While I have not established a parallel numbering system, I currently work
with 21 different systems (25 if you count those "series" with only 1
object) developed long before I got here. Most of these number systems are
preceded by a letter that indicate the type of object: numbers preceded by
MT are for transportation objects, BR numbers indicate presentation
medallions, MPA relates to clothing & personal adornment, Mf to furniture,
etc.  The only prefix that seems to make sense is SCS for Social Custom
Structures.  (Does this system sound familiar to anyone? I'm wondering if
this was a local idea or perhaps a trend in early 20th century museum
methods?)

Collections donated by notable families have an initial as the prefix: D
for Davenport, EH for Emerson Hough, MR for the Mason-Remey family, etc.

Other systems have a one letter prefix that seems to relate to when these
objects
were donated and/or catalogued: A=1892 to August 1911, B=August 1911
to May 1933, C=May 1933 to July 1935, and U=November 1911 to October 1935.
It seems that each time the museum administration changed, so did the
number system.

The "1st Book" lists natural history donations @1892-1910 using just numbers
from 1 - 10,000. These specimens are not to be confused with artifacts 1 -
10,000 listed in the accession books from 1939 to 1982.  In 1983 my museum
began using the more "standard" system (1997.004.0015). Apparently old
habits die hard, as that was also the year the Inventory System was
established, using the letter "I" to precede numbers assigned to those
objects found in the collection during the inventory, and processed into
the permanent collection.

Oddly enough, with all these different systems there seems to be little
confusion.  Each object has a unigue control number which is the goal of
registration.  I can identify only a few artifacts with multiple numbers
and these are large objects like wagons and automobiles.  At one time an
attempt was made to re-catalogue some of the family collections but we have
learned to recognize that MPA numbers may really be MR artifacts, etc.

So, having re-counted my version of Registration Hell, what advice can I
offer?
If you want this media collection to have a place in your permanent
collection, give        it a permanent accession number according to your current
practices.
If you want to identify this collection as something "other" than
permanent, do so        with a prefix that is clear and easy to understand. Keep
these designations to   a minimum, and do not attempt to use these prefixes
as descriptors.

Good Luck,
Jodi Evans
Registrar
State Historical Society of Iowa


At 04:34 PM 4/1/1998 -0500, you wrote:
>I have created a database for our media collection at Carillon
>Historical Park.  Since the items contained within the collection are
>unaccessioned items, they have no numbers.  Do any of the list members
>have ideas regarding the numbering of a media collection?  Have any of
>you ever established a parallel numbering system?  Thanks in advance for
>any help you might lend.
>                        Judy Chesen
>                        Assistant Curator
>                        Carillon Historical Park
>                        Dayton, Ohio
>                        [log in to unmask]
>