Initially, we created Style Sheets: very lengthy PDF documents that listed each field in order and provided the standardized format for the data entry, including examples. However, these specifications changed slightly over time as unforeseen examples arose. For instance: we created a Geography type for "Source of Materials" so that we could track known quarries, etc.

The problem with this document was that staff printed it off, weren't checking for more recent versions, and then were referencing deprecated standards.

In October, we launched the TMS HelpCenter, an HTML based resource that includes Style Sheets for Manuscripts/Books, Objects (Both from the Objects module), and Bibliography (from the module of the same name), as hyperlinked HTML documents. If we reference the date field standard in the reign field standard, then a hyperlink to the date field standard is provided. The same goes for external resources, like the LOC Authority Files or the Getty Vocabularies. In addition, we included access to the TMS Manuals, some time-saving tips, and a handful of short video-clip tutorials to help orient new users on how to use the system for research.

Since the Walters Art Museum does not currently have an intranet, this lives on an institutionally available network drive, and makes extensive use of client-side technology like Javascript, CSS, and HTML (I would have used a DB and server-side technology - but it wasn't available). We have plans to continue to expand this resource.

We provided a link to the HelpCenter through-out TMS as a public plugin.


Chad M Petrovay
Collections Database Administrator
The Walters Art Museum
600 North Charles Street
Baltimore, MD  21210
P: 410.547.9000 x266
F: 410.837.4846
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www.thewalters.org
 
Exhibitions:
"The Repeating Image in Renaissance & Baroque Art" on view 8 September 8 - 17 February 2008
"Recurrence" on view 19 September 2007 - 20 January 2008
"Déjà Vu? Revealing Repetition in French Masterpieces" on view 7 October 2007 - 1 January 2008 
 
-----Original Message-----
From: The Museum System (TMS) Users [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Ariana French
Sent: Thursday, November 29, 2007 4:12 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: In-house TMS knowledge base?

Hello all,

I'm interested in hearing from anyone who has developed an in-house TMS
knowledge base or similar resource. For example, a collection of documents,
email or discussion board threads, web site pages, etc. which contain
guidelines for TMS record entry that may be unique to your institution. We
are finding duplicate efforts and similar questions being asked across
different departments, so I'm interested to know if anyone has had success
with developing an internal system for communicating TMS-related issues.

My question is this: What has worked for you, & what hasn't? Do you use an
intranet, a file share for documents, an offline (i.e. paper) resource, a
combination of these, or another solution? Does a particular application or
software meet your needs for this purpose?

Many thanks,

Ariana

--
Ariana French
Database Administrator
Yale University Art Gallery
341 Crown Street
New Haven, CT 06520
phone: (203) 432-7914