Dear Annamaria At the Australian National Maritime Museum we have been using bar coding since c 1988 when the Museum was first established. We barcode all our objects by simply tying a barcode label to the object if possible, or sticking a label on to the object's housing. Object identification numbers are also written on objects in the usual way and can be keyed into the barcode reader or directly into our CMS if necessary. All our storage locations, including shelves, boxes, crates etc are also barcoded. We have developed a simple system of keeping barcode labels aside when the object is put on display and then re-uniting the object with its label as part of our exhibition demount and return to storage processes.
We originally ran our bar coding software using DBase in conjunction with our old RBase database. However, when we ungraded to TMS in 2005, we began using the TMS barcode manager tool (slightly customised). We are investigating using Bartender software for barcode label printing. >From our preliminary testing, this looks to be a flexible and easy to use piece of software. We will be upgrading our hand held bar code readers within the next few months and we expect to be able to see a variety of data on the screen, including object record images. As a previous subscriber noted, it is possible for people to make mistakes still, however, we find that bar coding minimises room for error and significantly improves our ability to move and update the locations of a significant number of objects each year. We have accurate location and location history records for each object. Regards, Sally Sally Fletcher Senior Registrar Ph: +61 2 9298 3726 Fax: +61 2 9298 3780 >>> annamaria.pomaswank at gmail.com Monday, 29 October 2007 >>> Dear all, I would like to know : 1. how many museums are using the barcoding objects inventory system 2. if the CMS they use support the system 3. A feedback on the use of this tool Annamaria Poma Swank Rinascimento Digitale project consultant pomaswank at rinascimento-digitale.it _______________________________________________ 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 ##################################################################################### This e-mail message has been scanned for Viruses and Content and cleared by MailMarshal ##################################################################################### ##################################################################################################### This transmission is intended only for the use of the addressee and may contain confidential or legally privileged information. If you are not the intended recipient, you are notified that any use or dissemination of this communication is strictly prohibited and may incur severe penalties. If you have received this transmission in error, please notify us immediately by telephone on 02 9298 3777 and delete all copies of this transmission together with any attachments. #####################################################################################################
