We have been using FileMaker Pro for a number of years for the Centennial Museum collections and for the LEB natural history collections; we currently are using version 8, although I have just started using a personal copy of version 9 for some research databases.
If your setup is like most small to medium museums, there isn't going to be a suitable template for collections management. This is doubly so if, like the Centennial, you are using a system for both cultural and natural history collections. However, FileMaker Pro makes it easy to set up flat or relational databases from scratch (much friendlier than Access). I'd suggest starting out with a temporary database with fake data (or a COPY of real data) just to get used to the program and how it works. Once you have the basics down, then sit down and carefully plan what you need in the database and how you would retrieve it. Once you have it the way you think you want it, create the database and add data, with the understanding that you are still working with a temporary system. After some period of time where you've thoroughly vetted the system (and made changes where it doesn't work the way you thought it should or you've added fields that you forgot, etc.), then go ahead and start your official database. Luckily, fields and relationships are easily added, deleted, or changed; just keep an up-to-date backup so you don't lose anything if you inadvertently delete or change data when you didn't mean to. Good luck! Art Harris Rachel Wormsbecher wrote: > > > Hello! I was wondering if anyone out there in the big virtual world could > offer me any advice for building a collections management database using > Filemaker Pro 8, software just purchased by the small museum I work at. I'm > not sure if I should use one of the templates (which one?) or build one from > scratch. My database experience is not extensive, so I have a lot to learn. > Any advice or helpful hints would be appreciated. Thanks very much! > > Rachel. > Collections Officer, Swift Current Museum > _________________________________________________________________ > News, entertainment and everything you care about at Live.com. Get it now! > http://www.live.com/getstarted.aspx > _______________________________________________ > You are currently subscribed to mcn-l, the listserv of the Museum Computer > Network (http://www.mcn.edu) > > To post to this list, send messages to: mcn-l at mcn.edu > > To unsubscribe or change mcn-l delivery options visit: > http://toronto.mediatrope.com/mailman/listinfo/mcn-l > > -- Laboratory for Environmental Biology, Centennial Museum University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, TX 79968-0915 aharris at .utep.edu http://museum.utep.edu/ http://museum.utep.edu/chih/chihdes.htm
