car" - a garage full of components that you can
custom assemble. You have total choice over what engine to put in, what
carburetor, shocks, colour, seats etc. The only problem is, you must
basically be a mechanic to do this. Imagine inheriting someone else's
hot-rod from an estate. No manual will come with it, so you have no idea
what the dozens of wires are for or what sized piston rings it needs. The
good news is that with other museums using such customizable database
programs, you may be able to get templates, manuals etc. from other musuems.
You can learn from their mistakes (and victories) in other words. Check with
your provincial/state museum associations and local museums to see what help
or advice is available.
I emphasize the sentiments of another reader, Andrew Morrow. You MUST,
repeat MUST, document your database application development, its passwords
and operating procedures for user and system programmer !!!!! In my
museum's Registrar's staff manual I assume that I might be hit and killed by
a Coca-Cola truck - I call it the "Coca-Cola Truck Principle" so someone
else will have to be able to take over the entire program and operation.
I actually LOVE Coca-Cola, so no slight is intended but it is a very
colourful image, and I even pasted a visual aide into the manual consisting
of a colour newspaper photo of an accident where a Coca-Cola truck and a
car - not mine luckily - had a head on encounter]
I chose Option 1 in 1989 and have since upgraded versions a couple of times
with the same database application. I do miss the flexibility (and modern
features of a windows database) so am now going to evaluate MS ACCESS 2000
as a possible alternative. I have a better understanding of our needs now
but know that a switch would be a lot of work.
One bit of good news. Most if not all modern databases can export to other
database programs - or so am I reassured by those who have done it. So, even
if one starts off with one database application, one CAN change one's mind
and switch, transferring data electronically rather than rekeying it all.
Bear in mind, the REAL cost is the labour to enter the data.
For an idea of what museum databases can be capable of, look at the
ARTEFACTS CANADA site for Canadian Heritage Information Network (CHIN). What
is shown are just SOME of the basic fields that some museums have chosen to
share with the world. http://daryl.chin.gc.ca/Artefacts/e_MasterLayout.cgi
They also have info on a Collections Management Software Review.
http://www.chin.gc.ca/Resources/Collect_Mgnt/e_hp_cmser.html
Be prepared, people you ask advice from will NOT agree. You will hear
opinions for and against all of these three options. I recall receiving
phonecalls from two museum staff who ended up working in other institutions.
The computer programs were different from what they were used to. Both
praised the type they were used to, condemned the type they had just
inherited, and both spoke of buying "their" old program for their new
museum! Ironically, there were only two programs discussed, and for each of
these two programs there was a staunch defender and an equally determined
antagonist. Who was right? Neither or both.... ?
If it works for your museum, it is right. There can be several "right'
solutions. It is a hard choice to make. Plan for the long term - be kind to
your successor. It might be me!!!!!!! It gives new meaning to the saying "Do
unto others as you would others do unto you."
Colin Macgregor Stevens
Museum Curator
Burnaby Village Museum
6501 Deer Lake Avenue
Burnaby, BC, V5G 3T6, CANADA
Phone: (604) 293-6500 FAX: (604) 293-6525
Business e-mail: [log in to unmask]
Museum Webpage:
http://www.burnabyparksrec.org/villagemuseum/villagemuseum.html
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