Moving with Mimsy and Axiell Move
Christine Rank Manager of Information & Registrar The mission of the Wende Museum is to preserve Cold War 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 Berlin Wall in 1989, the Wende Museum:
• collects and preserves artwork, artifacts, archives, films, and personal histories from Cold War–era Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union 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, East Germany, Hungary, Romania, Poland, and other Warsaw Pact 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