PastPerfect Museum Software Newsletter- December 2005
1. Happy Holidays from Pastime Software Company!
2. Free Updates for PastPerfect Museum Software
3. Tip of the Month- Reports that Span All Four Catalogs
4. Look Who's Using PastPerfect- The Molly Brown House Museum, Denver, CO
5. Pastime Software Contact Information
1. Happy Holidays from Pastime Software Company!
Happy Holidays to all of you from the staff at Pastime Software Company, makers of PastPerfect Museum Software! Many thanks to you for making PastPerfect the most widely used collections and membership management software package ever!
**Please note, the Sales and Support Office will be closed on December 26, 2005 and also on January 2, 2006.
2. Free Updates for PastPerfect Museum Software!
Did you know updates are available from our website for your PastPerfect Museum Software versions 4.0 and 3.5? These free updates are released every month 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 800-562-6080.
PastPerfect Version 4-
New Update Available 4.0C2!
The new update now available for PastPerfect version 4 is 4.0C2! New features
found in this update include:
* New Finding Aid report in the Archives catalog
* New MultiMedia Links report in All Four Catalogs
* Detailed information about Search Terms prints on Authority File Report
* If you double click on a pledge, donation or dues receipt from the Pledges/Receipts
screen and the associated Contact record has been deleted, user is given an
option to delete the entry
* Include CD backup date on Backup Reminder screen
* New function getdonaddress() that can be used on donation thank you letters
and donations by fund report to print alternate billing address
* New general security option to restrict users from viewing websites via
PastPerfect
* New general security option to restrict users from saving or deleting queries
* New general security option to restrict users from accessing To Do Lists
* Option to add catalog record image to the Incoming Loan Form
* Increase length of Incoming Loans field purpose to 80 characters
* Increase length of Incoming Loans field insurance company to 50 characters
* Increase length of Incoming Loans field institute to 50 characters
* Upload of web data files goes to root directory
PastPerfect Version 3.5- Current Update Available 3.5B8!
The current update now available for PastPerfect version 3.0 or 3.5 is 3.5B8.
New features found in this update include:
* Ability to include phone numbers in the Volunteer Hours detail report
* Add "Returned to Donor" as a deaccession disposal method term
* Alphabetize list of Report Maker reports
* Increase length of "Institution" field on outgoing loans to 50
characters
* Function Keys available in Browse
* Show CD backup date on backup reminder screen
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 PastPerfect can better serve our users.
3. Tip of the Month- Get Reports that Span All Four Catalogs in PastPerfect 3.5 and 4.0!
Do you know that there are reports already built into your PastPerfect program that cover the Objects, Photos, Archives and Library catalogs all at once? You can locate these reports by clicking on the "Reports" button or tab on the main menu of PastPerfect, then click on the "Collections" button (version 3 or 3.5 users) or the "All Four Catalogs" button (version 4 users). Here are descriptions of a few reports that you might find useful:
Collection List- This report is extremely useful when you want a list of items that are across all four catalogs. It will list all the items you have cataloged in PastPerfect, or you can choose which items show on this report by ranges of objectid number, object name, collection, status, and home location. You can choose whether or not you want to include Incoming Loan or Deaccessioned items, and you can also choose whether you want the full descriptions of each item to show as well.
Collection Value Report/ Location Value Report (the Location Value Report is only in version 4) - These reports are great when you want to know the value of pieces in your collection. Both of these reports allow you to sort by Object ID number or object name, and also give you the option to include items that have a deaccessioned status or are Incoming Loaned items. The Collection Value report allows you to select items in one collection or all collections, whereas the Location Value report allows you to select items in one location or all locations.
Insurance Coverage- This report gives you a summary of the insurance information entered into your PastPerfect program about each item. It allows you to choose a list of items that are considered Under Insured, Over Insured, Un-insured or items that have an Expired Policy based on the current and insured values and insurance information entered on each record. It gives you the options to sort by Current Value, Insured Value, Object ID, Objname, Condition, Status, Home Location or Collection, and gives you the choice to narrow down items by catalog. Please note, this report is compiled based on information entered in your PastPerfect program and in no way makes suggestions regarding insurance coverage on items in your collection. For more information on that subject, contact an insurance agent. To run this report, double click on the "Insurance Coverage" report.
Items By Donor Report- This report is helpful when you want a list of all the items that have been given by a particular donor across all four catalogs. You can choose whose items you want to view by the Donor ID # or by the Donor name as entered on the records in the Accessions catalog. You can narrow the list of items by catalog and have the options to sort by Donor ID#, ObjectID, Accession #, Objname or Donor Name. To run this report, simply double click on "Items by Donor."
Maintenance Due Report (the Mainenance Due Report is only in version 4)- This report is useful when data has been entered on the catalog records about maintenance requirements for any items in Objects, Photos, Archives or Library. It will give you a list of the items that have a maintenance due date between a range of dates specified by the user, and displays all the maintenance information that has been entered about the items due within that date range. It allows you to narrow the items that appear on this report by catalog and gives you the options to sort by Maintenance Due Date, ObjectID, Objname, Condition or Home Location/Building.
If you have any problems running the above reports or have any questions, please contact our support office toll free, at 800-562-6080 or send an e-mail to support at support@museumsoftware.com.
4. Look Who's Using PastPerfect- * The Molly Brown House Museum*
The Molly Brown House Museum is located in Denver, CO and opened in 1972 with the mission to accurately portray the story of Margaret Tobin Brown within the context of her lifetime through ongoing research, artifact collection, preservation, and educational programming in order to inspire courage, conviction and proactive change in the spirit of Margaret Brown. Margaret Molly Brown is best known for her role as a survivor of the famed Titanic tragedy, but was also a significant player in Denver society and politics. She traveled the world, hobnobbed with European royalty, helped start programs like the juvenile court system, pounds for stray pets, and raised money for many charities. She refused to fit into the role that Victorian society would put a woman into, that of a demure, passive inferior to men. Her accomplishments are still being discovered by scholars and museum staff.
The house is interpreted to 1910 and runs tours to as many as 40,000 people a year. Tour guides speak about the houses history as well as that of the Brown family and Denver and the world throughout Margarets life. The Museum is well known for its many Victorian-style teas, its Titanic Dinner, and its Halloween Victorian Horrors. A growing archive of information on the Brown and Tobin families exists, and the staff actively seeks scholars to expand the knowledge base of the Museum. A recent addition of a temporary exhibit space on the back porch allows visitors to see what the larger world of 1867 to 1932 (Margarets lifetime) was like.
The Molly Brown House Museum is currently using PastPerfect version 3.5 to catalog their artifacts, photos and books, and has recently begun putting in the archival information for easy reference later. The Museum has a record of all but a handful of the items accessioned since 1971 when the museum started collecting. The exhibits area has proven especially useful as the Museum does many cyclical changes (Christmas decorations, for instance) and keeping the record of what items are displayed during those cycles will help them to rotate objects so that they are not over-displayed. A project starting in 2006 will be to photograph each item for inclusion in the database.
Learn more about the Molly Brown House Museum by visiting their website at http://mollybrown.org.
Special thanks to Michael Thompson, Collections Manager, for the Molly Brown House Museum for writing this month's "Look Who's Using PastPerfect" feature!
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