[NHCOLL-L:1234] Re: Collections Software

[Piotr Naskrecki]

The idea of a review of specimen and collection database tools is great.
IMHO, some of the issues that need to be addressed while reviewing available
software solutions are:

1. Customization  - can curators/users modify the solution to better suit
their needs, e.g., can categories, fields, tables etc. be renamed, removed,
added. 
2. Portability - can the solution act as a standalone application in
complete control of one user/department/institution or does it have to work
as a client of a separate server.
3. Cross-platform operation.
4. Learning curve, user interface, and speed of data entry.
5. Types of data that can be stored in the solution.

At the same time I would like to plug in a piece of self-promoting
information: the Museum of Comparative Zoology is using for its insect type
collection a FileMaker Pro-based solution called "Mantis". I invite
everybody to visit our online collection at
<http://mcz-28168.oeb.harvard.edu> and play with a beta (currently Mac-only)
version of "Mantis" <http://viceroy.eeb.uconn.edu/mantis>.

Regards,
Piotr Naskrecki 
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Piotr Naskrecki, Ph. D.
Visiting Curatorial  Associate
Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University
26 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA 02138
Phone: (617) 496-1221
Fax: (617) 495-5667

Taxonomy and Collection Manager software
(http://viceroy.eeb.uconn.edu/mantis)

Orthoptera Species File Online - a database of the Orthoptera of the World
Online (http://viceroy.eeb.uconn.edu/Orthoptera)

Insect Type Database at MCZ, Harvard
(http://mcz-28168.oeb.harvard.edu/mcztypedb.htm)

An Illustrated Catalog of Orthoptera) - a database of the Orthoptera of the
World on a CD ROM (http://viceroy.eeb.uconn.edu/cd