1. PastPerfect is seeking another person to join our team!
We currently have an opening for a Technical Support Specialist/Administrative Assistant at Pastime Software Company, Inc. For more information and a full description of the position, please visit our website at http://www.museumsoftware.com/career_opportunities.htm.
2. PastPerfect Newsletter Change!
In an effort to conform with recent legislation regarding unsolicited email, Pastime Software is asking all of our subscribers to “officially” register for this newsletter by filling out the online form. We respect your privacy and want to assure you that we will NEVER share your email address or contact information with another organization.
If you have not already, please visit www.museumsoftware.com/news.htm to make sure you continue to receive this newsletter.
October 1st is the deadline, please don’t wait until the last minute!
3. Upcoming Regional Training Sessions
Long Island (Huntington), NY: Hosted by the Long Island
Museum Association assisted by the Huntington Historical Society at the St.
Patrick's School
August 10, 11 & 12
Waterloo, IA: Grout Museum District
August 18, 19, & 20
Washington, DC: National Trust
for Historic Preservation
August 24, 25 & 26
Eugene, OR: Co-hosted by the
Creswell Museum and the Lane County Historical Museum at Lane Community College
September 14, 15 & 16
San Diego, CA: San Diego Historical
Society's Museum of San Diego History in Balboa Park
September 14, 15 & 16
Richmond, VA: Agecroft Hall
September 21, 22 & 23
Chappaqua, NY: New Castle Historical
Society
October 13, 14 & 15
Contact training@museumsoftware.com for more information!
Pastime Software is offering Free Regional Information Sessions for those who are interested in learning more about PastPerfect. Attendees will have an opportunity to meet with our staff and see a demonstration of PastPerfect Museum Software, the most widely-used museum software in the world. If you know someone who is interested in attending an Information Session, have them RSVP by calling 800-562-6080 or e-mailing sales@museumsoftware.com.
Waterloo, IA: August 17, 2004 @ 1:00pm
Hosted by the Grout Museum of History & Science
503 South Street, Waterloo, IA
5. PastPerfect Version 3.5 - Current Update Available 3.5B4…
The latest update available from www.museumsoftware.com is 3.5B4. New Features found in the 3.5B4 update include…
* Add Spine Label field to MARC Import Map
* Add ? Help for Spine Label field
Don’t forget, if you have suggestions for PastPerfect improvements, please e-mail them to suggestions@museumsoftware.com. We are always open to suggestions and eager to hear of ways that PastPerfect can better serve our users.
6. Tip of the Month- Keyword Searching in PastPerfect
Keyword Searching provides a way of finding the information you want in the least amount of time. The keyword search in PastPerfect is an indexed search, meaning a list of words is created, (that list is called a search index) and it keeps track of how many times a word is used in PastPerfect. When someone performs a keyword search for a word, the search tool runs through the list, finds the word and displays the entries that contain that word. It is important to rebuild your keyword search index if you have done a significant amount of data entry so that it has the most up-to-date list of words and count of entries that contain that word.
To check the words that are listed on your search index, click on the "Utilities" Tab, then click on the "Keyword Setup" button. At the bottom of the Keyword Setup screen, there is a button labeled "View Word List," click this to view your word list. This will show a list of words and the number of times those words appear in the fields you have selected to include in the Keyword Search. You can also choose which fields you want to include on the Keyword Search from the Keyword Setup Screen. To do this, click on the tab for each catalog and click a checkmark into the box next to the fields you want to include on the Keyword Search.
If you want to be able to search for dates using the Keyword Search, you must add numbers to the Valid Characters to Include...field. You can do this on the Keyword Setup Screen by typing /0123456789 in the field marked Valid characters to include in keywords in addition to a-z. From time to time, you may get a message saying there are words that appear more than 1000 times, and you may want to add these words to the excluded words list. For a list of these over-used words, press the "View Word List" button and click on the "Count" column to sort by count. After checking your word list, if you want to add these words to the excluded words list, click into the box labeled "Do not include these words in keyword list," and type in the word followed by a comma.
When you are completely finished making changes to the Keyword Setup, click the "Rebuild Indexes Now" button. If you have not done this for a while, it may take several minutes. Please keep in mind that, like reindexing, if you are running PastPerfect on a network, all other PastPerfects must be closed to avoid errors.
7. Look Who’s Using PastPerfect… The Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Museum
The Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Museum is located in the southwest area of Baltimore, MD where the first railroad was built in America in 1827. The mission of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Museum is to "...preserve the physical legacy and experience of American railroading, to interpret and present its history to the widest possible audience; and to develop programs which broaden and deepen public appreciation of the past, present and future significance of the railroad industry in the development of American life, especially in the City of Baltimore, State of Maryland, and the region." They not only preserve, interpret, and present the history of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, but also the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway, the Western Maryland Railway, and other railroads found throughout the Mid-Atlantic region. They also work as part of the Smithsonian Institution's Affiliates Program representing Mid-Atlantic railway history. The Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Museum's collection encompasses a diverse assortment of pieces including railway cars, historic buildings, textiles, china, silver, tools, lanterns, and much more.
In February of 2003, a severe snowstorm caused the roof of the Baldwin Roundhouse, the museum's primary building, to collapse, not only damaging the structure of this National Historic Landmark, but also many locomotives, railroad cars, and artifacts. The museum had to close and since then the staff has been working non-stop, raising the $10 million dollars needed to repair and restore the roof and contents damaged by the collapse. They have also been working closely with construction crews on the actual restoration of the structure. The staff have faced many more financial and structural challenges than originally anticipated, and look forward to the weekend of November 13-14, 2004, when the museum will reopen, not only celebrating the restored Roundhouse, but also expanded exhibition galleries, educational programming, and other facilities.
The Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Museum relies on PastPerfect to keep track of both their Membership and Collections information. As recent fundraising efforts continue, they have found it particularly useful in tracking Donations and Dues information, and look forward to implementing it to keep track of their volunteer information as well. To learn more about the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Museum, visit their website at www.borail.org.
Have you ever wondered who else is using PastPerfect? Check out our updated User List at www.museumsoftware.com/client_list.htm!
Please visit Pastime Software staff at the following conferences in 2004…
American Association for State and Local History: St. Louis, MO. Sept. 29 – Oct. 2
Association of Railway Museums Annual Conference: Ogden, UT. Oct. 13 – 17
Mid Atlantic Association of Museums and Pennsylvania Federation of Museums & Historical Organizations: Philadelphia, PA. Oct 16 – 18
Address: 300 N. Pottstown Pike Suite 200, Exton, PA 19341
Website: www.MuseumSoftware.com
Sales & Product Info: 800-562-6080 sales@museumsoftware.com
Support: 800-562-6080 support@museumsoftware.com
Training: 610-304-0973 training@museumsoftware.com
Data Conversions: 253-589-0463 conversions@museumsoftware.com