ICT for Museums - Association of Independent Museums
Contents
1. E In a peer to peer network all the computers are connected to each other through a central hub sometimes called a switch They can all access a networked printer _ a T In a client server network all the individual computers are connected to a powerful server Printers and other devices can be accessed through the server Thinking about a local area network If you have more than one computer you can join them together to create a Network Networks are useful for several reasons They let people share files between computers or use the same printer from different parts of the building There are two main kinds of network Both of these kinds of network are called a Local Area Network If you have up to four computers you should consider a peer to peer network Any more than this and you will want to think about a client server net work which will help you manage different users Printers Printers allow you to produce not only word processed documents but also a whole range of printed material such as posters pictures and leaflets In recent years the cost of print ers has plummeted but the cost of their ink has increased significantly The main decision you will face when buying a printer is not the up front cost2. e Roles and responsibilities for managing the website e Design and branding Your annual budget for the website e The Internet address for the website A final note ICT is exciting and useful It creates new opportunities and inspires new ways of work ing At the same time it can be expensive and unpredictable and is open to misuse If you are going to get the most out of ICT you have to take it seriously both as an opportu nity and a responsibility We hope that this Information Paper has provided a useful introduction but it has been necessarily brief about some complex issues There are many excellent sources of advice about ICT so always arm yourself with the best most up to date information before you make any decision Enjoy FURTHER INFORMATION AND RESOURCES The ICT hub The ICT Hub is an essential resource for any museum It provides in depth but clearly written guidance on all of the areas covered in this paper and many more As well as free online resources you can access a dedicated telephone helpline and read case studies about how other people have got started with ICT http www icthub org uk Collections Link MDA is the UK s lead organisation for knowl edge and information management in museums Through the Collections Link service they provide free access to expert advice on areas from buying a Collections Management System to writing your first Web Design Brief http www co
3. such as at the weekend Backup Whatever you do at some point your network will fail This is simply a fact of life and the most important thing you can do is to ensure that when it does you can get back up and running again quickly The most important thing is to establish a reg ular scheduled backup usually once every night and ensure that you stick to it Whether you are backing up data from a sin gle computer or from many computers over a network there are a number of approaches e External hard drive These come in all shapes and sizes and connect to your computer or server through a high speed connection such as USB2 0 or Firewire Most ship with software which allows you to set up a regular scheduled backup which runs in the background behind other things you are working on e Tape backup Small and portable backup tapes can be an excellent way of preserv ing your data Tape devices range in format from DAT to DDS and DLT but the most important factors are the capacity how much information they can hold and ease of use e Online backup Online backup services such as IBackup are becoming increasingly popular They tend to charge by the amount of data you are storing and so grow with the needs of your museum Just as with your paper records offsite stor age is a fundamental principle with backup There is no use having a regular backup if it goes up in flames along with your equip ment Always
4. arrange to store backup media such as external hard drives tape backups or disk media away from your museum for most smaller museums this tends to be the curator s house Technical support Some computer problems you will be able to fix yourself Often however problems will arise from a combination of factors and you will need the services of a trained profession al to diagnose and fix them this is the role of Technical Support There are three main ways of organising technical support e As part of an ongoing contract with the supplier of your ICT e As part of the terms of the warranty under which your equipment is supplier e As an ongoing contract with a third party ICT services provider Many problems can be resolved without an engineer visiting your museum If your com puters or network are connected to the Internet an engineer can log into them remotely perform diagnostics and implement fixes For this reason technical support contracts are usually graded and include incremental costs e Telephone support usually based on a per minute premium call rate which is why you may want to limit access for individual staff and choose to coordinate support requests through a single point instead e Remote support usually based on a flat or per hour fee structure e Onsite callout support often very expen sive this is usually based on a callout fee plus an hourly rate for each subsequent
