>I work for a historical society in the collections (stuff) department and
>I have a question for registrars. We have a formal process for adding
>items to the collection (temporary receipts, full legal deeds and all the
>associated paperwork) but our Registrar also keeps a HAND-WRITTEN log book
>of all the new accessions. The information contained in it is the same
>that's on the deeds - numbers, description, donor name. Why is this
>necessary in the registration process? I would like to hear any
>explanations, reasons for this work. What's the purpose? We have all the
>information on legal forms and on a computerized cataloging system (ARGUS)
>so why do we need this hand-written ledger?
>
>I really appreciate your insights! Many thanks. You can respond to me directly.
>
>Cordially -
>Mary Ames Sheret
>Collections Manager
>Southern Oregon Historical Society
>
>As curators love their cards, registrars love their paper-work/logs. I,
too, have a notebook log at my desk with all acquisition/accession info. The
deeds are filed by donor name, along with all accompanying paperwork (temp.
entry forms, minutes of collections meetings, copies of all letters, etc.)
but I like having a handy way to look up recent acq. and the last number
used.  Many a time has a director, development officer, curator walked in
cold and asked questionslike, "How many acq. have we had this year?, "Was it
Donald or Sam Black who gave us the whatever?, "How many objects were in
that last gift?"

I also use Argus but if the number of users is topped off, or I'm in the
middle of something else (rarely! Hah!!!), it is much faster to reach up and
grab my notebook. For specifics, yes, I print out the info. but the who,
when, what and how many is at my finger tips.

Again, sometimes hand-writting is faster but I use both typed and
hand-written entries. This book is only for me so the format is not important.

I trust this helps you understand.  Please feel free to phone me should you
wish to discuss this further.

Regards.
Kristi Alexander
Adjunct Professor
Manager of Collections and Registration
Frank McClung Museum
University of Tennessee
423-974-6384