PastPerfect Newsletter

1. Spotlight your institution on www.MuseumSoftware.com!

Thanks to you, the demand for PastPerfect Software continues to grow. As we approach 6100 customers, our Client List grows too. This helpful resource from our website gives you the opportunity to take a look at other PastPerfect users from around the world. It is a way to network with PastPerfect customers with similar collections or museums in your area. To help you learn more about users, we provide links to participating clients' websites.

By providing a link to your organization's website, Virtual Exhibit, and/or PastPerfect-Online site, we can help promote your institution to the nearly half million visitors to our website.

To add your organization's website to the Client List, please send your organization name, website address, Virtual Exhibit home page, and/or PastPerfect-Online site in an e-mail to clientlist@museumsoftware.com.

To see who else is using PastPerfect, please visit the Client List & Map under the Resources section of our website http://www.museumsoftware.com/client_list.htm.

2. Upcoming Training Opportunities for PastPerfect 4.0

Training for 2008 is under way! Currently scheduled training locations and dates are listed below.

Toppenish, WA-March 18-20
Hosted by the Yakama Nation Museum

Norfolk, NE-April 22-24
Hosted by the Elkhorn Valley Museum and Research Center

Brookville, OH-May 5-7
Hosted by the Brethren Heritage Center

For more information about scheduled training classes please visit our website at http://www.museumsoftware.com/training.htm or contact our Training Coordinator, Jennessa Reed, by e-mail at training@museumsoftware.com or by phone at 800-562-6080.

3. PastPerfect Featured User: St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Fame & Museum, St. Louis, MO
Special thanks to Paula Homan, Manager, Museum Operations and Curator, for contributing this month's article!

The Cardinals Hall of Fame Museum (HOF) is the official repository for St. Louis Cardinals ball club history as well as general history of baseball in the city. Established in 1968 by August A. Busch, Jr., the museum opened as the St. Louis Sports Hall of Fame, featuring all sports with regional representation. In 1991, Stan Musial, a former St. Louis Cardinal, made a significant donation of personal memorabilia to the museum and a decision was made to change the museum to an all-baseball format. A renovation of the museum was completed in time for the 1992 Centennial Celebration of the St. Louis Cardinals. Five years later, in 1997, the HOF relocated to the same building as the International Bowling Museum, where it has remained for over a decade. In 2006, the St. Louis Cardinals got a new nest and their 10th World Championship. The HOF is slated for relocation within Ball Park Village in the next few years as part of a dynamic development to the downtown district around the ballpark.

In 1999, the HOF acquired PastPerfect, taking a quantum leap into collections management that far exceeded previous efforts to computerize the records. The system quickly made tracking records and collections easy and the PastPerfect optional features helped the system grow at the right times. Networking, Scatter-Gather and Digital Imaging/ Multi-Media were all added within a few short years. Of all these features, the Digital Imaging/Multi-Media component has had the greatest impact in daily operation. The ability to save a high-resolution scan in a separate folder that can be accessed independently of PastPerfect allows for the scanning of an image only once, which better preserves the museum item.

Today the museum has over 14,000 items in the collection and a major goal is to have at least one identifying image attached to all records. Ideally, good quality high resolution images will be part of all records. Attaching an image to the PastPerfect record not only assists with identification, but also provides important visual documentation for insurance purposes and condition reports. During exhibits planning, reports may be created that list artifacts for consideration based on specific criteria, while image attachments help further narrow down choices before pulling from storage.

Our most exciting development is just ahead as we prepare to develop a new museum in a new setting next to Busch Stadium. The organization of the collections and our ability to reference what each item looks like through records in PastPerfect positions us for success as we approach the task of re-inventing ourselves.

If you would like additional information about the St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Fame and Museum, please visit our website at http://cardinals.mlb.com/stl/history/stl_history_halloffame.jsp.

4. PastPerfect-Online Featured Site!

Workman & Temple Family Homestead Museum-City of Industry, CA
http://homestead.pastperfect-online.com/

Sharing your collection over the internet has never been easier! More collections research is being done from the comfort of home than ever before. To help cater to this trend, PastPerfect Software, Inc. created PastPerfect-Online.

PastPerfect-Online is secure: PastPerfect-Online uploads a copy of the records, images and fields that you select into a searchable online database; confidential or sensitive information can remain private and under your control. To keep your images secure, PastPerfect-Online contains a watermarking tool that can watermark all of the images that you place online without affecting your permanent images.

PastPerfect-Online is searchable: PastPerfect-Online makes researching your institution's collections easier for visitors by enabling keyword and customizable advanced searches. Visitors can also research your collections with PastPerfect-Online's Click and Search feature. Additionally, if a visitor desires to view the essence of your collection they can use the Random Images Search, which will display thumbnail images at random from all of your uploaded catalog records.

PastPerfect-Online is easy to use: In addition to being safe and fully searchable, PastPerfect-Online is easy to use and update, since no web design or programming expertise is necessary! Once you select the records that you wish to appear online, the Web Publishing Wizard helps create the fields and implement the options for your site. Just create and upload the files and our support technicians take care of the rest! With PastPerfect-Online, you can also add your museum's logo and design elements that compliment your existing website.