5. but how much it will cost you in the long run There are two types of printer Laser and Inkjet dot matrix printers are no longer common each of which offers their own advantages and drawbacks When deciding what type of printer you need you should ask yourself Whether you need to print in colour or just black and white e How many people will be using the printer e The volume of printing how many pages or documents you are likely to print in a month e Will the printer be networked or directly attached to a computer Generally Laser printers are cheaper over their lifespan than Inkjet particularly if you are only printing in black and white Inkjet printers cost more but are more likely to pro duce better results particularly when printing in full colour essential for high quality photographs Monitors The older Cathode Ray Tube CRT monitors have now been almost completely replaced by Thin Film Transistor TFT sometimes also known as flat screen or active matrix TFT monitors have the advantage of taking up less space on your desk and are less susceptible to glare from room lighting and sunlight Monitors are usually sold by screen size 15 17 and 19 being the most common Unless you are going to be using the monitor for detailed work such as image editing you should opt for a 15 or 17 monitor from a known brand name such as Dell Sony or Viewsonic You do no
6. is talk to colleagues in other museums You will quickly find that there are 8 10 common systems in use in museums and your colleagues will give you an honest assessment of their strengths and weaknesses If you are an Accredited museum or are seeking Accreditation you will need to ensure that your system is compliant with the SPECTRUM Standard MDA works directly with the following MDA Partners to ensure that their systems are compliant e KE Software KE Emu e DS Ltd CALM Adlib Systems MODES System Simulation Index e e e Willoughby Zetcom e Gallery Systems TMS TMS Light For up to date information about SPECTRUM compliant systems visit http www mda org uk software htm GOING ONLINE Once you have bought your equipment and software you can start using it to communi cate The Internet has seen an explosion in popularity over the past 5 years to the point where it is now the first stop for many people when looking for information products or services With millions of users spending two hours or more online each day it is easy to see why it has become so important for museums to have access to and make the most of the Internet The Internet The Internet is a worldwide network of com puters connected through a series of hubs through which information flows like oil through a pipeline The Internet is home to the World Wide Web the websites and databases which cont
7. loaded from the Internet on a trial basis with additional features or full access being unlocked when you buy a Registration Key from the supplier It is always a good idea to standardise the software you will be using so only one per son in your museum should be authorised to buy software preventing individual staff from buying in software which might cause conflicts within your system It is common for publishers to produce regular upgrades to their software You should always check the following when buying software e The terms of the license e The number of licensed users computers Whether the license expires after a speci fied period Whether the license gives you a right to receive upgrades on an ongoing basis Whether technical support is included in the licensing cost Licenses are often assigned on a per comput er or per processor basis Using Shareware and Freeware New models of software distribution include Shareware this is software which is dis tributed free of charge but for which you will need to pay a small fee either after a specified period or to unlock additional features Freeware this is software that is distrib uted completely free of charge but may be subject to other conditions such as credit ing the author or not using it to make money Freeware and shareware are essential in keeping the software community active and innovative However you s
8. that will handle almost all general office work and still be usable in 3 years time Paying less than this tends to mean either that the performance will be lower or it will break down more quickly If you are looking for a computer that will handle more intensive tasks such as image or video editing you should look to pay any thing between 1000 and 1300 for a comput er which includes a high quality dedicated graphics card Different ways of buying ICT There are several common ways of buying ICT for your museum From a shop National chain stores are often able to offer good deals on computer equipment Some such as PC World Business offer a free consultancy service which will help you to specify your net work and other requirements e Direct purchase online Some high street shops add a premium of their own to the basic price of the equipment By going to a direct reseller such as Dell you can avoid paying this and also ensure that you get a system that is tailored to your needs e Leasing If the upfront cost of buying a computer is prohibitive you might want to consider leasing your equipment Leasing can also be a good way of ensuring that your equipment is periodically updated without having to buy it from scratch e Through the Central Procurement Unit Team of your Local Authority if you are a local authority managed museum Many such museums operate within an IT Policy defined by their Local or Borou
9. Internet still using tele phone wires but in a way which does not tie up your telephone line Unless your museum is in a very remote rural area you will want to connect through ADSL Broadband Choosing a connection There are many different kinds of Broadband connection offering different speeds or lower costs if you also transfer your telephone service to the same provider The kind of connection you choose will depend on the size of your museum the number of users likely to be online at the same time and how much information they will be sending or receiving ADSL It doesn t matter what ADSL stands for but it is fast becoming the most common type of Broadband Internet connection for everyone apart from very large businesses with hundreds of concurrent who would typically use an ISDN T1 or leased line An ADSL connection has the following elements users e A telephone line your usual telephone line for the museum usually provided by BT e A modem and router usually in the same device which connects to the telephone socket e Microfilters which you will need in order to plug telephones into your other telephone sockets The microfilters are important because although you can have computers and tele phones attached to the same socket they get confused unless you have a simple filter to identify which is which You usually get two free when you buy your equipment and addi tional ones only co
