Namibia online databases

[Joris Komen]

Hi TAXACOM listers,

I've had a number of refreshing offline reactions to my posting about the
National Museum of Namibia yesterday, and queries as to how we manage
things here:-).

Thanks for the encouragement!:-)  I've been wondering how people, globally,
interface with our webtop databases, having only done "think-aloud" tests
with a smallish spectrum of local folk; from kids (10+yrs old) to older
persons, including illiterates, mentally disabled persons as well as
academics:-).

My main interest lies in developing simple database applications for the
mindlessly boring task of collection inventory work - I've purposely moved
(away) from (narrow-minded) scientists to (open-minded) 10yr olds:-), and
am implementing various tricks:-) to make data capture more stimulating (if
this is at all possible:-)).  With Macintosh, Quicktime, AppleEvents and
FMPro, such developments have been a great pleasure to explore.

As I recall, Piotr Naskrecki has had some interactions with us in the
past:-), and may know our circumstances better.   In spite of it's
relatively large collections (1.5 million plus specimens/objects, and
growing), the museum is a tight little ship:-), with a small ethernet LAN
(Linux server (a verrry old 486DX:-)) + Mac webserver, + six workstations
(4 oldish macs (I use an old quadra 660AV for development work:-)), and 2
dreadful pentiums:-)) shared by 9 curators, 4 collection managers and 6
technical assistants.  One of the Macs is a library-based web kiosk, for
email and browsing by the (bulk of) museum staff who don't have boxes in
their offices (yet), as well as library visitors.  We have a 64K leased
line to a 256K commercial ISP backbone - you *will* have noticed the slow
connection speeds:-) - and hence our avoidance of frames and other web
gimmicks:-).  The web site was developed by museum staff, each attending to
his/her own needs and aspirations:-).  None of us is particularly
hackerish:-), but there is a statistically significant staff component who
actually read manuals:-).

The museum website has been around since mid-1997, and is relatively
popular; we get in the order of 700 - 1000 requests daily, which is not bad
for a museum tucked away in the southwest Arid zone of Africa:-).  Take a
look at

http://www.natmus.cul.na/Report.html

which is an Analog report of our virtual visitors, updated once or twice a
week.

Cheers for the mo'

Joris Komen
Curator of birds/IT manager
National Museum of Namibia