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September 2006 Newsletter

1. What's New Online? PastPerfect-Online's new featured user:
    The Baltimore Museum of Industry

2. Upcoming Training Opportunities for PastPerfect 4.0!

3. Free Updates for PastPerfect Software

4. Look Who's Using PastPerfect: The SPAM Museum in Austin, MN

5. Tech Tip: Alphabetical vs. Numerical Sorting of Records in PastPerfect

6. Contact Information


1. What's New Online?

Check out our featured PastPerfect-Online site, the Baltimore Museum of Industry (http://baltmusindustry.pastperfect-online.com/.) Their collection includes over 3700 records including Baltimore Gas & Electric Company images. Just visit their site and do a keyword search for BALTIMORE ELECTRIC. The photos are fantastic! Clicking RANDOM IMAGES will allow you to browse their images without searching for specifics.

Thanks to the staff of the Baltimore Museum of Industry for sharing their collection with the world!

You can visit other PastPerfect-Online sites from our index page
http://www.PastPerfect-Online.com


2. Upcoming Training Opportunities for PastPerfect 4.0!

The 2006 Training Classes are well under way! As more dates and locations are scheduled, they will be added to the listing below. To find out more information about the scheduled training classes or to inquire about possibly scheduling a session in your area, please contact our Training Coordinator, Amy Dunn, by phone at 610-304-0973 or by e-mail at training@museumsoftware.com.

St. Paul, MN
Hosted by the Minnesota Historical Society
September 19-21

Philomath, OR
Hosted by the Benton County Historical Museum
September 27-29

Oberlin, OH
Hosted by the Oberlin Heritage Center
October 10-12

Richmond, VA
Hosted by the County of Henrico Division of Recreation and State Parks
October 31-November 2

Bellingham, WA
Hosted by the American Museum of Radio and Electricity
November 7-9

Lexington, MA
Hosted by the Lexington Historical Society at the Depot
November 14-16

Be sure to check out our website at www.museumsoftware.com/training.htm for additional training dates and other information!


3. Free Updates for PastPerfect Museum Software

Did you know updates are available from our website for your PastPerfect Museum Software versions 3.5 and 4.0? These free updates are released every two months or so and are available for download by going to this page on our website: www.museumsoftware.com/software_updates.htm.

If you would rather receive a free update CD, please contact our Support Office toll free at 1-800-562-6080 or by e-mail at support@museumsoftware.com.

PastPerfect Version 3.5- New Update Available 3.5C1

The latest update available for PastPerfect version 3.5 is 3.5C1. The new feature in this update includes:

* Ability to include "Notes" and "Inmemory" fields to the Donations- Money Report

PastPerfect Version 4- New Update Available 4.0C7

The latest update available for PastPerfect version 4 is 4.0C7. New features in this update include:
* New Authority files for Contact Custom Fields 1-3, Library Series, and People Biography Role field
* Add fields "Collector/Donor Details", "Location Notes", and a set of 5 location fields to Site subscreen
* Add New Membership Report
* Add New Prospect Report
* Add New Prospect Details Report
* Site Elevation field can automatically convert from meters to feet
* Display of large "Deceased" flag on main contacts screen if box is checked on Biography subscreen
* Option to add any field from the Contacts database to the Contacts To Do list report
* Option to add fields "date joined" and contacts custom fields 1-6 to Batch Dues receipts report and batch dues mailing lists
* Outgoing Loans report "List of Loans" has option to narrow the list by loanno, outdate, duedate, or institution
* Search Terms authority file report includes number of entries in each catalog
* First name field is included when exporting the Donations, Dues & Inkind Gifts report to Excel
* New minimum value of 200 for image folder auto-increment

If you have comments or suggestions for PastPerfect version 4, please e-mail your ideas to suggestions@museumsoftware.com. We are eager to hear your comments and learn ways that Pastime Software can better serve our customers.


4. Look Who's Using PastPerfect: Hormel Foods Corporation/SPAM® Museum in Austin, MN!

Special Thanks to Shawn Radford, SPAM® Museum and Archives Manager, for writing this month's Look Who's Using PastPerfect!

Hormel Foods Corporation was founded in Austin, MN in 1891. The Hormel Foods archives houses over 250,000 items depicting the rich history of the company. The collection includes personal artifacts of the founder and his family, memos and communications, financial documents, blueprints of company facilities, marketing tools, product labels, advertising tools (print, video, audio), manufacturing tools, and much more!

While the majority of our archive collection is not open to the public, we do provide research assistance for various needs for both internal and external customers. PastPerfect is used to catalog our collection, as well as accession new donations. PastPerfect has been a wonderful tool in assisting us to organize our collection and the digital imaging tool has served us well . . . it is SPAMTASTIC as a research tool!

A portion of the company's collection is shared with the public in our SPAM® Museum. The museum opened in September 2001 and since then has hosted approximately 100,000 visitors each year. The focus of our museum is to provide an educational and interactive opportunity for our visitors to learn more about our company and the products we process, especially SPAM®, in a fun and unique way.

PastPerfect's customer service department has been very helpful every time we've needed some expert guidance. Thank you!

For more information about the SPAM® Museum please visit their website at www.spam.com or www.hormel.com.


5. Tech Tip: Alphabetical vs. Numerical Sorting of Records in PastPerfect

PastPerfect provides two ways to sort your catalog records: Alphabetically and Numerically. Depending on your institution's numbering system, one of the sorting options might work better than the other.

To set the sort order for your Catalog and Accession records, click on the Setup button on the Main Menu, and then General Information. On the right hand side of the screen, you should see an option for Object ID sorting. Select either Alpha or Numeric, and list the separator between the different sections of your numbering system. After you have made the selection, be sure to exit to the Main Menu and Reindex with Rebuild Catalogs checked to make sure that everything is properly sorted.

If you are using leading zeroes in your numbering system, alphabetical sorting will be the best option. Alpha sorting treats each character in your Object ID or Accession number as a separate letter, and will sort your Object ID or Accession numbers just like they were in a dictionary. For example, sorting alphabetically can give you this list of items:

HS2005.001.008
HS2005.001.008A
HS2005.001.008B
HS2005.001.009

If you are using a trinomial numbering system without leading zeroes, Numeric Sorting will be best for you. Numeric sorting treats each character in your Object ID or Accession number as a separate number.

Sorting numerically will give you this list of items:

2005.8.9
2005.8.10a
2005.8.10b
2005.8.11

To see the differences in how your data sorts in PastPerfect 4.0, go into one of your catalogs (such as Objects.) On the upper right hand corner, you should see a drop down box, where you can select the options Objectid, Objectid(num), Accession#, and Accessn(num). The options with (num) can be used for numeric sorting. The other two options are available for alphabetic sorting. You can then click on Browse to see at a glance how your records are sorting.

Remember, for the sorting to work correctly, your numbering system must be kept consistent. If you have any questions regarding sorting, please contact the Support Office at 1-800-562-6080.


6. Contact Information

Address: 300 North Pottstown Pike, Suite 200 Exton, PA 19341
Website: www.MuseumSoftware.com
Sales & Product Info: 800-562-6080 or sales@museumsoftware.com
Support: 800-562-6080 or support@museumsoftware.com
Training: 610-304-0973 or training@museumsoftware.com
Data Conversions: 800-562-6080 or conversions@museumsoftware.com

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