10. RENAISSANCE museums for changing lives AIM FOCUS PAPERS Museums Libraries and Archives Council Publication of this AIM Focus paper has been made possible by a grant from MLA Supported by LY www museums org uk aim ASSOCIATION OF INDEPENDENT MUSEUMS The National Body Connecting Supporting and Representing Independent Museums MARCH 2007 ICT FOR MUSEUMS Nick Poole with additional material by Gordon McKenna This paper is published by AIM in partnership with MDA nformation and Communications Technology ICT is a catch all term which describes computers and the dif ferent ways they can be used to com municate with people for example through email or the Internet ICT provides museums with a very powerful set of tools both for the day to day work of managing a collection and for reaching out to your visitors sometimes in new and interesting ways At the same time ICT presents your museum with a challenge It can be expensive is sometimes unpredictable and it represents a long term commitment you can t simply buy in the equipment and hope for the best Whether you are completely new to ICT or are looking to update your existing setup this Information Paper is intended to act as your guide to some of the common questions and ideas which you are likely to encounter along the way PREPARING FOR ICT Getting started with ICT Getting involved in ICT is a big decision for your museum B
11. ain billions of pages of words pictures and every other kind of electronic media you can imagine Getting connected Getting your computer connected to the Internet can seem complicated but is really very straightforward when you know how It is useful to start by thinking about what it actually means to be online It is very similar to what happens when you make a telephone call Your computer sends a request some thing like I want to view this page of that website This request is sent in electronic form through fibre optic cable to a server The server which can be anywhere in the world as long as it is connected to the net work knows where that page is held and passes the request on to the computer that has it The page is sent back to your comput er and appears on your screen It is one of the most remarkable things about the modern world that this exchange of request and answer can span the globe but usually gives you an answer in a fraction of a second Up until 2 years ago the most common way of getting online and hence sending your requests was dialup This used a dedicated telephone line to open a connection to a server to send and receive requests Dialup has several disadvantages It ties up a telephone line it is expensive and can be very slow More recently governments throughout the world have invested millions in enabling Broadband Broadband is a much faster way of connecting to the
12. and what you are going to be using it for The exact content of the policy will vary from museum to museum but some broad head ings you may want to think about include Statement of Intent what you will be using ICT for e Roles and responsibilities for managing ICT in your museum Provision of technical support e Specification for software including operating system and productivity software see page 4 e How often you will plan to replace ICT equipment a cycle of roughly 3 years is common e Annual budget for ICT equipment training and support e Training for staff and volunteers in using ICT for example through the ECDL e Internet and Email use policies see page 7 Buying ICT The computer retail industry is worth millions of pounds each year so there is no shortage of companies trying to sell you equipment One computer is very much like another so to create a healthy competition retailers use often misleading information such as RAM or screen size to persuade you to buy their product Couple this with the range of pack age and special offers and buying ICT can become a real headache The most important principle is to decide what you want to do with your computer establish what software you will need to do it and then buy the computer that will let you run that software You should never be seduced by special offers and packages you ll always end up paying for it whether in th
13. ate reports catalogues and other documents which help people to find out more about your collections A CMS is only one part of a well thought out approach to Documentation for your museum It should never replace elements such as your Procedural Manual or other documentation systems but should instead make the work of using them easier faster and more productive Choosing the right system There is no hard and fast rule to choosing the right Collections Management System MDA provide advice to museums when going through this process and you should always refer to them as a first port of call before investing time and effort in your procurement Particular things you will want to give some thought to are e How you will make the move from paper based or ad hoc systems such as Foxpro to a full CMS e Who will be using the system and what kind of training they will need e How many people will be using it and where from eg the store the curators office etc Whether your collections have specific requirements such as Natural History specimens e Whether you will want to allow people to search your records online e How much you can afford to spend now and in the future e Compliance with the SPECTRUM standard as part of the Museum Accreditation Scheme Buying a Collections Management System Once you have thought carefully about how a CMS will affect your organisation the best thing you can do