Throughout the year we will be featuring PastPerfect-Online sites on our website at http://www.museumsoftware.com/client_list.htm.

To view additional PastPerfect-Online sites, please visit www.PastPerfect-Online.com.

If you would like additional information about PastPerfect-Online, please visit our website at http://www.museumsoftware.com/pponline.htm, download the information sheet from http://www.museumsoftware.com/downloads.htm, e-mail our sales staff at sales@museumsoftware.com or contact us at 800/562-6080, toll free.

5. Report Highlight: Invalid E-mail Addresses

As more communication is performed via e-mail, it is important that you have the ability to easily check which contacts do not have an e-mail address or are not receiving e-mails due to an invalid or missing character in their email address. For example, an "Invalid Email Address" may be one that does not include the "@" symbol, includes two or more of the "@" symbol or contains spaces. If you are including e-mail addresses within PastPerfect, and are using version 4.0D4 or higher, you now have a report to check on the status of this information. The Invalid E-mail Addresses report allows you to create a list of contacts whose email addresses are invalid and/or blank.

To access this report please follow these steps:
1. Click on the Reports button from the Main Menu of PastPerfect.
2. Select the Contacts button on the left hand side.
3. On the list of reports in the middle of the screen, find the Invalid Email Addresses report, a little over halfway down the list.
4. Select the report name and then choose Run Report.
5. Choose which contacts you would like to include on the report (Invalid email addresses, No email addresses, or Both)
6. Choose the desired sort order.

After you have made your selections for the contacts to be included and sort order, you may preview or print the report. Those who have PastPerfect version 4.0C8 and above may also export this report to PDF, Word, or HTML.

For further information or for assistance with this Report Highlight, please contact our support office toll free at 800-562-6080.

6. Contact information

Address: 300 North Pottstown Pike, Suite 200 Exton, PA 19341
Website: http://www.MuseumSoftware.com
Sales & Product Info: 800-562-6080 or sales@museumsoftware.com
Support: 800-562-6080 or support@museumsoftware.com
Training: 800-562-6080 or training@museumsoftware.com
Data Conversions: 800-562-6080 or conversions@museumsoftware.com


