PastPerfect Museum Software

PastPerfect Museum Software is an application for collections archiving. It is designed for museums, but may be used by various institutions including libraries, archives, and natural history collections. PastPerfect allows for the database storage of artifacts, documents, photographs, and library books.[3] PastPerfect is utilized by over 11,000 museums nationwide.[4]

PastPerfect Museum Software
Developer(s)PastPerfect Software Inc. (Formerly Pastime Software Company Inc.)
Stable release
5.0 / February 2010 (2010-02)[1]
PlatformWindows 98, Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 8.1[2]
TypeDigital asset management
Websitemuseumsoftware.com

History

PastPerfect was introduced in 1998 as the primary product of the then Pastime Software Company Inc.[5] It was released in version 2 later the same year, updated to version three in 2001, and then to version four in 2004. It updated to version five in 2010, which remains the most current edition of the program. Pastime Software Company eventually changed its name to PastPerfect Software Inc. after 2007.[6]

Functionality

PastPerfect operates with four basic catalogs for sorting collections material. There is the archive catalog for storing documents, the photograph catalog for storing photos, tintypes, paintings, etc.; the objects catalog for storing three-dimensional artifacts, and the library catalog for storing books that would be included in the institution's library.[7] Images can be uploaded into the catalog, with multiple photos per record.[8] It also stores donor information, and automatically generates Deed of Gift forms and thank you letters upon completing certain steps of the accessioning process.[9] Certain extensions allow for the inclusion of Oral History records and transcripts[10] and there is an additional online function that allows institutions to digitize their collections and make them free to browse on the internet.[11]

PastPerfect also contains a contact list function, for storing donors, members, and employee contact information in a similar catalog format as the rest of the program.[12]

References
  1. "Previous Versions". 2015. Retrieved 25 March 2015.
  2. http://www.museumsoftware.com/pp5.html
  3. Porter, S. (2007). PastPerfect Software Review. Retrieved from http://ercpierce.blogspot.com/2007/03/pastperfect-software-review.html
  4. PastPerfect Museum Software. (2015). Home Page. Retrieved from http://www.museumsoftware.com/index.html
  5. Porter, S. (2007). PastPerfect software review. Retrieved from http://ercpierce.blogspot.com/2007/03/pastperfect-software-review.html
  6. PastPerfect Software Inc. (n.d.) Previous versions. Retrieved from http://www.museumsoftware.com/previous.html
  7. Witt, B.S., Whittfield, J.C., Stepansky, A.J. (2012) Pastperfect software for museum collections: Version 5 users guide. Retrieved from http://museumsoftware.com/v5userguide.html
  8. Lathrop, S., McDaniel, S.L., & Richey, N. (2010). Exposing ourselves: A case study in collection management software implementation. Retrieved from http://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1352&context=seln
  9. Porter, S. (2007). PastPerfect software review. Retrieved from http://ercpierce.blogspot.com/2007/03/pastperfect-software-review.html
  10. Price, S. (n.d.) Collection management systems: Tools for managing oral history collections. Retrieved from http://ohda.matrix.msu.edu/2012/06/collection-management-systems/
  11. Gomez, B. (n.d.) Online collections: Balancing automation and interpretation. Retrieved from http://www.slideshare.net/brianlgomez
  12. Witt, B.S., Whittfield, J.C., Stepansky, A.J. (2012) Pastperfect software for museum collections: Version 5 users guide. Retrieved from http://museumsoftware.com/v5userguide.html
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