14. can answer queries and help staff solve problems when they arise It is often useful to persuade a senior member of your organisation to be your Ambassador particularly if they are involved in decisions about budgets Training Training serves two important aims The first is to equip museum staff and volunteers with the skills they will need to use ICT effectively The second is to ensure that people feel supported in using ICT and not that it is simply being foisted on them ICT training takes many forms some of which can be very expensive indeed Before you invest in training you should think about who needs it and what level of expertise they are likely to need to do their work effectively The best form of basic ICT training is the European Computer Driving Licence ECDL ECDL is a Europe wide qualification and can be learnt in a classroom from a book or sitting at a computer screen The syllabus covers Basic concepts of ICT e Using a computer and managing files e Word Processing e Spreadsheets e Databases Presentations e Information and communication For further information about the ECDL refer to the Further Information and Resources section at the end of this paper An ICT policy Once you have thought about the likely implications of ICT for your museum it is time to begin writing your ICT Policy The ICT Policy is basically a written statement of how you are going to use ICT
15. e form of cheaper components or shorter warranties Computer basics A computer is a machine which accepts an input and provides an output based on a set of rules the programme Modern comput ers can do this many millions of times a second which is what makes them such powerful tools The basic configuration for a computer is Input device such as a keyboard mouse or joystick The computer itself Output device such as a screen usually called a monitor speakers or a printer Types of computer There are four main types of computer and the type you choose depends on whether you need to be able to move around with the computer and how powerful you need it to be The types are A server is a very powerful computer designed to act as the nerve centre of a network of less powerful ones It is best to think of a server as like a telephone exchange it receives information and decides where to send it based on a num ber of rules A small organisation might have a single server whereas larger ones can have entire rooms full of them known as server farms e A desktop computer with a keyboard and monitor the computer is usually housed in a big box called a tower Desktops are usually but not always powerful and able to handle more complex tasks e A laptop computer the computer screen and keyboard are all built into a single hinged unit which can be closed and ca
16. e works together This is why soft ware suites such as Microsoft Office have become popular since they emphasise the ability to transfer information between soft ware applications Specialist software Software can help you document and manage your collection manipulate pictures edit video balance your books or keep your Christmas card list up to date The world of software can sometimes seem like an impos sibly confusing place The most important thing is to decide what you need to be able to do and then identify the software which will help you to do it Always be wary of cheap or free software if you are putting your museum in its hands then you need to know you can rely on it Common types of specialist software include e Image editing software e Collections Management System for keep ing records about your collections e Content Management System for allowing your staff to update your website Contacts Management System or Customer Relationship Management CRM for short e Accounting software Your choice of specialist software will depend on what you need to do but always take the time to check that you have the necessary hardware and operating system to run it Buying software There are many different ways of buying soft ware Most commonly it will come loaded onto a CD Rom or DVD disk in a box with a user manual and a registration form Increasingly however software is down
17. efore you begin buying equipment and software you should always take time to plan carefully and to equip your self with all the information you are likely to need Extra time spent in planning and preparation will save you weeks of work in the long run The biggest challenges with ICT have almost nothing to do with technology They are really about what it means for your museum how it is likely to change the way you work and how you will ensure that you get the best out of your investment of time money and effort Whether you are buying in your first comput er or specifying an entire network with file stores and printers you will soon learn that every decision has an impact on every other When in doubt you should always stop and refer back to your plan to ensure that every thing stays on track ICT and your museum What does it mean for your museum to be using ICT There are some questions to ask before you begin e Who is going to be using the computer What areas of your work are you expecting to use ICT for e How much experience do you have with computers e Do you have a member of staff or volunteer who is able to offer technical support e Are you able to commit money and time to ICT on an ongoing basis You should be as realistic as you can ICT is a long term investment and requires ongoing support You will very quickly get into diffi culty if you haven t allowed for this At the same time ICT i
18. gh Council See the next section for further information on this However you buy your ICT there are a few useful rules of thumb to remember e Always buy the best equipment you can afford e Be wary of bundles and packages and never buy equipment for the free software or peripherals e Establish a relationship with your supplier having a trusted partner with your ICT can deliver unexpected benefits and savings Working with a Local Authority IT Services Team If your museum is part of or funded by a Local Authority it is likely that your use of ICT will be defined by their overall Policy This can sometimes be a frustrating process particularly where the policy doesn t allow for some of the specific things a museum needs to be able to do or where you need to make things happen quickly Local Authority IT Services and Procurement Teams are among the most legislated for in the country They have to balance an ever increasing range of initiatives such as the National e Procurement Framework against the needs of a range of different organisations in their remit Although they can sometimes appear wantonly obstructive you should always remember that you are only one of a number of conflicting demands which they need to balance within very restrictive budgets The best way to work constructively with an IT Services Team is to be very clear about what you want and why you want it A well thought out IT policy is of