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ATTENTION: Users of Microsoft Outlook 2007 may not be able to read this entire message in Outlook. Please click here to view the newsletter online. March 2008 Newsletter 1. Spotlight your Institution on www.MuseumSoftware.com! 2. Upcoming Training Opportunities for PastPerfect 4.0 3. PastPerfect Featured User: St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Fame & Museum, St. Louis, MO 4. PastPerfect-Online Featured Site: Workman & Temple Family Homestead Museum 5. Report Highlight: Invalid E-mail Addresses 6. Contact Information 1. Spotlight your institution on www.MuseumSoftware.com! Thanks to you, the demand for PastPerfect Software continues to grow. As we approach 6100 customers, our Client List grows too. This helpful resource from our website gives you the opportunity to take a look at other PastPerfect users from around the world. It is a way to network with PastPerfect customers with similar collections or museums in your area. To help you learn more about users, we provide links to participating clients' websites. By providing a link to your organization's website, Virtual Exhibit, and/or PastPerfect-Online site, we can help promote your institution to the nearly half million visitors to our website. To add your organization's website to the Client List, please send your organization name, website address, Virtual Exhibit home page, and/or PastPerfect-Online site in an e-mail to clientlist@museumsoftware.com. To see who else is using PastPerfect, please visit the Client List & Map under the Resources section of our website http://www.museumsoftware.com/client_list.htm. 2. Upcoming Training Opportunities for PastPerfect 4.0 Training for 2008 is under way! Currently scheduled training locations and dates are listed below. Toppenish, WA-March 18-20 Hosted by the Yakama Nation Museum Norfolk, NE-April 22-24 Hosted by the Elkhorn Valley Museum and Research Center Brookville, OH-May 5-7 Hosted by the Brethren Heritage Center For more information about scheduled training classes please visit our website at http://www.museumsoftware.com/training.htm or contact our Training Coordinator, Jennessa Reed, by e-mail at training@museumsoftware.com or by phone at 800-562-6080. 3. PastPerfect Featured User: St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Fame & Museum, St. Louis, MO *Special thanks to Paula Homan, Manager, Museum Operations and Curator, for contributing this month's article!* The Cardinals Hall of Fame Museum (HOF) is the official repository for St. Louis Cardinals ball club history as well as general history of baseball in the city. Established in 1968 by August A. Busch, Jr., the museum opened as the St. Louis Sports Hall of Fame, featuring all sports with regional representation. In 1991, Stan Musial, a former St. Louis Cardinal, made a significant donation of personal memorabilia to the museum and a decision was made to change the museum to an all-baseball format. A renovation of the museum was completed in time for the 1992 Centennial Celebration of the St. Louis Cardinals. Five years later, in 1997, the HOF relocated to the same building as the International Bowling Museum, where it has remained for over a decade. In 2006, the St. Louis Cardinals got a new nest and their 10th World Championship. The HOF is slated for relocation within Ball Park Village in the next few years as part of a dynamic development to the downtown district around the ballpark. In 1999, the HOF acquired PastPerfect, taking a quantum leap into collections management that far exceeded previous efforts to computerize the records. The system quickly made tracking records and collections easy and the PastPerfect optional features helped the system grow at the right times. Networking, Scatter-Gather and Digital Imaging/ Multi-Media were all added within a few short years. Of all these features, the Digital Imaging/Multi-Media component has had the greatest impact in daily operation. The ability to save a high-resolution scan in a separate folder that can be accessed independently of PastPerfect allows for the scanning of an image only once, which better preserves the museum item. Today the museum has over 14,000 items in the collection and a major goal is to have at least one identifying image attached to all records. Ideally, good quality high resolution images will be part of all records. Attaching an image to the PastPerfect record not only assists with identification, but also provides important visual documentation for insurance purposes and condition reports. During exhibits planning, reports may be created that list artifacts for consideration based on specific criteria, while image attachments help further narrow down choices before pulling from storage. Our most exciting development is just ahead as we prepare to develop a new museum in a new setting next to Busch Stadium. The organization of the collections and our ability to reference what each item looks like through records in PastPerfect positions us for success as we approach the task of re-inventing ourselves. If you would like additional information about the St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Fame and Museum, please visit our website at http://cardinals.mlb.com/stl/history/stl_history_halloffame.jsp. 4. PastPerfect-Online Featured Site! Workman & Temple Family Homestead Museum-City of Industry, CA http://homestead.pastperfect-online.com/ Sharing your collection over the internet has never been easier! More collections research is being done from the comfort of home than ever before. To help cater to this trend, PastPerfect Software, Inc. created PastPerfect-Online. PastPerfect-Online is secure: PastPerfect-Online uploads a copy of the records, images and fields that you select into a searchable online database; confidential or sensitive information can remain private and under your control. To keep your images secure, PastPerfect-Online contains a watermarking tool that can watermark all of the images that you place online without affecting your permanent images. PastPerfect-Online is searchable: PastPerfect-Online makes researching your institution's collections easier for visitors by enabling keyword and customizable advanced searches. Visitors can also research your collections with PastPerfect-Online's Click and Search feature. Additionally, if a visitor desires to view the essence of your collection they can use the Random Images Search, which will display thumbnail images at random from all of your uploaded catalog records. PastPerfect-Online is easy to use: In addition to being safe and fully searchable, PastPerfect-Online is easy to use and update, since no web design or programming expertise is necessary! Once you select the records that you wish to appear online, the Web Publishing Wizard helps create the fields and implement the options for your site. Just create and upload the files and our support technicians take care of the rest! With PastPerfect-Online, you can also add your museum's logo and design elements that compliment your existing website. Throughout the year we will be featuring PastPerfect-Online sites on our website at http://www.museumsoftware.com/client_list.htm. To view additional PastPerfect-Online sites, please visit www.PastPerfect-Online.com. If you would like additional information about PastPerfect-Online, please visit our website at http://www.museumsoftware.com/pponline.htm, download the information sheet from http://www.museumsoftware.com/downloads.htm, e-mail our sales staff at sales@museumsoftware.com or contact us at 800/562-6080, toll free. 5. Report Highlight: Invalid E-mail Addresses As more communication is performed via e-mail, it is important that you have the ability to easily check which contacts do not have an e-mail address or are not receiving e-mails due to an invalid or missing character in their email address. For example, an "Invalid Email Address" may be one that does not include the "@" symbol, includes two or more of the "@" symbol or contains spaces. If you are including e-mail addresses within PastPerfect, and are using version 4.0D4 or higher, you now have a report to check on the status of this information. The Invalid E-mail Addresses report allows you to create a list of contacts whose email addresses are invalid and/or blank. To access this report please follow these steps: 1. Click on the Reports button from the Main Menu of PastPerfect. 2. Select the Contacts button on the left hand side. 3. On the list of reports in the middle of the screen, find the Invalid Email Addresses report, a little over halfway down the list. 4. Select the report name and then choose Run Report. 5. Choose which contacts you would like to include on the report (Invalid email addresses, No email addresses, or Both) 6. Choose the desired sort order. After you have made your selections for the contacts to be included and sort order, you may preview or print the report. Those who have PastPerfect version 4.0C8 and above may also export this report to PDF, Word, or HTML. For further information or for assistance with this Report Highlight, please contact our support office toll free at 800-562-6080. 6. Contact information Address: 300 North Pottstown Pike, Suite 200 Exton, PA 19341 Website: http://www.MuseumSoftware.com Sales & Product Info: 800-562-6080 or sales@museumsoftware.com Support: 800-562-6080 or support@museumsoftware.com Training: 800-562-6080 or training@museumsoftware.com Data Conversions: 800-562-6080 or conversions@museumsoftware.com To unsubscribe: http://www.museumsoftware.com/newunsubscribe.htm or email news@museumsoftware.com