Hi Ross,
Thanks for this, I'll pass it on to a colleague who's still in touch
with Bill's family. Bill was retired by the time I arrived in
Manchester, although he did come in for a number of years to volunteer
in Zoology. Apart from the odd bit of advice (and information about
the past!) he pretty much left web and database stuff alone. However,
I still have much of his legacy - lots of punchcards in my office and
some papers (I wouldn't be surprised if there's something of worth for
the MCG archive).
All the best,
Malcolm
Quoting "Parry, R.D." <[log in to unmask]>:
> As chair of the MCG, I wanted to add just a few words regarding the
> very sad news that Charles 'Bill' Pettit recently passed away.
>
> As many of you will know, Bill was the first chair of the Museums
> Computer Group and was an instrumental force behind the group during
> those early years, as this community of practice found its shape
> and voice. He always spoke fondly (if, at times, a little
> mischievously) of those early meetings, not least when he gave this
> account for our 25th Anniversary celebrations, in Cambridge, back
> in 2007:
>
> "Ah! I remember it well - the first meeting at the Sedgwick, that
> is. Actually, what happened was that towards the end of a good,
> constructive and useful meeting I stood up and suggested we should
> make such meetings a regular thing, as at the time museum computing
> was in its infancy and there was no forum for discussion. Remember
> at this time everyone was doing their own thing, using whatever
> tools they had to hand - the Sedgwick with the forerunner of GOS,
> Manchester with Famulus, Newcastle with Spires etc. As is the way of
> things the response was "Jolly good idea, will you arrange it,
> Bill?". So I did, with the next meeting at Manchester some six
> months later - technically it was at that meeting that the Group was
> formed, although it was agreed to count the Sedgwick meeting as the
> first. The next meeting was at the Hancock in Newcastle, where I
> made the mistake of going to the loo during the discussion, to find
> on my return I had been elected first Chairman in my absence!"
>
> Those first meetings brought together enthusiasts and specialists
> from around the sector - the small pockets and enclaves of 'first
> adopters' supporting each other as they worked to make sense of what
> computing could mean for museums. Bill's humour, his collegial
> manner and the genuine sense of wanting to support and share with
> other professionals were all qualities that not only characterised
> those early meetings but became embedded in the conduct of the MCG
> in the years ahead. Today, with much bigger membership, ever more
> ambitious events, increasingly more professional governance, and
> diversifying areas of discussion, we may be different to that group
> that met for the first time in the early 1980s, and yet we have not
> lost those core values (of mutual and generous support) that Bill
> personified.
>
> On a personal note, I spent a great deal of time with Bill when he
> formally handed over the MCG archive to me when I took over the
> archivist committee role from him, and then again when I interviewed
> him for a book I was writing on the history of museum computing. We
> spent many hours at his home recording his memories and
> recollections of his time first as a young graduate at the Natural
> History Museum and then latterly at the Manchester Museum. (In the
> late 1960s Bill was using government computers to make sense of
> natural history data.) On those occasions, and on those many other
> times we met, Bill showed nothing but hospitality, patience and
> warmth to me and my (sometimes quite odd and specific) questions
> about events some forty years previous.
>
> Bill Pettitt was a museum natural history curator who had a foot in
> both an old and a new world of curatorship, and his career in many
> respects mirrored the journey the sector took with technology during
> that time. The MCG, and museum computing, owe him a great deal, and
> he will be deeply missed.
>
> Ross Parry
> MCG Chair
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Museums Computer Group [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf
> Of Malcolm Chapman
> Sent: 03 April 2009 16:24
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Bill Pettitt
>
> I have been asked to pass on the sad news that Bill Pettitt has
> died. While Bill
> was Keeper of Invertebrate Zoology at The Manchester Museum, he was also a
> long-standing member of the MCG. Bill was instrumental in developing early
> databases and websites at the Manchester Museum. He was involved in the
> development of Spectrum and Fenscore. Bill published a number of books
> including "Information Management in Museums" (edited with Elizabeth Orna).
> His curatorial expertise was with molluscs. He retired in the mid-1990s on
> health grounds (he suffered from angina for many years) but continued with
> voluntary work in the Museum until only a few years ago.
>
> Malcolm Chapman
>
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--
Malcolm Chapman
Head of Collections Development
The Manchester Museum
The University of Manchester
Oxford Road
Manchester
M13 9PL
Tel: +44(0)161 275 2652
Fax: +44(0)161 275 2676
Email: [log in to unmask]
Web: www.manchester.ac.uk/museum
Next exhibition:
Lindow Man: A Bog Body Mystery
19 April 2008 to 19 April 2009
Before you print think about the ENVIRONMENT
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