Hi Jerry,

I've just checked out the northampton.gov.uk web-site and had a mooch at 
jadu.co.uk (home of the CMS it's based on).

IMHO, I'd tread *very* carefully if I were you as the last thing you want 
to do is walk into a political minefield.

My approach would be first to sound out the Borough IT "anoraks" (beer 
often helps!), see what they *really* think of Jadu and whether they think 
it would be optimal for your museum site to be hosted under the broader 
framework (personally I would say not from the little I've seen of it, 
though it has some good plus points).

If the anoraks love it, get introduced to Jadu.co.uk people and see what 
they can offer, discuss and then argue from an informed position.

If the anoraks grind their teeth whenever Jadu is mentioned, ask them to 
install Drupal (drupal.org) for you on a spare box and patch it through to 
the world. 3 days later you should have a decent web site.

Regards,

James

On Tue, 10 Jun 2008, Jerry Weber wrote:

> Date: Tue, 10 Jun 2008 14:00:17 +0100
> From: Jerry Weber <[log in to unmask]>
> Reply-To: Museums Computer Group <[log in to unmask]>
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: [MCG] breaking away from local authroity website
> 
> Dear all,
>
> I have just taken up the post at Northampton Museum whcih includes
> responsibility for devlopment our web precense.
>
> We are looking at detaching ourselves from the Corporate website which
> you can see is very restrictive and does not offer much oppurtunity for
> creativity.
> http://www.northampton.gov.uk/site/scripts/documents_info.php?documentID
> =135.
>
> However, we will have to make the case with the IT Team for starting a
> seperate website.  Are there any list members who have practical
> expereice of making the case for moving away from the local authoity
> website? Any help would be much appreciated.  Please get in touch with
> me to either chat on the phone or I could come and visit.
>
> best wishes
>
> Jerry
>
>
> Jerry Weber
>
> Collections & Information Access Officer
>
>
>
> Northampton Museum & Art Gallery
>
> Guildhall Road
>
> Northampton
>
> NN1 1DP
>
>
>
> 01604 837633
>
> [log in to unmask]
>
>
>
> Venezia!
>
> 26 April to 10 August 2008
>
> A summer festival celebrating Venice and the Veneto.
>
> For festival programme visit http://www.northampton.gov.uk/venezia
>
> Presented by Northampton Borough Council.
>
> Principal sponsor Hewitsons http://www.hewitsons.com
>
>
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