DeQuincy Railroad Museum Electronic Records upgrade project

Vital Stats

Sara C

Dequincy, LA

  • people helped4000
  • People Doing It 1

The Problem

I am volunteering my services to aid in the transferral of handwritten documentation of our primary tourist attraction in our community to electronic format. I live in DeQuincy, LA a rural city located in southwest Louisiana with a population of approximately 4000 citizens. Our city was established with the Railroad and Turpentine textile industries. We have remaining the original beautiful Railroad depot that has been restored through an effort of local citizens. The DeQuincy Railroad Museum has 501(c)3 status and is the primary tourist attraction which has a positive impact on the ecomomics of our community. Having been hit by four hurricanes in four years the problem of property control and records retention is a major concern. If the museum takes a direct hit and is destroyed, all of the records of museum holding, donations, loans, etc are on handwritten format. Nothing is electronic thus making the probability of losing museum holding information great due to strom damange. This would be a detriment to the existance of the museum if we would be unable to provide records as to holdings, value of artifiacts, and value of items on loan. Through the years the collection has grown tremendously in holdings and value. The need for electronic transfer of museum collection data is very important. There is no budget for this endeavor, so Iam volunteering my time and laptop to start this project.

Plan of Action

I volunteer my time during the week to go to the museum after I get out of school. As a senior, I go to school two hours per day. I also have a part time job that stills allows me two days free per week. I use this time to volunteer at the museum. I bring my laptop PC and start converting the information to an excel program. It is simple for me but for the elderly museum attendant, she would find it a monumental task. I make progress each and every week. The Railroad Museum Board approved for me to volunteer and is happy that this progress is being made and is appreciative. I believe that the impact of my volunteering will be invaluable in the case of another hurricane or event that would effect our community and this museum. Every June - November, we face our fears of another Hurricane Rita coming through. Hopefully, through this project the community will be able to rest assured in the fact that their museum data will be safe and protected.
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