Hi Cris, We also use barcodes to track our objects at the Glenbow Museum in Calgary, Alberta. Like you, our locations and our objects are barcoded - we use data from our CMS (STAR/Museums) developed by Cuadra Associates Inc. and a piece of software called Bartender, developed by Seagull Scientific Inc. to generate and print the labels. We use a piece of custom software developed by a consultant for us, using Cuadra's STAR ADO application, to relocate single objects, multiple objects from the same location, or relocate portable locations (carts, a-frames, portable cabinets, boxes and binders, etc.). STAR/Museums also have an Inventory Control module that has an Inventory / Spot-checking task - we can use the hand-held scanner to scan a location, pasting that data into the task's search panel, and then using the resultant object list to spot-check the items in the drawer (the task includes a global update to indicate that the objects have been found, or to mark any that are missing).
Our storage areas are all set up with wireless connectivity - we use HP Networking Procurves and Symbol scanners. Let me know if you'd like any additional details - I can certainly put you in touch with our Manager of Information Systems for more of the hardware set-up. Cathy Cathy Herr Computer Support Specialist, Collections Glenbow Museum 130 - 9 Avenue SE, Calgary, AB. T2G 0P3 P: 403.268.4159 F: 403.262.6569 E: cherr at glenbow.org -----Original Message----- From: mcn-l-bounces at mcn.edu [mailto:mcn-l-boun...@mcn.edu] On Behalf Of Cris Baczek Sent: May-29-13 1:44 PM To: mcn-l at mcn.edu Subject: [MCN-L] Using barcodes and tablets Hello, My museum currently uses barcodes to track objects. We do ongoing inventories of our collections where we take a hand-held scanner, scan the barcode for a location, scan multiple barcodes for objects in that location, download the scanner data to a desktop computer, and upload this data (a .txt file) to our CMS database. This workflow works but it requires multiple steps during which data may be lost and time isn't used as efficiently as possible. We are researching how to go from this multi-step, multi-device method to a wireless workflow where a scanner would communicate through Bluetooth to a tablet and seamlessly update object location information. Is there anyone working this way? If so, I am interested in your workflow and the hardware and software you utilize. Many thanks, Cris Baczek cbaczek at umfa.utah.edu<mailto:cbaczek at umfa.utah.edu> Collections Photographer & Digital Media Producer Utah Museum of Fine Arts t: 801.585.0125
