and (3) to include only individuals who were actively working 
with and concerned about the future of museum data banks. Ten 
persons actively took part in the deliberations. 
The general recommendation of the Hershey Study Group was 
that an organization should be created, with an executive office 
to serve as a central nerve center for the communication of data 
bank information to museums and a point of coordination among exist 
ing museum data banks. Some of the specific functions of this 
organization would be as follows: 
1. To develop comparative descriptions of the general 
information systems that are presently available so that a po¬ 
tential new user would have an ob j ect ive basis for deciding 
which system was most appropriate to his needs. 
2. To serve as a clearing house of data categories and 
minimal standard recording conventions for all museum data banks, 
so that data recorded in one of the systems will be compatible 
with that recorded in other systems. This activity would be 
carried out by working with specialists from each discipline. 
Standard recording conventions would be recommended only for such 
categories as dates, proper names, etc., or when requested by a 
representative body of scholars from a particular discipline. 
3. To coordinate and disseminate information to all 
interested parties concerning new developments in the use of 
museum data banks. 
4. To supply information and (for a fee) consultants to 
work with potential new users. 
5. To serve as a central point for the communication of 
information to and from other data bank organizations around 
the world. 
6. To coordinate the development of programs for the conver- 
csion of data from one system to another and the collection of 
data that have been recorded in more than one of the five systems 
(the fact that such conversion is possible has now been demon¬ 
strated between the SELGEM and GRIPHOS systems). 
7. To coordinate future system refinements, so that data 
recorded in any one of the systems can be processed substantially 
unchanged in any of the other systems. 
8. At a later date, when sufficient information has been 
gathered in data banks across the country, to coordinate or 
contract for the synthesis of actual data for specific disciplines 
on a regional or national basis. 
The name selected for the new organization is the Museum 
Data Bank Coordinating Committee. During the first two years 
