Congleton Museum is an accredited local history museum and charity in Congleton, Cheshire. Showcasing a fascinating display of life, culture, and industry, dating from the pre-historic period to the present day.
The museum is run by volunteers, with only one paid member of staff. Volunteers manage projects such as transcribing historical documents, administration, customer service, and so much more.
The museum also welcomes work experience students, schools, community groups, and members of the public. All these people benefit from museum digital resources and computer systems.
The museum is looking to upgrade two digital systems;
- A computer (improved speed, memory, processing, capability, software)
- Shop till (new digital till linked to the online shop)
Computer
A new computer system would include a much bigger hard-drive and processor, enabling volunteers to work on digital projects seamlessly, it will also allow them to view the museums extensive digital collection. The current computer is slow due to memory and processing, meaning that large files do not load. A volunteer’s time is valued at Congleton Museum, and we do not want their digital projects to be time consuming.
Work experience students also use the museums computers to complete work. A new computer will enable students to create content for educational purposes, engage with the collection, and edit photos using special software. The current computer unfortunately cannot facilitate this.
The museum hopes to host family history sessions, where members of the public can use the museums computers to research their family history with the help of volunteers and staff. However, the museum’s current computer would not be able to accommodate a session of this nature due to the speed, as access to census records is limited due to data not loading.
The museum's collection includes an extensive archive of digital photographs, documents, videos, and other multimedia content. With a computer equipped with a larger memory, the museum would have the capacity to store and access this vast collection more effectively.
Shop till
The museum shop till is manual, however the museum uses a digital tablet for card payments. The museum is due to launch a new online shop, but unfortunately, it is not possible to link the current till system to the online shop. This makes keeping track of stock and income through shop sales difficult as management processes must be done manually. A new till system would increase accuracy and speed and would save valuable volunteer time, allowing them to focus more on engaging with visitors and providing enriching experiences.
A new till system would make shop payments seamless as the online shop would be linked to the physical museum shop through an app. It would include a new tablet, tablet stand, cash drawer, receipt printer, card reader, till roll, and docking station. We would receive full income reports automatically, improving the museums financial management. Furthermore, a modern digital till system can easily integrate with other museum management systems, such as inventory and membership databases, simplifying administrative tasks for users. It would enable the museum to efficiently track inventory, manage stock levels, and generate detailed financial reports for accurate accounting. By centralising and automating these processes, volunteers can allocate more time and energy towards curating captivating exhibitions and engaging with visitors.
Thank you for taking the time to read about this project. We hope to provide more opportunities, and streamlined experiences for volunteers, schools, and the local community.