Paul Walk wrote:
> Happy to share this - perhaps offline, as I have already
> helped to digress this thread already!!
I think the discussion is entirely on-topic - if these conversations
don't happen in an open forum like this, where will they happen? IMO,
playing around with various ideas and technologies is the only way we're
going to make progress. The lack of time to experiment holds museum
tech back, so learning from the experience of others is a good
substitute (as long as the conversation can avoid becoming a battle of
acronyms from entrenched positions).
Your post raises an interesting point, which is a further digression but
a big issue for lots of museums - the fear of open source software. I'd
love to play with Solr but the thought of making a case for it gives me
a headache.
Papers like 'The Service Oriented Museum Web '
(http://www.archimuse.com/mw2007/papers/ellis-d/ellis-d.html) make a
good case for building sites from re-usable components and making museum
web services, but that requires a sea change in the way software
procurement processes are managed and assessed. For example, the lack
of a big-name vendor might be an issue when comparing Microsoft and
Apache products.
cheers, Mia
Mia Ridge
Database Developer, Museum Systems Team
Museum of London Group
46 Eagle Wharf Road
London. N1 7ED
Tel: 020 7410 2205 / 020 7814 5723
Fax: 020 7600 1058
Email: [log in to unmask]
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