Moving with Mimsy and Axiell Move

Christine Rank Manager of Information & Registrar The mission of the Wende Museum is to preserve art, culture, and history from the Soviet Bloc countries, inspire a broad understanding of the period, and explore its enduring legacy.

Named for the Wende (pronounced “venda”), a German word meaning “turning point” or “change” that has come to describe the transformative period leading up to and following the fall of the in 1989, the Wende Museum:

• collects and preserves artwork, artifacts, archives, films, and personal histories from Cold War–era and the relating to the period 1945– 1991; • challenges and engages the public through experimental exhibitions and interdisciplinary programming inspired by the collection; • illuminates the past and informs the present through creative collaborations with contemporary artists and designers; and • promotes rigorous scholarship, educates students, and stimulates general interest through lectures, symposia, and publications. THE WENDE MUSEUM • More than 100,000 objects from the Soviet Union, , , , , and other countries • Founded in 2002, at previous location since 2004 • Previous building: office park in Culver City

• New building: former National Guard Armory, built in 1949 and vacant when the Wende got its lease in 2014 • New location opened in November 2017 with two exhibitions and open storage display • New exhibitions every 3-4 months GOALS

Move the collection & open in new building

Take advantage of time, space, and budget provided by the move to:

• Implement Containers module in Mimsy • Set up barcoding – technology and workflow • Clean up mistakes and incomplete information • Set up new building in a logical way DATA CLEANUP DATA CLEANUP – first steps

• Hired Move Assistant – 3 days/week • Determined scope of project (container level) • Pack it Up – one day training with Axiell, done in two half days • Inventory of boxes CONTAINERS CLEANUP

• Had been using LOCATION.LOC_LEVEL1 for the box material • Used Crystal Reports to get a list of all boxes within a certain material type • Went through this list and marked any duplicates • Reconciled problem records in Mimsy • Cleaned up report, formatted it for Container Upload, and imported the containers PUTTING OBJECTS INTO CONTAINERS

• Searched LOCATION.LOC_LEVEL1 in Crystal Reports to pull up objects in a certain type of boxes • Since we’d cleaned up data from the Container upload already, these lists were almost ready to go • We added a LOCATION.NOTE to each record: “Record created during location cleanup for move. Location date set to load date.” • Uploaded using Objects Uploader BEFORE

AFTER BARCODING BARCODING REQUIREMENTS

Hardware: Barcode scanner: • Compatible with Axiell Move Linea Pro 5 • Easy to use (and train!) Refurbished 6th Generation iPod • Affordable Barcodes: Crystal Reports, using Code 39 Font labels from OnlineLabels.com, compatible with Avery 5160 BARCODE LABELS – Crystal Reports

Containers CONTAINER_ID *{CKEY}* in Code 39

Location {LOC_LEVEL2}; {LOC_LEVEL3}; {LOC_LEVEL4} *{LOCKEY}* in Code 39 BARCODE LABELS - Formatting

• Use Excel formulas to format lots of containers for barcodes (Crystal Reports) and labels (Word Document mail merge) • Copy formatted container names to Select Expert – Record in Crystal Reports BARCODE LABELS - Requirements Label requirements: • Easy to re-order and keep in supply • Affordable • Printable on-demand • Ideally usable with existing technology (printers) BARCODE LABELS - Aesthetics

www.onlinelabels.com SETTING UP A NEW FACILITY

Naming Creating Locations • Clear names for rooms, shelves Used Facilities Uploader to build new • All shelves labeled with name and locations in Mimsy barcode MOVING EXPECTATIONS • Building would be completed, including specialized collections storage • Move would take place over 3.5 months, working 4 days/week • Planned staff • 4 full-time staff members • 9 temporary staff, 4 days/week • 1-2 people on an as-needed basis for heavier items • 1 staff member available part-time for brainstorming, oversight, etc. VS. REALITY • We are moving in piecemeal, as storage spaces are ready for us • We began moving the collection in November 2017, still underway • Actual staff • 1 full-time staff member • 1 temporary staff, 2-3 days/week • 1-2 people on an as-needed basis for heavier items • 2 staff members available part-time for brainstorming, oversight, etc. WHERE WE ARE NOW

• About 70% of the collection is moved • Using Container Type to track rehoused boxes • Using Axiell Move to track location of moving boxes NEXT STEPS

Moving the rest of the collection

Item level barcoding! Questions?

Christine Rank [email protected] www.wendemuseum.org