Dear Sharon,

 

At the National Portrait Gallery, we are fairly generous with rights in
order to allow everyone to do what they need to do--even if that means
extra monitoring and data editing at times. One thing we do not let
anyone except the two administrators do is to edit our local thesaurus
and authority terms. Users send requests for new terms to me, or in my
absence my supervisor. This works for us, but we don't generally add new
thesaurus terms and authority field items very often. Your last position
sounds ideal, with only one cook stirring the broth. No manual and no
amount of training will prevent users from entering data incorrectly
and/or inconsistently. Too bad that it's not feasible at most museums to
leave all TMS cataloguing to one person! My best advice is to be aware
of the abilities of those entering data. Some people just get it, and
others just don't; and some are careful to follow rules, while others
love to invent their own. The latter type will find something bizarre to
do to the data no matter how much you restrict their permissions.

 

Good luck,

 

Sue

 

________________________________

From: The Museum System (TMS) Users [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
On Behalf Of Sharon Aponte Misdea
Sent: Wednesday, April 02, 2008 3:52 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Catalog Data Quality Control

 

Hello,

 

I was hoping some of the list participants might be willing to share
their specific strategies for ensuring the integrity of their catalog
data.  I know this is a big question, so to get slightly more specific,
we are doing a clean install of TMS and building our catalog as we build
our collection.  I am setting up a working group for setting cataloging
standards (using a few good models for data structure and syntax I have
in the interim) and controlled vocabularies, as well as trying to plan
user groups and permissions (how much cataloging and/or data entry is
done by curatorial, registration, or others?).  I am particularly
concerned about how to set up permissions for making changes or
additions in the Thesaurus Manager (managing the approval process for
suggested local terms).

 

If anyone is willing to share their experiences, advice, or policies
concerning 'quality control', on or off-list, I would be most grateful.
In my last position, I was the only person cataloging in TMS!

 

Thanks,

 

Sharon Aponte Misdea

Registrar

MIM - The Musical Instrument Museum

8550 South Priest Drive

Tempe, AZ 85284

480.425.3214 Direct

480.481.2460 Main

www.themim.org