Hi all,

 

We change section names via Access tables (very carefully). We are on TMS 2020 R2. Our overall process is similar to the Carlos'. The exhibition loan object records go in a department called Exhibitions, and we usually leave the Object Status field unassigned, since updating it after the exhibition closes would be an unnecessary burden for our purposes. The object records are numbered EXH.[exhibition acronym].01, .02, .03, etc. Images get the same name without the dots, e.g. exhgs01 (or EXHGS01 or exh_gs_01, etc. - we're not too picky about that.) Exhibitions department staff enter the object records and maintain the exhibition and loan records. We use Exhibition Object Status terms heavily to track many exhibition preparation requirements and even dispersal instructions. Prep and dispersal reports are distributed to all involved. We used to distribute reports for particular responsibilities like photography or conservation that filtered on those terms. We stopped doing that because the various distribution lists became confusing, i.e. it's better  for everyone to know everything.

 

Looking forward to hearing others' workflows.

 

Best,

Sue

 

Susan Garton

Collections Information Officer

Smithsonian

National Portrait Gallery

 

[log in to unmask]  |  202.633.8554

 

 

 

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npg.si.edu

 

 

-----Original Message-----

From: The Museum System (TMS) Users <[log in to unmask]> On Behalf Of Blochel-Dittrich, Iris

Sent: Monday, June 27, 2022 3:01 AM

To: ListServ tmsusers <[log in to unmask]>

Subject: AW: Exhibition development in TMS?

 

External Email - Exercise Caution

 

Hi all,

 

do you change the section names in the application? Looking at it, it seems to me that, apart from suggesting batch edit for these fields on the gs website, it would be easier to just do it directly in the dbo.exhibitions table.

 

We are in the process of changing from an older collection management system to TMS collections and as our old system allowed batch edit for all fields and our users are used to it I am planning to do a "please batch edit" field for each module where people can put their batch edit requests; then the database admins can do those changes directly in sql manager.

 

For exhibitions, our workflow now is that the curators create the object records, the database administration does the exhibition structure and the registrars manage the loans record. We plan to do it similarily in TMS; we are going to define our workflows in august/September, so I am very much interested, too.

 

Best regards,

 

Iris Blochel-Dittrich

museum documentation

 

Stiftung Jüdisches Museum Berlin

Lindenstrasse 9-14

10969 - Berlin

Tel.         : +49 30 25993-442

Fax.         : +49 30 25933-409

 

 

 

-----Ursprüngliche Nachricht-----

Von: The Museum System (TMS) Users <[log in to unmask]> Im Auftrag von Todd Lamkin

Gesendet: Samstag, 25. Juni 2022 03:41

An: [log in to unmask]

Betreff: Re: Exhibition development in TMS?

 

The Carlos uses TMS Exhibitions this way, Fatima. A curator proposes an exhibition and provides their draft object list for review by a committee. Prior to making any official loan requests, the registrar's office creates the TMS Exhibition record and any needed Loan and Object records from the curator's draft list. When formal loan requests go out, we generate the schedules of objects for the loan agreements from TMS directly.

 

As responses to loan requests begin coming in, denied loans are culled from the Exhibition record but remain in Loans and Objects (in inactive statuses), and we note changes to the list as they occur in Text Entries in the Exhibition record.

 

We track lenders' requirements for handling and internal notes for mounting, lighting, conservation treatment needs, etc. in the Exhibition Objects Remarks field in TMS as well.

 

When we move to planning layout, we use TMS to sort by section and by case, sometimes even choosing installation sequences within each case in advance. We've been doing it this way for our major exhibitions for the past 4+ years, and it seems to be working well. It took about 2 years to get full buy-in from the team, but now everyone is on-board.

 

The learning curve for working with Exhibition records in TMS is steep. Changing Section and Sub-section names is the absolute worst, and it happens at least once during each exhibition's development, without fail. Our conservation lab, registrars, and some of our curators are comfortable with making edits and pulling reports, but other curators, our designer, preparators, and mount-maker aren't, which means that the registrar's office takes an outsized role in exhibition planning and management. Our best solution has been to pull reports each time a new round of changes is made to the Exhibition and share them as PDFs in MSTeams, ending the "is this the latest list?" confusion once we're actively planning installation, catalogues, etc. In previous work-flows, the rhythm changed exhibition by exhibition depending upon its curator. Switching to TMS Exhibitions helped us to formalize aspects of the process regardless of who is curating, and this alone made it worthwhile.

 

I'd be happy to chat with you about it if you'd like. Good luck!

 

Todd Lamkin

Director of Collections Services and Chief Registrar Michael C. Carlos Museum Emory University

 

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