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PastPerfect
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October
2007 Newsletter
1.
PastPerfect is Coming to a Conference near You
PastPerfect is continuing to add new locations to its conference schedule. Below is a list of conferences we are scheduled to attend. Be sure to stop by and say hello-we enjoy meeting our clients! Tribal Archives,
Libraries, and Museums Conference Mid-Atlantic Association
of Museums Conference 2. Upcoming Training Opportunities for PastPerfect 4.0 PastPerfect training classes for 2007 are well under way! Current training locations and dates are listed below. For more information, to register for scheduled regional training classes, or to inquire about possibly scheduling a session in your area for 2008, please contact our support office at 800-562-6080 or by e-mail at training@museumsoftware.com. Lincoln City,
OR-- October 23-25 NEW! Exton, PA-November
6-8 We thank you for your patience while the training program is being reorganized. We are working on preparing new training staff, as well as developing other training opportunities. 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 approximately every two months and are available for download by going to www.museumsoftware.com/software_updates.htm. If you would rather receive a free update CD, please contact our Support Office toll free at 800-562-6080 or by e-mail at support@museumsoftware.com. PastPerfect Version 3.5 - New Service Update Available 3.5C2 While there are no new features in the version 3.5C2 update, there are service updates that have been requested by 3.5 users. PastPerfect Version 4 - New Update Available 4.0D4 New features available in PastPerfect 4.0D4 include: *For PastPerfect
Online, if problem images are encountered display option to print
report listing the problems 4. Beta Testers Wanted: Get Your Collections Online Would you like to provide public access to your collections through a searchable website? Do you want to host this website at your own server? Systems Planning, our partner in creating PastPerfect-Online, is looking for beta testers for a server application called Mweb™ Universal 1.1. This program will allow you to host your PastPerfect-Online website on your own server. If your institution is interested in becoming a beta tester, please review the server hardware requirements at http://www.systemsplanning.com/mweb/universal.asp#server. For additional details about the project, please have your organization's IT staff contact Stephen Toney at Systems Planning by email: info@systemsplanning.com. 5. Look Who's
Using PastPerfect: Museum Association of Newfoundland and Labrador The Museum Association of Newfoundland and Labrador (MANL) is a Canadian, non-profit organization comprised of many museums, heritage groups, professionals, and other interested individuals who are working collectively towards the preservation and promotion of the province's material cultural heritage. Geographically, the province of Newfoundland and Labrador is situated in the most easterly region of North America. Though Newfoundland and Labrador has a smaller population base than other regions of the country, at present there are a combined number of over 200 community museums, historic sites, and heritage groups operating in the province. Incorporated in 1980, MANL has strived to provide those working in the heritage sector with appropriate advice and training. The Federal Department of Canadian Heritage's technological information management branch -- the Canadian Heritage Information Network (CHIN) -- supports MANL in many of its outreach endeavours. One of CHIN's central aims is to help museums across Canada become more engaged in applying emerging technologies towards the development, presentation, and preservation of their museum artefacts and collections. In 2005, MANL and CHIN entered into a joint project aimed at providing community museum staff and volunteers in the province with the information and tools required to incorporate national standards and policies into their long-term museum collections management plans. Though the needs and resources of MANL members vary from museum to museum, a key goal of the project has been to get data on a number of artefacts into a shareable, standardized, digital format. MANL has helped a number of museums in the province set up a basic program for entering in their catalogue records using common spreadsheet software. For those museums with additional resources that are looking for advanced features & options, flexibility and user-friendly interfaces, the Museum Association of Newfoundland and Labrador has endorsed use of the PastPerfect 4 museum software program. This software has been accredited with CHIN since 2003, and features a free downloadable upgrade to users called the 'Artefacts Canada Export Tool,' which allows our members to format their collection records for upload to Canada's national online database Artefacts Canada. Currently, MANL has eleven museums across the province using the PastPerfect 4 software, including the French Shore Interpretation Centre http://www.frenchshore.com, the Sir William F. Coaker Heritage Foundation http://www.historicportunion.com, and the Crow's Nest Military Artifacts Association http://www.crowsnestnf.ca/Artifacts.htm, among others. Since using the Basic version of the PastPerfect platform, a number of our members have decided to enhance their software packages with the Multi-Media and Scatter/Gather upgrades. To see some of
the artefact records online resulting from MANL's training and ongoing
work on this project, please visit the Artefacts Canada website and
view a sampling of the unique treasures found in community museums
here in Newfoundland and Labrador: http://collections.artefactscanada.chin.gc.ca/English/Gallery/static/ For more information about the Museum Association of Newfoundland and Labrador, or the Canadian Heritage Information Network, please go to http://www.manl.nf.ca/ or http://www.chin.gc.ca 6. Tech Tip: How Do I Set Up a Campaign? 1) Click Campaigns from the Main Menu. 2) Click on Add and enter information pertinent to this campaign, such as the Campaign name and Start Date and End Date. 3) Use the pull down menu of existing Funds to associate this campaign with a fund. If the fund you want does not exist, please use Setup | Contacts | Donation Funds & Pledges to set up the new fund, then come back to the Campaign screen to add the Fund there. 4) Be sure to
enter Start and End dates for the campaign. Even if this campaign
took place in the past, you will need to enter a future End Date (temporarily).
This enables you to link past pledges, donations, and new memberships
to this campaign. With a past 5) PastPerfect automatically tracks First Receipt, Last Receipt and Last New Member as you enter associated Donations and New Memberships with the Campaign. 6) Also enter any Activities associated with the Campaign (e.g. Mass Mailing or Fundraiser Dinner). You may track the Costs and Goals for each Activity. Please enter a monetary goal for each Activity in order to activate the thermometer chart. As Pledges and Donations are entered and associated with the Campaign, lines show progress toward the total goal on the thermometer. The progress of Donations is tracked in green, while the amount pledged is tracked in red. 7) With the Multi-Media Upgrade, you can also track the costs of this Campaign in Excel and link the Excel file to the Campaign record. However, you will need to enter the costs on the Campaign Activity chart as well. 8) Pledges and Donations may be entered from Contacts or Pledges/Receipts. However, New Memberships are added from Contacts only. If you have Pledges enter those first, then enter the Donations toward those Pledges. 9) It is possible to setup Pledge Reminder and Thank You letters for each Campaign, which is done from the Campaign screen. Please type the text of the letter and insert any of the pledge fields from the pull down menu at the top of the WordRite screen. Please save your letters and exit. These letters are then printed from the Pledge Detail accessed from Contacts or Pledges/Receipts. Please double click on the Pledge to open the Detail record. From Pledge Detail, the Pledge and Thank You letters are accessed from the bottom of the screen. Once you choose the letter, you will again change to a WordRite screen, from which you can print the letter. If this is an existing pledge (created before the letter), please click Rebuild Letter to use the letter created (or edited) in Campaigns. Please contact the PastPerfect operations support team at 800-562-6080 if you have any questions. We are happy to help! This month's tip was created in response to a Frequently Asked Question (F.A.Q.). This and other F.A.Q.s may be found under the Support portion of our website. F.A.Q.s answer some of the most common questions in the areas of Operations, Collections, System Requirements, Contact Management, Conversions, Virtual Exhibit, PastPerfect Online, as well as Errors and Technical Support. Check it out! http://www.museumsoftware.com/support/faq.htm If you have comments
or suggestions for future additions to the F.A.Q. page please e-mail
betsy@museumsoftware.com. 7. Contact
information To
unsubscribe: http://www.museumsoftware.com/newunsubscribe.htm |
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