I am currently volunteering at a museum that has several different 
collections, along with several different numbering systems. We have:

(a) the museum collection. Incoming artifacts in this collection get the 
standard trinomial numbering system (2006.006.001. etc.)
(b) The objects currently on display in a historic mansion. Several years 
ago these were assigned inventory numbers relating to their location 
(studio.nw.0009) and entered into Past Perfect. These numbers were never 
placed on the objects themselves. The items on display all came from the 
same family at one time (the house and its contents were donated in 1970), 
and are considered separate from the museum collection.
(c) artifacts in the mansion that are not on display (in closets and 
bathrooms). Many of these do come from the family, but some things have been 
placed there for storage.
(d) things in the museum storage areas that are not accessioned.

We have started to do an inventory of the collection in the mansion not on 
display. We're currently assigning temporary inventory numbers (sample: 
Inventory.2006.0001) but would like to figure out the best solution for 
assigning permanent numbers. We will also at some point need to assign 
permanent numbers to the objects on display. There are also items in the 
museum collection that lack numbers and will at some point need to be 
addressed. Some of these items might have been moved over from the mansion 
at some point. Our priority at this time are the objects stored in the 
storage spaces of the mansion.

My question: how should we approach this? How should we number our mansion 
collection, both the on-display (already inventoried) and the closet storage 
(inventory in progress) artifacts? Are there any other factors to consider 
that we may be overlooking? We would like to keep the system as streamlined 
as possible, but would also like to separate the mansion collection from the 
museum collection. As an added problem, not everything in the mansion 
storage actually belonged to the family, and was likely stored there soon 
after the museum obtained the mansion. I know that there are others out 
there who have addressed similar issues, and am hoping that you'll have good 
advice to share.

Thank you!

Cedar Phillips

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