19. h out a break can lead to or aggravate a range of complaints from eyestrain to musculo skeletal problems which can turn into long term complications Always take reports of aches or pains seriously and take steps to resolve them SOFTWARE Software is what allows you to make use of your computer Whatever it is designed to do all software operates according to a common principle they define a set of rules which tell the computer how to react in response to a particular input In the case of Word Processing for example the software tells the computer to display a letter on the monitor when you press the corresponding letter on the keyboard Productivity software Productivity software is the catch all term for software which people use to carry out general office work There isn t a standard definition but the following types of software usually called applications are common e Word Processing creating and editing documents such as letters or reports Spreadsheets creating lists of facts such as numbers which can be used to perform calculations e Email client writing editing sending and receiving emails as well as organising them into folders e Internet browser requesting and display ing pages from websites e Database organising information into groups called records and manipulating them An important element is how well the differ ent softwar
20. hink about is not leaving yourself open to threats through either ignorance or failure to take the basic steps Internet use policy The Internet as with almost any other pub lishing medium has its good side and its bad side As well as hugely valuable legitimate sites there are countless others offering pornography or running elaborate scams For the unwary it can be all too easy to find yourself looking at inappropriate content The other danger with the Internet is that it can be fascinating A key feature of its design is that one page will prompt you towards another with the result that people can spend inordinate amounts of time just browsing For this reason it is important that your ICT Policy should include an Internet Use Policy which provides a clear statement of what is and isn t acceptable It may seem unnecessarily formal particularly for very small organisations but it is well worth having in case a problem should ever arise Key elements of an Internet Use Policy are museum s e Statement that museum staff represent the museum while online in the same way as they do offline Statement of whether personal use of the Internet is acceptable and at what times of day Statement of what constitutes unacceptable use eg pornographic or defamatory content e Statement of penalty for misuse eg disci plinary measures EMAIL Email electronic mail has become one of the world s most po
21. hould consider very carefully before using it to deliver critical aspects of your work Shareware and free ware can be less stable and often do not include any element of additional support Open Source software The Open Source movement is a new way of thinking about software At heart it makes the underlying technology behind the soft ware freely available allowing anyone to edit and change it as long as they share their innovations with the rest of the people who are using it the user community Open Source software is free of upfront costs and hence is often appealing to museums You should always remember that it is likely to cost just as much as full priced software in the long run because you will almost certain ly need to buy in expertise to help you implement and build on it Open Source software is not inherently less stable than commercial products indeed one of the world s most stable Operating Systems Linux is an Open Source system Going Open Source is however a significant decision which will affect all areas of your ICT and so one you should only take when you are confident about the subject COLLECTIONS MANAGEMENT The majority of museums in the UK now use some form of electronic Collections Management System CMS A CMS can be an invaluable tool for simplifying the process of collecting and managing informa tion about the objects in your care The CMS can also often be used to cre
22. hour or part thereof Always remember that you can change your support contract usually with no notice It is generally a good idea to set up an ongoing telephone remote support contract and then arrange for onsite support only in extreme circumstances Remember that Technical Support providers may not be able to support some specialist software refer to the section below on Buying Software Again in the case of Local Authority muse likely that your Procurement Unit Team will have negotiated a standard support contract and your access will be governed by this ums it is Health amp Safety The Workplace Health Safety and Welfare Regulations 1992 and the Health and Safety Display Screen Equipment Regulations 1992 place an obligation on your museum to take reasonable steps to protect the Health amp Safety of the staff when using ICT ICT Health amp Safety should always be consid ered in the context of a proper Health amp Safety Statement and Policy and as part of an ongoing Risk Assessment Particular points you may wish to consider include e Location and placement of ICT equipment e Risk of trip hazards from wiring and equip ment e Positioning and adjustability of monitors and peripherals Recommendations for staff to take regular breaks from using ICT e Positioning and adjustability of seats and desks e Ventilation and lighting of work spaces Using a computer for protracted periods wit
