Dear List: As a first time poster and a new listserv member, please excuse me if this brings up any repeat discussions.
I am working with a small non-profit history museum in NYC and am learning a lot about PastPerfect and its capabilities as a CMS. I would like to know how institutions have made PastPerfect into a front-end friendly online catalog. I know PastPerfect offers an OPAC of sorts, but it does not function the way I would like so I am searching for other options. For those using PastPerfect, what have you done to create an online searchable database for your public? Are you using open-source software? Did you have a consultant for helping with exporting and coding? How often do you update it? Can you also use it for any online exhibitions or online displays? Is it seamless in transition (I mean, does it mimic the look of your home institution's website)? I've looked into OpenCollection and a few of the proprietary options. I would love to hear if you have success with these or others. If these questions about PastPerfect are in the MCN listserv archive, I would be happy to look back if anyone has a vague idea as to the date of the conversations... Thanks for your help in advance. Jennifer Jennifer Waxman Collections Consultant Museum of Chinese in America 70 Mulberry Street, 2nd Floor New York, New York 10013 T (212) 619-4785 http://www.mocanyc.org/ -----Original Message----- From: mcn-l-bounces at mcn.edu [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Morgan, Amber Sent: Wednesday, December 03, 2008 7:41 AM To: mcn-l at mcn.edu Subject: [MCN-L] What is a Collections Management System supposed to manage? We are addressing some concerns regarding our collections management system. Something that has become clear is that our staff is not in agreement as to what a CMS is and what it should do. We are attempting to address the needs of our education department. It would be very helpful to know how other institutions maintain what could be considered educational content. If anyone out there would be willing to answer a few questions, I would be very grateful! Do you store label copy in your CMS? Do you use your CMS to manage detailed information about artists, events, places, etc? If so, do you limit it to information specifically about your collection, or do you also maintain information about related materials held elsewhere? Does your institution collect any user-generated content, and if so, does it go into your CMS? And finally, if you're feeling up to it - what, in your opinion, is a collections management system; what should it do and what should it NOT be expected to do? Many thanks, Amber the warhol: Amber E. Morgan Associate Registrar 117 Sandusky Street Pittsburgh, PA 15212 T 412.237.8306 F 412.237.8340 E morgana at warhol.org W www.warhol.org The Andy Warhol Museum One of the four Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh Email newsletter http://members.carnegiemuseums.org/email Membership http://members.carnegiemuseums.org/SupportCMP _______________________________________________ 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 The MCN-L archives can be found at: http://toronto.mediatrope.com/pipermail/mcn-l/ ------------------------------ _______________________________________________ mcn-l mailing list mcn-l at mcn.edu http://toronto.mediatrope.com/mailman/listinfo/mcn-l End of mcn-l Digest, Vol 39, Issue 2 ************************************
