Re: [MCN-L] Loans in your CMS
Hi Emma, We use STARMuseums, developed by Cuadra Associates (now Lucidea - parent company) at the Glenbow Museum in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The software was delivered with a Loans Management module (both Incoming and Outgoing). Our Exhibits Registrar is responsible for managing all incoming loans (including making the formal loan requests, preparing the legal paperwork, and entering the information in STAR). The process in STAR begins with creating an Incoming Loan Request Record. The information recorded includes a loan number (tracking field), the lender (which needs to be entered in the Rolodex (people / organization) database if a record doesn't already exist), the Exhibit that the loan request is associated with, the dates required, the art / artifacts being requested, insurance and shipping information, and a contact log field to detail the date and type of contact made with representatives of the lender. Once the lending institution has responded to the request, the record can be updated with any new information (usually that's just whether they have approved lending particular items). We could, but don't, use STAR to generate the legal paperwork. The legal document already exists, so it didn't make much sense to recreate it in STAR. Once approval has been given by the lending institution (and the art and artifacts in the request have been given a status of YES - meaning they've been approved), we are able to create catalogue records for incoming loans. These records live in the collection database alongside art and artifacts owned by Glenbow. When creating the object records, a "picklist" is generated based on any incoming loan record that has items identified as being approved (i.e. this prevents someone from creating an object record for a request or a specific item that has been denied). Information like the legal owner of the object, etc. etc. are taken from the loan record, additional information related to the description of the object itself may be entered at this time. We don't catalogue loaned items in nearly the detail that we would catalogue our own pieces, however, we try to enter information that would be useful to our conservation, design and production departments. Once that process is complete we are able to assign a unique number to the object(s) - short term loans get a TL (temporary loan number), long term get an EL number (extended loan). STAR autogenerates the number based on the year and the record number in the system - i.e. if it's the first loan of 2016 it would be TL16.1. >From there we can link loan object records to the exhibit, conservation can >create a treatment record (if they have been given permission to work on the >object), etc. When the exhibit comes down and the loan is ready to be >returned, there is a tie in with the Shipping Module to send the object back >to the lender. To date, we do not do any clean-up / archiving of loaned object records, although I suppose that might be something to discuss. Lastly, we do not enter travelling / canned exhibits that are loaned to us. We have considered this, but unless they were small exhibits it's just more workload than we have the manpower to deal with. Cathy Cathy Herr Computer Support Specialist, Collections ch...@glenbow.org 130 9 Avenue SE Calgary, Alberta T2G 0P3 D 403 268 4159 F 403 262 6569 glenbow.org -Original Message- From: mcn-l-boun...@mcn.edu [mailto:mcn-l-boun...@mcn.edu] On Behalf Of Emma Jones Sent: Tuesday, December 15, 2015 10:45 PM To: mcn-l@mcn.edu Subject: [MCN-L] Loans in your CMS Hi everyone I was wondering if there was anyone out there who would be willing to share hoe you process and record incoming loans in your collection management system? We are currently reviewing our practices and procedures and would like to know what other organizations do. We use XG here at the Australian War Memorial and utilize the entry, object and loans modules to manage all of our loans. Please feel free to reply to me off list or on this thread. Thanks! [AWM Logo not displayed in text email] This message may contain confidential information and is intended only for its recipient(s). If you have received this email by error, please delete this e-mail from your system and notify the sender immediately. E-mail transmission cannot be guaranteed to be secure. E-mail information could be intercepted, corrupted, lost, destroyed, arrive late, be incomplete, or contain viruses. The sender therefore does not accept liability for any errors or omissions in the contents of this message. ___ You are currently subscribed to mcn-l, the listse
[MCN-L] Job Posting - Glenbow Museum - Manager, Information Systems
The Glenbow Museum in Calgary, Alberta, Canada is now accepting applications for the position of Manager, Information Systems. General Accountability Reporting to the Chief Financial Officer, this position is responsible for planning, implementation, management, maintenance and support of information systems, telecommunications, audio visual systems services, and photographic services. The manager is also responsible for museum-wide information system strategic planning, budgeting, system analysis, system design, system implementation, security, and business continuity strategy. Follow the link to view the complete job description and application procedures at http://www.glenbow.org/about/careers/documents/Manager,%20Information%20Systems%20Job%20Description%202014.pdf Cathy Cathy Herr Computer Support Specialist, Collections cherr at glenbow.orgmailto:cherr at glenbow.org 130 9 Avenue SE Calgary, Alberta T2G 0P3 D 403 268 4159 F 403 262 6569 glenbow.org
[MCN-L] Using barcodes and tablets
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.edumailto:cbaczek at umfa.utah.edu Collections Photographer Digital Media Producer Utah Museum of Fine Arts t: 801.585.0125
[MCN-L] File naming conventions for digitized archives