23. ilding is a job for a pro fessional and you can get services such as PC World Business to design and install your wireless network from 150 to amp 200 plus equipment costs Safety and security The Internet is sometimes compared to the Wild West It isn t that bad but you should be aware that criminals do operate online as they do everywhere else as there is a risk that they will gain access to your network and cause damage There are some standard principles which will help to keep your network secure e Read the manual carefully for any software that connects to the Internet A lot of networks are vulnerable because people didn t delete key files or change default passwords after installation e Install and maintain a professional firewall and take the time to learn how it works Create alphanumeric passwords for all staff and ensure that they don t share them with each other or other people e Install and use Antivirus and Antispam software and ensure that it is regularly updated particularly if some of your staff work from home or on laptops e Prevent staff from installing and running software of their own and ensure that they do not click on suspect attachments in emails which can contain software malicious Ultimately a determined hacker will compro mise almost any system Fortunately they tend to focus on high value targets such as banks and online shops so the main thing you should t
24. ine specification which will allow you to run most standard office software Processor Pentium 4 or AMD Athlon Operating System Windows XP or XP Pro Memory 512Mb Hard Drive 80 160Gb Optical Drive DVD Always check that the software you are buy ing is a genuine Microsoft product and ensure that it is properly licensed to your museum Futureproofing There is a theory called Moore s Law which says that the processing performance of computers will double approximately every 18 months Although this may be slowing as processors become ever more complex it is a useful indication of how quickly things change in ICT There is no surefire way of ensuring that your equipment will not go out of date You should always specify and buy the best system you can afford and be wary of false economies Both hardware and software can be updated but this is often a costly and time consuming process and so should only be done in the context of a well thought out strategy It is always a good idea to think not only about your needs now but also about how these needs might change over the next 2 3 years Are you going to move location or buy in a new documentation system If you can foresee these things on the horizon you should build them into your thinking about what to buy HUB
25. ing and email accounts Although these can seem initially appealing they very often tie down your options in terms of software and Internet use Always read small print carefully and take time to put together the package which best meets your needs Sharing a connection If you have a Local Area Network you can use it to let all of the computers on the net work share the Broadband connection This is the most cost effective way of connecting an organisation to the Internet To share your Broadband connection you will need the following basic equipment e Your modem and router usually in the same device which connects you to the outside world e A server or main computer connected to the router e Network cards which plug into each computer on the network Cables to connect the computers to the network e A firewall which protects you from people trying to access your network via the Internet Wireless networks Wireless networks can be a very useful way of sharing an Internet connection for muse ums particularly if your museum is in a pro tected or listed building where it can be difficult to drill holes in the walls to install cables A wireless network works in almost exactly the same way as a wired network except that the router plugged into the telephone socket creates a short range radio link to the computers Installing a wireless network so that it works properly in your bu
26. llectionslink org uk ECDL The European Computer Driving License is an international qualification which recognises IT literacy and competence http www ecdl com Useful links Other useful links include http www broadband co uk A Beginner s Guide to Broadband as well as a price com parison for ISPs http www tasi acuk An excellent intro duction to the principles and practice of digitisation http www ukoln ac uk A guide to Managing Digital Projects and other resources http www netmag co uk Articles on web design and accessibility http www howstuffworks com How every thing from a mouse to a server works http www w3c org Standards and proto cols for ICT intermediate to advanced Nick Poole is Director of MDA He sits on the Council and Ethics Committee of the Museums Association and is a member of the Executive of the Museums Copyright Group A former ICT Adviser at the Museums Libraries and Archives Council MLA Nick has published widely on the subject of new technology in museums Gordon McKenna is Standards and Systems Manager at MDA He holds a Master of Science in Information of Technology He has extensive experience of the implementation of ICT systems and processes in museums MDA is the UK focus for expertise in collections management Our work in ICT is driven by a com mitment to stable infrastructure and skills development which enables museum p
27. ng email It is always helpful to have an Email Use Policy which sets these out in detail Key elements of an Email Use Policy include e A statement that email is a legal document e A statement of what constitutes unaccept able use eg using email to distribute ille gal defamatory or discriminatory material e A statement of any disciplinary action likely to arise from misuse Spam and security Spam is the name given to unsolicited email It is a sad fact that spam now accounts for 7 more than half of all email sent and this shows few signs of abating soon There is nothing you can do to stop spam but there is a lot you can do to reduce the amount of it that reaches your email inbox Some simple measures include e Don t publish your email address on the Internet criminals use software to go out and find email addresses on web pages use a simple contact form instead e Install a spam filter software which sits between your computer and the mail server and filters out inappropriate messages based on keywords and keep it up to date Prevent your staff from responding to email circulars bogus special offers and other forms of unsolicited mail responding only proves that there is a live address and triggers more spam Prevent staff from responding to any email which invites them to click on a link and go online to update security information or passwords known as phishing this is
