[BCMA] Updating Museum Data Base

Thu Mar 3 09:09:32 PST 2016

The Burnaby Village Museum and our heritage partners in the City of Burnaby (archives and heritage planning) use Inmagic software (DBTextWorks) to manage our collections.

Andornot, the local Inmagic reseller, has an "off the shelf" archives module that is popular with archives and is RAD-compliant. We had them create a customized DB/TextWorks database for our museum collection, and for heritage planning resources.

One great thing about the product is the flexibility. You can tinker to add fields, or could even build your own database according to your needs. Or you can hire them to build or customize for you.

There are various options available to create a web search interface. You can see ours which searches across multiple collections at www.heritageburnaby.ca

Andornot's site is at:

http://www.andornot.com/

They are based in Vancouver.
Lisa Codd |  Curator
Burnaby Village Museum & Carousel
6501 Deer Lake Avenue, Burnaby, BC  V5G 3T6
T:604.297.4542  F:604.297.4557
lisa.codd at burnaby.ca
www.burnabyvillagemuseum.ca

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----- Original Message -----
From: Moderated BCMA subscriber listserv. <bcma at lists.vifa.ca>
To: bcma at lists.vifa.ca
Sent: Wed, 02 Mar 2016 12:28:35 -0700 (MST)
Subject: Re: [BCMA] Updating Museum Data Base

We are also looking at options for a new collections management system.  Our current Access system works great for in-house functions, but does not easily translate
to our website, and is in danger of becoming outdated. 

I’ve been looking at several other possibilities, evaluating them specifically for our needs, but if anyone is interested, I’ll share my notes.  I’m always interested
in other people’s experiences of the systems.  Unfortunately, it usually looks like the most promising systems are usually the most expensive. 

Notes on the 22 systems I’ve looked at so far:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/12kVYN87h0NLduyrlzu0-wX1viIfhfn3edR81OXBS4eg/edit?usp=sharing

Mandy Kilsby
Curator, Barkerville Historic Town
250-994-3302 ext. 35

mandy.kilsby at barkerville.ca
14301 Highway 26 E.

Box 19, Barkerville BC, V0K 1B0
www.barkerville.ca

From: bcma-bounces at lists.vifa.ca [mailto:bcma-bounces at lists.vifa.ca]
On Behalf Of Moderated BCMA subscriber listserv.
Sent: Wednesday, March 02, 2016 9:29 AM
To: bcma at lists.vifa.ca
Subject: Re: [BCMA] Updating Museum Data Base

I have spoken to PastPerfect about this problem William and the next version (6) that comes out will be on a supported platform. That’s why it’s
taking a bit longer to come out. They want to get it right. However, in the interim PP continues to work just fine on our systems and we’re still working with 4! I hope that clears up any concerns about that matter. You can also call them about it if you need
to.

Yours, Pamela Woolner
Community Heritage Manager
Oliver and District Heritage Society
Box 847, Oliver, BC V0H 1T0
250-498-4027
info at oliverheritage.ca
www.oliverheritage.ca

From:bcma-bounces at lists.vifa.ca [mailto:bcma-bounces at lists.vifa.ca]
On Behalf Of Moderated BCMA subscriber listserv.
Sent: March-01-16 3:06 PM
To:bcma at lists.vifa.ca
Subject: Re: [BCMA] Updating Museum Data Base

I am following with interest the suggestions. Some on our board had thought we should use Access but we have not yet begun, please keep us posted as to what you decide
to go with now that William has pointed out as a potential problem with PastPerfect.

Diana Ball

On Thu, Feb 25, 2016 at 3:28 PM, Moderated BCMA subscriber listserv. <bcma at lists.vifa.ca> wrote:

Thank-you William!

---
Amy McCroyCurator/Administrator, Summerland Museum

On 2016-02-24 15:01, Moderated BCMA subscriber listserv. wrote:

Hello Amy,

			    PastPerfect is a great program, I quite like it; however, it is built
on a no longer supported Microsoft database platform. It works fine now but there is always the chance that a Windows update or upgrade could break the program.

William Shepherd
Collections Officer
Swift Current Museum
44 Robert Street West
Swift Current, Saskatchewan
S9H 4M9
Phone:
306-778-4815
Fax:
306-778-4818

From:bcma-bounces at lists.vifa.ca [mailto:bcma-bounces at lists.vifa.ca]
On Behalf Of Moderated BCMA subscriber listserv.
Sent: Wednesday, February 24, 2016 1:41 PM
To:
bcma at lists.vifa.ca
Subject: Re: [BCMA] Updating Museum Data Base

Jane, thank-you so much for your in-put, others have also mentioned PastPerfect!

---
Amy McCroyCurator/Administrator, Summerland Museum
On 2016-02-24 10:40, Moderated BCMA subscriber listserv. wrote:

Hi Amy,

I would suggest PastPerfect. While it isn't a "be-all" database (and isn't the best for Archival collections),
it is a fantastic recourse for smaller institutions. Feel free to give me a call if you'd like to chat more about it.

Jane Lemke
Curator
Chilliwack Museum and Archives
9291 Corbould Street
Chilliwack, BC V2P 4A6
Phone:
(604) 795-9255
www.chilliwackmuseum.ca

From:bcma-bounces at lists.vifa.ca [mailto:bcma-bounces at lists.vifa.ca]
On Behalf Of Moderated BCMA subscriber listserv.
Sent: Tuesday, February 23, 2016 1:08 PM
To: Moderated BCMA subscriber listserv.
Subject: [BCMA] Updating Museum Data Base

Hello All,
Does anyone have any information on a great data base for smaller museums? We are currently using Access and is very limited in what it can do.  Any ideas would be very much appreciated!
Thank-you in advance.

-- 
Amy McCroyCurator/Administrator, Summerland Museum
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Diana Ball

Manager/Curator

Chase and District Museum and Archives

250-679-8847

Box 160- 1042 Shuswap Ave Chase BC V0E 1M0  chasemuseumsociety at gmail.com

www.chasemuseum.com

"LIKE" us on Facebook www.facebook.com/pages/Chase-and-District-Museum/141681956033401
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