I would strongly concur with Kevin's comments. In a previous incarnation I worked as an analyst programmer for the Ford Motor Credit Company. I, too, have built collections management systems in Microsoft Access, but adhering to national and international standards (vital for interoperability) becomes almost impossible when faced with the required complexity of the data structures. If you have to do it then keep it simple, but better not to do it at all. Museums have to be able to record information relating to the whole of human existence (and non-human existence in the case of Natural History collections). This means that the data structures required for museum information management systems are far more complex than those required for most of industry and commerce. I would rather build a complete financial suite for a credit card company than attempt to produce a collections management system.
As a concrete example of this, a well-known example of commercially available CMS software on the North American market contains in excess of 400 related tables. Anything less than this will probably be a compromise. What is more, this only works because within those 400+ tables there are hierarchical structures (usually in the form of repeating elements within fields). I would defy anyone other than the most skilled of programmers to be able to make a good job of this. More importantly, one individual will not do. You need a team of people to provide the necessary documentation, support and continuity. Buying commercially will always be cheaper in the long run. You will also be buying into the company's R&D programme and will benefit from the knowledge of and adherence to standards. This will allow you to network your information more effectively should you choose to go down this path. At mda we are working with CMS vendors in the UK and North America to develop an XML DTD for SPECTRUM (the UK Museum Documentation Standard) that will allow information to be exported from one system and imported into another. It can also be used as a carrier for highly complex data on the internet. This will form the basis of a CIMI test bed project in 2001 (www.cimi.org). By going it alone you will miss out on the opportunities presented by such developments Please feel free to call if you want to talk about this. I understand your urge- I have been there and done that, but having come out the other side I make a point of carrying out "Microsoft Access Aversion Therapy" when teaching museology students! Whatever you decide, good luck! Dr Matthew Stiff Head of Standards mda, 19 Riverside Road, Oxford, OX2 0HT Tel: +44 (0)1865 200561 Fax: +44 (0)870 054 7783 Mobile: +44 (0)7939 151510 e-mail: [email protected] URL: www.mda.org.uk 24 Hour Museum: www.24hourmuseum.org.uk > -----Original Message----- > From: Kevin Montgomery [mailto:[email protected]] > Sent: 25 January 2001 16:32 > To: [email protected] > Subject: Re: Courses and Reference Works on Database Design > > > While collections manager for the Bishop Museum in Hawaii I > converted their > database system from DBase IV to MSAccess with no problems. When > approached > by another museum in Micronesia to help them develop a > collections managment > system I also recommended against a tailored CM package and > convinced them > to set up their own system in MSAccess. However, since then I have had a > change of heart and I'm not convinced that museum staff always knows best > how to structure the logic behind the system. Sure, you may have > experience > with Access and get training on effective relational design but that's no > guarantee that you could efficiently develop you own application > to handle > your own CM functions. It is similar to the heyday of desktop publishing > when it was easy to obtain a powerful DP package and this led people to > assume they could produce professional-quality results. Many times the > results were a joke and many times the cost to the organization was > significantly higher than if the work had been done by > professionals in the > first place. CM software companies are in business because they > understand > the needs of the museum world as well as the technology to produce these > applications. Believe me, I have experience on both sides of the > argument > and I think the most effective solution is to purchase the CM system that > comes closest to working the way you do, has a good support > program, and buy > a developers license for it so that it can always be fine-tuned > (after all, > no system is perfect). > > Kevin Montgomery > Eloquent Systems > www.eloquent-systems.com > >
