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KE EMu - A Perspective Across Many Institutions Robin Green Registrar Lancashire County Museum Service UK. Lancashire County Museum Service. We operate 12 museums and a commercial Conservation Service 4 “City/Town” Museums 2 Country Houses 2 Town Houses 2 Textile Mills
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KE EMu - A Perspective Across Many Institutions Robin Green Registrar Lancashire County Museum Service UK
Lancashire County Museum Service • We operate 12 museums and a commercial Conservation Service • 4 “City/Town” Museums • 2 Country Houses • 2 Town Houses • 2 Textile Mills • 2 Maritime Museums • plus1 Castle and 2 Roman Bathhouses • Museums owned by 6 different bodies
Lancashire County Museum Service • Overall “Spend” £2.2M (US $3.7M) • 244 staff, of which 70 full time • (Very small) part of Education & Cultural Services Directorate • Our “spend” less than their overspend!
Position at January 2000 • Data spread over (then) 7 sites • Free-standing PCs • No network connections • Out-dated software (Superbase) • Unable to see whole collection or other sites • Little consistency • Paper records poor
Action (1) • No funding! • Consolidate existing data centrally • Go window-shopping • MDA website • MDA conference • Look for funding within Lancashire County Council
Support (1) • Education Directorate ICT Team • Recognised previous lack of investment • Installed and paid for network connections at all sites (64kb dial-up) • Provided support for CMS specification and response evaluation • Provided part-funding for CMS • No strings attached • E-Government Team • Balance of funding for CMS • Strings attached
Support (2) • Internal Audit • Did not like what they saw • Wholly supportive • Highlighted lack of human and financial resources • Actively assisted in CMS evaluation • Helped us to select EMu • But, they came back later!
Network Options • Fully networked Client-Server • Not possible at all sites because of bandwidth limitations • Windows Terminal Server for remote sites • Over comes bandwidth problems • Needs an additional server • Local Servers updating to a single catalogue • More expensive • Needs a local server at each site
The Solution • Central server • Citrix Terminal Server for all sites • Preferred by Central IT team, but • They had no expertise • It needed an additional server • Had to wait for consultant • In the end, it works!
EMu Configuration • Bought system previously supplied to Manchester (University) Museum • Did not fully meet our needs • Needed second phase • Re-configure existing tabs • Design new tabs • Additional user licences • Data migration • Funded by Education Directorate!
Current Position • Waiting for system upgrade + data migration + simultaneous move to new server. • Only is use for selected subject areas • Need to: • Train more staff • Work out procedure for Conservation Unit • Extend coverage to collections not owned, but managed, by Lancashire County Museum Service
In Conclusion • We (nearly!) have a system that meets our needs • We have (nearly!) worked out our procedures, written around EMu • Somebody else paid for it • We still have a lot to learn! • The rest is up to the entire Museum Service team
Lancashire County Museum Service Robin Green robin.green@mus.lancscc.gov.uk www.lancsmuseums.gov.uk +44 (0)1772 655631