MUSEUM MODELS BEST PRACTICES

The University of California, Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive (BAM/PFA) is one of the nation’s leading university art museums—and one of a select group of institutions internationally presenting both art and film. BAM/PFA archives, collects, and stores books, articles, films, and videos. Its theater regularly screens both classic and experimental films and hosts visiting artists and filmmakers. BAM/PFA is regarded as a model for best practices in its use of state-of-the-art technology. And it uses GENERATIONS—the latest of iR’s suite of database solutions—to manage its development data.

BAM/PFA is part of the UC Berkeley campus-wide computer system, which is enormous and complex. Many departments on campus have their own “shadow systems.” In 2002, BAM/PFA selected GENERATIONS as the database solution for their constituent management and fundraising operations.

One of the more significant customizations at BAM/PFA has been the creation of a grants module. For every grant they write, it tracks all the deadlines, the application process, the communication with the funding sources, and of course the grant outcome. Orlando Sánchez, BAM/PFA Information Systems Manager explains, “At a glance, we can see how many grants have been submitted to a particular corporation/foundation and we can see what that outcome was for those grants.”

Orlando was part of the team that selected GENERATIONS. As the person who would be responsible for directing the installation, he was highly invested in the outcome of their search for an affordable solution that would increase productivity.

Orlando cites the following reasons why GENERATIONS was their obvious choice:

1. GENERATIONS is fully customizable, open, and based on the powerful and accessible FileMaker Pro. Already experienced in FileMaker Pro, Orlando could begin customizing GENERATIONS to fit BAM/PFA’s specific needs even as the software was being installed. (Given his expertise with FileMaker and GENERATIONS, iR occasionally contracts with Orlando to assist other GENERATIONS clients in customizing their solutions.)

2. GENERATIONS is designed to run on both PCs and Macs; it could run on BAM/PFA’s existing hardware (Mac) and the network that was already in place.

To learn more about the University of California Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, visit their web site: http://www.bampfa.berkeley.edu .