There's nothing more organized than a library — shelf after shelf, cabinet after cabinet, everything has a place and everything is in its place. And every department has its own organizational needs. That's why in the Communications and Marketing department and the Branch Libraries' Web Office of The New York Public Library, staffers are really excited by the new features in the latest version of FileMaker Pro, the award–winning database software application from FileMaker Inc.

Business Challenge

In the NYPL's Communications and Marketing department, images of all kinds come and go at lightning speed, shooting out to an army of media representatives. As throughout the library organization, the office makes full use of the latest technological tools — where once photographic prints were carefully catalogued and stored away in envelopes, folders, and drawers, now those pictures are often found in the digital domain, stored on CD–Roms.

"Given that we are one of New York's largest and most prominent cultural organizations and are located in the country's media center, our press operations are extremely active, and fast–paced," comments Herb Scher, the Deputy Manager of Public Relations. "A large part of what we do is managing images — pictures to promote Library collections, exhibitions, fundraisers, and groundbreakings — and all these pictures go out to our media contacts. While we have an extensive system of paper files for conventional photographs, increasingly such images are being made in digital formats.

Successful Solution

FileMaker Pro 6 allows us to catalog, store, and locate digital photos much more quickly and easily than with our comparable paper files. In fact, with FileMaker 6 we can do more than with paper files such as search for photos by topic or by keyword."

Art in electronic format is a vital part of the work in the Library's web operations — overseeing more than 5,000 pages of content–rich online information. "We use electronic images extensively to manage in house use artwork in our Web Production department," adds Carrie Bickner, Web Coordinator for the Branch Libraries. "It's volatile content, meaning that if you don't have a good way of keeping track of what you've created, you end up duplicating a lot of effort. And being a small office, we can't afford to do that!"

FileMaker Pro 6 allows us to catalog, store, and locate digital photos much more quickly and easily than with our comparable paper files. In fact, with FileMaker 6 we can do more than with paper files such as search for photos by topic or by keyword.

— Herb Scher, the Deputy Manager of Public Relations, New York Public Library