28. one of the most common ways of getting hold of secure information fraudulently YOUR MUSEUM WEBSITE Why have a website Now that you are an ICT expert you are ready to take the next step and publish a website However before you do you should always take the time to sit down with all of your staff and think about why it is you want one and exactly what you expect it to do for you Common reasons for building a museum website e To advertise the museum e To get more visitors e To provide information for schools when planning a visit e To allow a global audience to access infor mation about your collections In some ways it is best to think of having a website as being like opening a small television or radio station It never turns off and requires an ongoing input of fresh interesting content to ensure that people keep coming back It is a big decision so give yourself plenty of time to prepare before you make it Planning your site Websites are exciting and interesting and it is all too easy to get very involved in them and lose sight of the larger issues of how they will be maintained and how they will meet the needs of your audiences For this reason it is essential to plan carefully for your website Specific things you may wish to consider include What your website is intended to achieve e Who the site is designed for e How the website will fit alongside your other forms of communication
29. pular forms of communi cation Email uses the Internet to send and receive short messages through a special type of server called a mail server Sending and receiving email Before you can send and receive email you will need a number of things e A mail client software which allows you to write and manage your messages such as Outlook An email address provided by your ISP or web host or a third party service such as Googlemail e A mail server either in your museum or provided by your web host or ISP e A spam filter see Spam and Security below Managing email for your museum Email is a powerful tool for communicating with people and for allowing them to com municate with you However it does require careful management Some points you should consider include Whether you will have one address for your museum usually info museumname org uk individual e Whether each member of staff volunteer will have their own address e A convention for addresses usually museumname org uk providing standard firstname lastname Whether you have enough staff volunteers to respond quickly and effectively to messages Email use policy The things you say in an email are legally admissible an agreement made by email is legally binding for example so you should ensure that your staff are aware of their rights and responsibilities when usi
30. r ried around Laptops are designed to bal ance weight battery life and performance so they are usually good at office type tasks but less good at demanding things like displaying pictures e A palmtop computer a very small com puter and screen with an integrated input device A palmtop is usually around half the size of a standard paperback and is generally purpose built for less intensive tasks What the words mean When you are looking at buying a computer a number of words and acronyms will come up time and again The following is not intended to be a comprehensive glossary but it will provide you with a guide to what to look out for Processor sometimes also referred to as a CPU The processor performs calcula tions which are the basis of all software Processors in general have become much faster in recent years and there is less and less difference between them in terms of speed and performance Operating System Most modern computers come with an operating system pre installed The operating system is the basic set of instructions which coordinates the different parts of a computer to run soft ware Microsofts Windows is the most popular operating system in the world but others such as the more recent Linux are also gaining popularity Memory sometimes also referred to as RAM The memory is where the computer holds information while working on it The more memory the computer has
31. rofessionals to deliver excellent services to their users We provide a range of advice resources and training courses through our Collections Link advisory service Further information http www collec tionslink org uk AIN ASSOCIATION OF INDEPENDENT MUSEUMS Nick Poole with additional material by Gordon McKenna Published by AIM in partnership with MDA AIM Editor Diana Zeuner Association of Independent Museums Limited Registered Office c o ss Great Britain Great Western Dock Bristol BS1 6TY Registered in England 1350939 ICT For Museums
32. s only a tool It may solve some problems and make some areas of your work easier but it presents challenges of its own you should never see it as a magic cure Roles and responsibilities Getting the most out of your ICT is about working with people You will need at least one person who will be the ambassador for ICT in your museum and they will need to lead your colleagues through the necessary changes Using computers can be a very personal thing Different people learn at different speeds some of your colleagues will take to it like ducks to water while others will take longer and have more problems Computers can make people feel stupid and incapable and it is vital to ensure that every one affected by ICT is given the support they need At the same time learning to use ICT is a per sonal voyage of discovery and people often develop creative ways of doing things which can make everyone s life easier It is worth getting everyone to share their insights and experience on an ongoing basis Specific roles and responsibilities you may want to think about are e ICT Ambassador someone who is confi dent in using ICT and can encourage colleagues to get to grips with it e ICT Manager someone who is going to be responsible for decisions relating to your ICT e ICT Administrator someone who will be responsible for the maintenance and management of your ICT Technical Support someone who
