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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
1. Fully networked Client-Server– Not possible at all sites because of bandwidth
limitations
2. Windows Terminal Server for remote sites– Over comes bandwidth problems– Needs an additional server
3. 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
www.lancsmuseums.gov.uk
+44 (0)1772 655631
