Technology for the
Small Museum
Kaia Landon
kaia@mesahistoricalmuseum.org
Assistant Director and Curator of Collections
Mesa Historical Museum
Museum Association of Arizona Annual Conference
May 14, 2009

First, a quote from the American Association for
History Computing 2009 Conference: “Turns out
that not too many jobs ask you to write a 7- to 10-
page research paper.”
--- Jeff McClurken @jmcclurken on Twitter

Framework for Choosing Technologies
• Start from problems, work toward solutions
• What are your goals?
• Does it fit with your strategic plan?
• What’s the hoped-for ROI for the project?
More tech is not necessarily better

Issues to Consider
• Cost • Availability
• Necessity • Maturity
• Demand • Transition
• Scope • Opportunity
• Complexity
Lin Nelson-Mayson, AAM 2006, as
• Maintenance in The Digital Museum: A Think
Guide
• Image

Top Ten Technologies
1 Word processing Software
2 Website/email
3 Credit Card Capabilities*
4 Collections Software*
5 CRM*
6 Digitization Tools
7 Social Media*
8 Scheduling Software (facilities, people, events)
9 Network/Intranet/Shared files
10 Event Planning/Ticketing

Credit Card Capabilities
If you accept money, you
need to accept credit
cards.

In Person
• Talk to your bank, do web search
• May have to buy terminal ($50-$500+)
– What features do you need?
– Will it work with your phone lines?
– Can it integrate with other software
(i.e., Quickbooks)?
• Discount fees (usually <3%)
• Monthly fees ($10-$30)
• Set-up fees (free to ???)

On the Web
• Google Checkout • Custom through bank
• Paypal

Abbreviations to Know
SAS = Software as a Service
FOSS = Free and Open Source Software

Collections Software
PastPerfect/TMS/Embark/Re:Discovery
FOSS Alternatives:
– Collective Access www.collectiveaccess.org
– Archivist’s Toolkit www.archiviststoolkit.org

Archivist’s Toolkit

Online Exhibits
Option A = Code your own in HTML/XML/Flash
= can be VERY time consuming, requires high
degree of knowledge of technology, can be a
lot of work to change
Option B = Find software to do it for you!

HTML/PHP Web Design Software
• Dreamweaver ($$$, steep discount through
TechSoup (cost is $35))
• Kompozer (free!)
• CMS options (free, but +tech expertise)
– Wordpress
– Drupal
– Joomla
– Plone

Drupal Example

Flash
Requires Adobe Flash ($$$) + lots of tech
knowledge
Or there are numerous online tools to help you
build flash presentations – many are free, but
may include branding/ads you can’t get rid
of, and are not easy

Museum Alternatives
• Omeka
• Open Museum
• Arizona Memory Project
• ContentDM
• Pachyderm
• Open Exhibits (planned – doesn’t yet exist)

Omeka

Pachyderm

Digital Asset Management (DAM)
Some FOSS options:
• Gallery
• Razuna
• Montala
• OpenEdit

Customer Relationship Management
(CRM)
• PastPerfect
• CiviCRM
• eTapestry
• Blackbaud/Raiser’s Edge
• Many options
Low Cost Donor Management Report (NTEN)
http://nten.org/research/download_idealware_d
ms?sid=20089

SOCIAL MEDIA

Listen First!
If you’re going to use Social Media, it’s a good
idea to start by listening
– Learn what people are saying about you
– Learn how the platform works
Google Alerts

MYSPACE

FACEBOOK

TWITTER

All the Rest
• YouTube • Ning • Wikis
• Flickr • SecondLife • Widgets
• ArtBabble • Steve.museum

QUESTIONS?