33. st a few pounds each For more remote locations where ADSL is unavailable there are several other solutions including Wideband wireless and satellite connections You will require specialist advice when considering these Once you have decided on your connection you will need to find an Internet Service Provider Choosing an Internet Service Provider What an Internet Service Provider does is slightly complicated but it is best explained by saying that they give your museum an identity for when you are online This means that when you send requests to view pages the server knows how to get them back to your computer You can t use the Internet without an Internet Service Provider ISP Internet Service Providers offer Broadband connections from between 10 and amp 20 per month and it is well worth shopping around to get the best price Some points you should always consider when approaching an ISP Download speed typically 512k 1Mb or 8Mb 1Mb is suitable for most small medium sized museums e Caps on the amount of data you can down load with additional charges or limited service above the cap e Contracts which tie you in for a fixed period usually 12 24 months e Availability of dedicated technical support Static IP address essentially an identity which doesn t change essential for some applications Some ISPs offer all in one packages which include telephone lines web host
34. t need to pay too much attention to screen resolution unless you are working on graphics or the computer is likely to be used by someone with a visual impair ment although this can be allowed for using software Cheaper or unbranded monitors tend to be assembled from low cost components and will not provide as good a picture or last as long You should expect to pay between 100 and 160 pus VAT for a good quality monitor Keeping your network healthy ICT goes wrong When you consider how much a computer is doing handling billions of calculations a day it is surprising that they don t go wrong more often But go wrong they do and when they do they can bring your entire organisation to a halt Modern computers are shipped with pre installed software which can perform sophisti cated diagnostics and repair on themselves The single best thing you can do to ensure a healthy computer is to shut it down properly at the end of the day and give it time to start up properly at the beginning A few other simple things you can do include e Standardise software and systems operating Coordinate updates so that all your com puters are at the same status at any given time Prevent individual staff from downloading and running software of their own e Encouraging all staff to shut their computer down properly at the end of the day e Carrying out network wide upgrades and updates out of office hours
35. ten the key to achieving this and it is often a good idea to share your policy with the relevant people while you are developing it Where there is an insurmountable conflict as in the need to whitelist particular email addresses so that you can participate in discussion lists often censored by Local Authorities you may have to accept the situation and find a workaround such as establishing a non LA email address for use with distribution lists Local Authorities tend to buy equipment on a lowest tender consortium batch purchasing basis Where you have a need which exceeds this specification such as digitising your collection it helps if you can be very clear about the exact specifications you will need to allow for Specifying your computers Having decided what you want your comput er to do you will need to identify the soft ware which does it In the case of standard office tasks this might be a set of products such as Microsoft Office which includes word processing spreadsheets databases email and Internet as standard You will also need to think about whether the computer will need to run specialist software such as image editing or a Collections Management System Finally you will need to think about how you would like to use the computer to communicate for example through the Internet or by email Bearing in mind the rapid pace of develop ment in ICT the following is a current base l
36. the better it will be at running lots of different software at the same time e Hard Drive The hard drive or disk is where your computer stores information when you aren t working on it The bigger the hard drive the more information you can store Modern hard drives are rated in gigabytes Gb and sizes of anything between 80Gb and 250Gb are becoming standard Graphic Card A graphic card is a separate processor which is designed specifically to handle the kinds of calculations computers use to draw pictures on the monitor Having a separate card reduces the strain on the main processor and is a must if you are going to be using image or video e Sound Card A sound card is a separate processor which is designed to perform the calculations which the computer uses to make noises such as music or sound effects Almost all modern computers are shipped with a sound card already includ ed but you should consider a separate card if you are going to need to play high quali ty audio or video with a soundtrack e Optical Drive Optical drives use a small high frequency laser to read information encoded on a spinning disk such as a compact disk or DVD Increasingly optical drives will also allow you to write information onto a disk so that it can be carried around or transferred between computers How much should you pay You should expect to pay between 600 and 800 plus VAT for a stable well made com puter
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