Posted on behalf of one of our Archivists ... When we plan to digitize unnumbered items in an archival file, we first number the entire contents of the file. We then add the item number to the end of the call number which we use for identification purposes. For example, in the call number M-1234-5-6, M-1234 represents the manuscript portion of the Smith family fonds; 5 represents the 5th folder in the Smith papers, and 6 represents the 6th page within the 5th folder. Boring perhaps, but the call number will always lead us back to the exact document from which the digital file was made. We do not try to describe the actual item in the file title, as this information can be found in the finding aid. Susan Kooyman Archivist Glenbow Museum 130 - 9 Avenue SE, Calgary, AB. T2G 0P3 P: 403.268.4227 F: 403.262.6569 E: skooyman at glenbow.org -Original Message- From: mcn-l-bounces at mcn.edu [mailto:mcn-l-boun...@mcn.edu] On Behalf Of lauren boegen Sent: March-20-13 3:05 PM To: mcn-l at mcn.edu Subject: [MCN-L] File naming conventions for digitized archives Hi everyone, I'm wondering if anyone would be able and willing to share their experiences with file naming when digitizing an archive. We are struggling to find an efficient yet informative/functional way to assign file names to items in the collection that aren't individually identified at the item level. For example, we have several letters from John Doe to Jane Doe grouped in a folder and IDed as such in the finding aid, but we don't identify each individual letter by an accession number. The archive in question contains the business and family papers of an American astronomer and telescope maker and include mostly letters, invoices, and business materials related to telescope delivery. The best we've been able to come up with is a file name combining some sort of descriptor about what the image actually is (ie. letter_fromjohndoe_tojanedoe) and location (Clark_Series1_Box6_Folder2), but this seems unwieldy. I know someone out there's got to have figured out a better way, and any insight would be appreciated. Thanks! Lauren - Lauren Boegen Digital Collections Manager Webster Institute for the History of Astronomy The Adler Planetarium and Astronomy Museum phone: 312.542.2618 lboegen at adlerplanetarium.org
[MCN-L] [IT SIG:] Collections Management Software
Hi Jessica, We use Cuadra Associates, Inc. STAR/Museums at the Glenbow Museum in Calgary. Our museum collection is comprised of Art, Cultural History, Military History and Ethnology artifacts, and we're very pleased with the way the application handles our data. As Kate noted, setting field standards is an essential element to the usability of your system and information. Cuadra also has a STAR/Archives application - your Archives data would be housed in separate databases, but I know that they have been working on cross-application searching through their STAR Web interface. The Virginia Historical Society uses Cuadra's Museum app, Archives app, and Library app, so they would be a good contact for any additional information. Sincerely, Cathy
Re: Exhibition management on coll mgt systems
Hi Marla (and all interested list members), At the Glenbow Museum we use STAR/Museums developed by Cuadra Associates Inc. The Exhibits Management Module in the application includes tasks that allow for the creation and description of an exhibit record (in-house or traveling), the selection and linking of artifacts to the exhibit record, the creation of label and catalog copy for exhibit artifacts, and gallery layout (location of artifacts while on exhibit). Global update functions reserve artifacts, allow for exclusions, update locations of artifacts when exhibits are opened, and return artifacts to a predetermined location when the exhibit is closed. As well, the app has a Crates module and a Shipping module that integrates with the exhibit module. The Exhibit Management Module was one of the first modules that we integrated into our work processes at Glenbow. Since STAR is a development platform I have been able to make changes to input forms, reports, etc. that didn't quite fit the bill for the way we work here. I started with small changes, for example, a field to capture the names of staff on the exhibit team (the exhibit record only had a place for the coordinator or project leader). I continued by making reports that met the needs of our staff and have even modified the global updates to populate additional fields with relevant exhibit info. One element that the exhibit module doesn't currently handle is the ability to make an exhibit both in-house and traveling. Most of our traveling shows start as an in-house exhibit. That's a future project for me to work on. One of the advantages of a Collections Management System that is a development platform is that you can modify the way the product looks / works. A challenge (one that Glenbow has committed to) is that you need a full time database administrator, money and time for training. There have been very clear benefits to the institution since we started using the Exhibit Module in STAR. In addition to having detailed records about an exhibit for reference purposes, we now have a more streamlined, efficient exhibit process. In the past, Curators created artifact lists in a Word document. These documents were distributed to all parties that required a copy (conservators, installation techs, designers). Often when the curators removed artifacts from their list, updated copies were not forwarded. Mount makers, matters, framers, and conservators spent significant amounts of time working with artifacts that had been pulled from the exhibit. With the linking of artifacts to exhibit records and the ability to exclude artifacts with the click of a button, updated artifact lists can be pulled from the system on a regular basis. Label copy can be created directly in STAR, a report of the copy can be generated, e-mailed from the Window's Client application to a 2-D designer, and imported by them into Design software for enhancing. With each new exhibit we manage using STAR we realize new areas of efficiencies, and discover other staff who would benefit from access to the system. Let me know if you have other questions, would like more details, etc. Cathy Cathy Herr Computer Support Specialist, Collections Glenbow Museum ch...@glenbow.org --- You are currently subscribed to mcn_mcn-l as: rlancefi...@mail.wesleyan.edu To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-mcn_mcn-l-12800...@listserver.americaneagle.com
