Open Forum

Good morning everyone,

I wanted to ask people's opinions on Past Perfect web edition.  How is it? What are its drawbacks and benefits? If you've used both the computer-based version and web based version, which do you prefer?

We currently have the standard network-shared version but our superiors are getting rid of our large, shared-network drive.  I may be able to set up a smaller, local network drive, in case I can't I wanted to ask around.

Thanks,

Luke

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Luke Perez
Curator of Collections
College Park Aviation Museum
College Park MD
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Hello Luke, 

We just changed from PP5 to PPWeb in the past six months, and I am the person who oversaw that (so if you have more questions, please feel free to contact me directly at coberg@valdezmuseum.org). PPWeb is excellent. The user interface is much more intuitive, and the search results are cleaner and more helpful in detail. But the real plus is that it is cloud-based, and we are off a server. Our staff can now access PP whenever and wherever they need it. When server-based, we would bounce each other out. Also, when server-based, I could not stand in an exhibition or in the archives and look up an object or a location number, or update a screen, etc. I would have to write it all down, return to my computer, and do the work there. Overall, this and other things add to the efficiencies of PPWeb that make my job easier. 

The staff at PP are very good at methodically walking you through what needs to be cleaned up before you make the transition. We were under a very tight transition schedule (about 3-4 months), and PP was very helpful in helping me prioritize what needed to be done, how to communicate what was happening to my colleagues and answer our questions before/after the transition. The transition does require work on your end. Our transition was about 40% of my workload over 3-4 months. Again, we were under a specific schedule which was very quick. But something to keep in mind. 

Best, 

Caren S Oberg 

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Caren S Oberg PhD
Curator of Collections and Exhibitions
Valdez Museum & Historical Archive
Valdez AK
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Thank you for this post!

A follow up question, based upon the fact that we may shift to the web version. 

How seemless (or not) is the uploading of current data to the cloud version?

Much appreciated!

Mark

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Mark Towner
Dean of Visual and Performing Arts
Endicott College
Beverly MA
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Original Message:
Sent: 06-13-2023 01:07 PM
From: Caren Oberg
Subject: Past Perfect Web edition reviews?

Hello Luke, 

We just changed from PP5 to PPWeb in the past six months, and I am the person who oversaw that (so if you have more questions, please feel free to contact me directly at coberg@valdezmuseum.org). PPWeb is excellent. The user interface is much more intuitive, and the search results are cleaner and more helpful in detail. But the real plus is that it is cloud-based, and we are off a server. Our staff can now access PP whenever and wherever they need it. When server-based, we would bounce each other out. Also, when server-based, I could not stand in an exhibition or in the archives and look up an object or a location number, or update a screen, etc. I would have to write it all down, return to my computer, and do the work there. Overall, this and other things add to the efficiencies of PPWeb that make my job easier. 

The staff at PP are very good at methodically walking you through what needs to be cleaned up before you make the transition. We were under a very tight transition schedule (about 3-4 months), and PP was very helpful in helping me prioritize what needed to be done, how to communicate what was happening to my colleagues and answer our questions before/after the transition. The transition does require work on your end. Our transition was about 40% of my workload over 3-4 months. Again, we were under a specific schedule which was very quick. But something to keep in mind. 

Best, 

Caren S Oberg 

------------------------------
Caren S Oberg PhD
Curator of Collections and Exhibitions
Valdez Museum & Historical Archive
Valdez AK
------------------------------

Mark -- Almost totally seamless. - Caren

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Caren Oberg PhD
Curator of Collections and Exhibitions
Valdez Museum & Historical Archive
Valdez AK
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 06-14-2023 11:59 AM
From: Mark Towner
Subject: Past Perfect Web edition reviews?

Thank you for this post!

A follow up question, based upon the fact that we may shift to the web version. 

How seemless (or not) is the uploading of current data to the cloud version?

Much appreciated!

Mark

------------------------------
Mark Towner
Dean of Visual and Performing Arts
Endicott College
Beverly MA
------------------------------


Original Message:
Sent: 06-13-2023 01:07 PM
From: Caren Oberg
Subject: Past Perfect Web edition reviews?

Hello Luke, 

We just changed from PP5 to PPWeb in the past six months, and I am the person who oversaw that (so if you have more questions, please feel free to contact me directly at coberg@valdezmuseum.org). PPWeb is excellent. The user interface is much more intuitive, and the search results are cleaner and more helpful in detail. But the real plus is that it is cloud-based, and we are off a server. Our staff can now access PP whenever and wherever they need it. When server-based, we would bounce each other out. Also, when server-based, I could not stand in an exhibition or in the archives and look up an object or a location number, or update a screen, etc. I would have to write it all down, return to my computer, and do the work there. Overall, this and other things add to the efficiencies of PPWeb that make my job easier. 

The staff at PP are very good at methodically walking you through what needs to be cleaned up before you make the transition. We were under a very tight transition schedule (about 3-4 months), and PP was very helpful in helping me prioritize what needed to be done, how to communicate what was happening to my colleagues and answer our questions before/after the transition. The transition does require work on your end. Our transition was about 40% of my workload over 3-4 months. Again, we were under a specific schedule which was very quick. But something to keep in mind. 

Best, 

Caren S Oberg 

------------------------------
Caren S Oberg PhD
Curator of Collections and Exhibitions
Valdez Museum & Historical Archive
Valdez AK

We're using PP Web edition and I've been really happy with it. I haven't used the server version, but compared to my experience with ICMS it's a breeze. It has a few buggy quirks, but nothing that is a deal breaker to me. I came in with no experience and picked it up quickly. The customer support team has been incredibly helpful. You're pretty close to us, so if you'd like to stop by and see it in action, let me know.

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Karen Edgerton
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Hello all, 

I'd like to ask one quick question to whom already experienced PP Web Edition or considers moving onto it. Our museum also thinks about moving from PP5 to the Web Edition, and we've found that in the PPWeb, the Global Change (bulk edit) feature is only available for Inventory Location/ Date fields, not other fields. It's limited as far as I know. (Please correct me if all fields are now bulk-editable in the PPWeb! That would be a great news..!) Currently, in PP5, it allows us to do the Global Change at all fields. We frequently use the Global Change for many cases. E.g., When we accession items, we need to do the Global Change at the Status field to "Board Access MMM DD." That's the issue that our museum is pondering about. Have you come across this issue too in the web edition? 

Thank you,

Jisung Heo

Registrar

Charles M. Schulz Museum

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Jisung Heo
San Rafael CA
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Original Message:
Sent: 06-16-2023 10:04 AM
From: Julie Govert
Subject: Past Perfect Web edition reviews?

Luke-

I helped a recent client set up PastPerfect. We reviewed both the PP5 and the Web versions. The web version has a lot of pros which have already been outlined by others. The biggest drawback of the web version from my client's perspective was:

• The import for the initial set-up must be done by PP's conversion services department (at $80/hr)
• After initial set-up, the museum must add records individually or use PP's conversion services for mass imports. No ability for the museum to do mass imports themselves.
• If they did want to pay PP conversion services to do a mass import, PP said it could take months (based on their schedule), impacting the availability of the PP program and/or content.

Because of these reasons and my clients desire to do mass imports as needed without additional cost, we ended up going with PP5.

Best,

Julie

Julie Govert

Independent Exhibit Developer & Writer

Chair, Independent Museum Professionals
317-919-0046

juliegovert@gmail.com

juliegovert.com