Jim’s Development Blog

A new version of the premium edition of the Museum Archive software (http://www.musarch.com) is available for registered users. This new version corrects a few minor errors and adds two new procedures: a new Search procedure for Notes on an Object, and a new Report Writer module for Notes on an Object. Registered users have been notified by email; if you would like to upgrade to the new version and did not receive any notification, write to support and I will provide you with the details. As always, backup your installation before applying the update.

Don’t forget to use the Detailed Report previewer to search for (and optionally page tag) any text value - a simple way to “query” the entire database.

Things are pretty quiet during the summer months, but the project continues to have impressive download stats, with many users located around the world. Spread the word!

The premium edition of the Museum Archive software project has an effective way for you to find anything in your collection - by using the Print Preview for the Detailed Object report. Just print everything (no query required), and when the print preview opens up, you can tell it to tag pages containing the search phrase you are looking for. It will find every instance of the phrase, whether it is buried in a Note or is part of the Object’s name or is included in a specific field. You can optionally ask the preview search routine to delete pages NOT tagged, leaving you with the Objects containing your search value. Give it a try…

The Museum Archive software application has matured into a solid piece of software. With almost 4,000 downloads since it was first released, we’ve come a long way towards meeting the goal of the Museum Archive software project: helping small organizations to electronically organize their collections without spending a small fortune on software.

Requests for changes and/or bug fixes have slowed to a crawl, but that does not mean the software cannot be improved. If you have any ideas that you would like to see implemented, send them to support AT musarch.com. And continue to spread the word about the project! Visit http://www.musarch.com for the latest version of the software.

I released a new version of the premium edition today. This version fixes a small bug pointed out by Paul Ewell (thanks, Paul) that reared its ugly head when you stored images in the database. If an object did not have an image associated with it, and the preceding object had an internally stored image, and the objects were the most recently added records, the image preview got all confused. You can download the new version on the web site (www.musarch.com) and use the same password to install it (backup your data before installing any new software).

As of today, the basic edition has been downloaded 3,409 times. People seem to be hearing good things about the software and giving it a try. The web site had more than 67,000 page views during 2010, and the search engines tend to place musarch.com in the top ten results when you search for ‘museum software’. Satisfying results; thanks to everyone who gave the package a try, and particularly to those who made helpful suggestions along the way.

Work continues on a new web server. I asked users for suggestions about the desktop software, and there were several good ones submitted. When I get back to that part of the project, I’ll see what I can do. In the meantime, if you have any thoughts, send them in (support at musarch.com).

One overlooked opportunity for a small organization to distribute information about its collection is to produce a PDF report which can be posted to the web site. In the Reports menu of the Museum Archive software, you can specify that a report be “sent” to a PDF file format. Uploading the resulting file to your web site and creating a link is a simple way to let visitors to the site see information about your collection of Objects. And for a more interactive experience, take a look at the Musarch web server.

I’ve had a series of other issues to deal with, so I haven’t been working on the Museum Archive software project at all in the last month. That should change soon. The first order of business is to create a new version of the Musarch web server. Thanks for your patience.

The Museum Archive software project basic edition has now been downloaded 3,000 times since May 2009. Not bad for a little package designed for a niche target audience. Thanks to everyone who has tried it, and much thanks to all who have made suggestions and offered valuable feedback. I hope to release a new version of the Musarch Web Server soon.

Microsoft has a new protection package named ‘Microsoft Security Essentials’ that might not be very nice to your data files. It seems that MSE is not designed to be run in a multi-user environment. The software I write is designed to be run in a multi-user environment, so combining my stuff with MSE is playing with fire. I have had no reports of database corruption from my users, but there is a lot of anecdotal evidence in the newsgroups of problems. I recommend that you (1) backup your data often and (2) use some other security package instead of MSE if you are running my software.

With the start of another school year, the Museum Archive software project is really taking off. Total downloads have now passed the 2,200 mark, and the new Musarch Web Server is a popular addition to the software.

Most small organizations can’t envision putting their collections on the web - they figure that it will be too much work, that they don’t have the expertise, or that it will be too costly. With the Musarch Web Server, they’ve already done the work, it is easy to set up, and it is free. It’s time to aim high and get those collections online - go to http://www.musarch.com.