May 2009 Update

Steering Committee

The PSC is starting to discuss the next SDI funding proposal. While it is still in the very preliminary planning stages, the committee is very excited at the way things are shaping up. We hope to be able to increase face-to-face time with support staff, and increase efficiency with training and troubleshooting issues.

Site Visits

The database upgrade is ready to roll out, and site visits are now being scheduled. Requests for visits are coming in quickly, so if you have a certain day/week in mind, let Karin know asap so she can schedule you in.

The following subjects will be covered during visits:

· Passage self-assessment & game plan

· Database upgrade & review of changes

· Installation of & introduction to Crossloop®

· Installation of & introduction to Skype™

Data Cleaning (aka Lynn’s work)

April & May were very productive months for data cleaning. Lynn managed to get through two sites and over 16,700 records. Since the data cleaning initiative began, 140,000 records have been cleaned. With the comprehensive and customized reports that are given back to each site that receives this service, partner sites are then able to continue entering information in the most professional manner to ensure that their records will never need to be cleaned again.

Data Entry Support (aka Melanie’s work)

Melanie has been working away on Queen’s County Museum’s records and making good progress, entering basic info into their database to help eliminate their backlog.

Do you have a backlog of paper records to be entered in your database? Could you use some extra assistance getting through it? If you’re interested in receiving this support please follow the call for proposals that was sent out last week and send it to Karin. This does not have to be a formal application; you just have to prove that you could use some help. If you no longer have the call for proposals document, let Karin know and she can send it off to you.

Artefacts Canada Tally

With such a productive data cleaning month, this inevitably means that May was also a great month for getting more records online. A grand total of 16,478 records were sent up, which means we now have a grand total of 80,124 records on Artefacts Canada!

Here are the current regional standings:

Central: 27,666

Southwest: 24,983

Northeast: 19,932

Cape Breton: 7,543

Congratulations to the Central region for taking over the lead spot and uploading the most records this month. Way to go!!

New Staff & Volunteers at Passage Sites

There have been more staff and volunteer changes taking place at partner sites.

Colchester Historical Museum has hired a new Curator, Aidan Norton.

The Debert Military Museum has Sue Taylor taking over Passage activities.

LaHave Islands Marine Museum has said goodbye to Sheila Chambers. Kathy Sullivan is taking her place as their new curator.

Welcome aboard to all the new faces; we look forward to working with you. And to all those who are moving on to new adventures, thank you for your dedication and hard work over the years. We will miss you and truly appreciate your contribution to heritage.

Blog Polls

Since the majority of sites have not yet voted in the blog poll it has again been extended. Please vote at the bottom of the page if you haven’t already. We really appreciate your input as it helps determine how best to serve the partners.