Introduction

1.1 Purpose

The purpose of the computer museum system is to provide an automated, state-of-the-art, and easy to use information system to enable museum visitors and administrator to access information about all of the exhibits and all administration in the museum, as well as general information about the museum.

1.2 System Objective

1. The system shall allow people to access information about, and location of all of the exhibits in the museum.

2. The system shall allow users to search for an item by its inventor, date of invention, company that produced the item, and/or by the type of item.

3. The system shall be able to support multimedia (sound, images, and video) so users can view movie clips and/or pictures of any exhibit in the museum.

4. The system shall provide information about temporary exhibits, special events

5. The system shall provide directions within the museum to non-computer facilities, such as: rest rooms, water fountains, exits, stairways, elevators, guards, attendants, fire extinguishers, telephones, souvenir shops(s), food and refreshment areas, and parking areas.

6. The system shall be user-friendly, thus allowing anyone easy access to the displayed items.

7. Our system shall be easily usable by people with a wide range of characteristics in the areas of:

1. Physical Characteristics:

1.1.1.1. gender

1.1.1.2. reading ability

1.1.1.3. hearing ability

1.1.1.4. speaking ability

1.1.1.5. mobility (walking or wheelchair)

1.1.1.6. manual dexterity (including typing ability)

2. Cognitive Characteristics: the users may use a variety of languages, and they might be art experts or novices

3. Attitudinal Characteristics: museum visitors may be hesitant to use computerized technology, and they may be impatient to receive answers

4. Types of Users:

4.1.1.1. Patrons are paying customers of the museum who will search for exhibits and read information about them. These patrons are of all ethnic backgrounds, they range from computer literate to computer illiterate and their ages are from 15 and up, which means the computer interface must be very easy to use with basic English.

4.1.1.2. Employees work at the museum and are responsible for helping patrons search for exhibits on the system, and during slow periods, enter information about new exhibits into the system. This can include written material about the exhibits and location of the exhibit. This does not include loading movie or picture files into the system.

4.1.1.3. Managers will use the system to query aggregate data about which exhibits were most popular for the day, week, month, etc. This will assist them in determining location of current and future exhibits.

4.1.1.4. Administrators are in charge of loading movie, picture and sound files for exhibits, as well as rearranging floor plans and updating queries and maps for all exhibits.