- Daniel Starr, Chief Librarian, Technical Services and Planning, Museum
of Modern Art
- Cataloging Section; Museum Library Division
Since the ascendancy of Windows, developments in digital imaging,
and the omnipresence of the World Wide Web have transformed both types
of systems. In 1991, museum systems and library systems shared a common
technology (text- and DOS-based), but served very different functions
and user groups. Museum systems were used behind the scenes by registrars
to manage the art collections, while library systems were used to
manage and to provide public access to museum libraries. Library system
vendors routinely tout the ability to link full text and images to
Internet-accessible catalogs, while museum systems offer the ability
to share collection information with the public on the Web. Although
there is so much overlap in functionality, for the most part library
and museum systems continue to evolve in parallel, rather than in
tandem. What are the factors that an institution should consider when
deciding whether to purchase a library system, and/or a museum system?
Speakers representing several museums will briefly describe the criteria
their institutions used in decision-making; the moderator will respond,
and then the issues will be thrown open to the floor for questions
and comments.
-
Daniel Starr, Chief Librarian, Technical Services
and Planning, Museum of Modern Art
-
Nancy Allen, Director of Information Resources,
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
-
Elizabeth O'Keefe, Director of Collection Information
Systems, Pierpont Morgan Library
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