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=Catalog Implementation Discussion =

The Team (as of 21 Aug, 2013):

 * Liza Loop - Vision Keeper
 * SD - Active Volunteer (who came through Volunteer Match)
 * Rick Collette - Volunteer on hold (who came through Craig's List)

Tools available:
MicroSoft Access 2000 - on Liza's PC laptop TeamworkPM - an online project management tool to help keep us organized HostGator account on the web with;
 * cPanel
 * phpMyAdmin
 * Remote MySQL
 * WordPress
 * possibly CiviCRM
 * Joomla
 * Drupal

We are looking for volunteers who can help with the last 4 items (content or contact management systems). They are the vehicle through which our catalog access screens will be implemented.

Some thoughts on catalog //database structure. //
The MS Access Database has 4 tables
 * 1) tblHCECatalog
 * 2) Pull-down Menus
 * 3) tbl HCE Catalog Field Names
 * 4) tble HCE Inventory Check Sheet

All the important information is in tblHCECatalog which might as well be a simple spread sheet. It has 96 fields most of which are currently empty. There are maybe 150 records. We anticipate having more than 10,000 records (items in the museum) by the time all of Liza's collection has been processed. Access won't support this much data online so we're trying something that can grow with us.

On 20130820, SD wrote to Liza:

Before starting the process of migrating MS Access to MySQL, I would like to further discuss the structure of the MS Access database you emailed to me.

As you mentioned in our last conversation, the MySQL database will be the repository of the online catalogue about HCLE. If the MS access database in its current format is migrated to MySQL, I believe that the process of retrieving the needed data will not be smooth enough for the party that will develop the user interface. Thus, I would like to suggest restructuring the MS Access database.

In order to be able to restructure MS Access database or built MySQL database with structure different from MS Access database, I would like to understand the purpose of the tables and the columns (fields).

LL (20130821) I believe my use of tabs in the Access Object, frmTabbedDataEntry - use in 2006, corresponds to the tables we need in SQL. Look at the Access field name table. It has a column for "Tabs". These are


 * I -- for Identify or Initial Cataloging** - these fields let us make the connection between a physical item on our shelves and the record in the data base. Should the tag on the item showing the ID number get lost there is enough description here to recognize the item. For digital items the description gives us a pretty good idea of which image goes with the record in case the file name gets corrupted.


 * P -- for preservation information** - these fields tell us the condition of the physical item and how to insure that it does not deteriorate further.


 * S -- for subject or topic** - these fields indicate why we are bothering to preserve this item, categorize it for search purposes and suggest how we might use it in virtual exhibits.


 * D -- for technical Data** about the item whether physical or digital. This information is necessary for both software and digital files which are often in obsolete formats.


 * B -- for Bibliographic information** - standard for books, periodicals, and unpublished documents. We have physical copies of some of these documents but we also need fields so that we can point to libraries, archives and web sites that contain relevant material that is not in the HCLE collection.


 * A -- for Acquisition or provenance** - these fields tell where we got the item and where it went after we scanned and cataloged it. There is no tab for these fields yet but the fields are in the Access structure.

On 20130820, SD wrote to Liza: Since people will provide various items (article, video, etc…), I think that we had better create a table to store contributors’ names. This table will be related to a table holding data about the items. This is an example of restructuring MS Access database.

LL (20130821) I think we should explore CiviCRM for the people and organizations tables.

Three other features of the Access system I set up, the FieldNames Table, the PullDown Menus and the Inventory Check Sheet can be handled by the SQL user interface - correct?

On 20130820, SD wrote to Liza: I believe that the tblHCECatalog is the main table in MS Access file. But, what is “tbl HCE Inventory Check Sheet” table’s purpose? Are the two tables “tblHCECatalog” and “tbl HCE Inventory Check Sheet” supposed to be related?

Do we need “tbl HCE Catalog Field Names” and “Pull-down menus” tables in MySQL?

LL (20130821): tbl HCE Inventory Check Sheet is a temporary report (or should be a report) generated to help a staff member figure out whether the physical item s/he is looking at has been cataloged. It's not part of the underlying data base structure. The same is true for tbl HCE Catalog Field Names.

tbl Pull Down Menus is the way MS Access limits what can be entered into a given field in the data base. Since this function is done differently in MySQL we don't need this table.

//To be continued...//