Hi Lisa,

Our museum collections are over 100 years young.  In 1994, a dedicated group of volunteers under my supervision began an inventory of the geology storage areas....just one of many collections for which I am responsible.  We had to contend with the results of a former unmaintained,
partial inventory as well as scads of "found objects" that only someone with some institutional legacy memory could reconstruct.  I think you get the jist....it was a mess.

We used an inventory system that piggybacked on our collection management software package - one that could deal with catalogued items as well as an array of uncatalogued, unprepared or unidentified material.   Within a short period of time the results came in handy in spite of the
multiyear project length.

Others responding to your email have emphasized the importance of setting up and documenting your procedures, assigning responsibility for the project and getting the institution to assign priority to the inventory.   To that I'll add the following:
1.  An inventory never ends.  It is worthless unless it is maintained and tracked.  Make sure all staff members understand this and "buy into" the importance of the project.
2.  Document your progress on a consistent basis - maybe weekly or monthly.  Long term projects have a way of disappearing into the fabric of insitutional life if no one hears about what has been happening.  It also feels good to see those figures steadily change  (a morale booster
for an otherwise monotonous routine).
3.  Try not to do too much data recording.  Define clearly what your priorities are for your inventory - tracking what you have, identifying conservation needs, prioritizing objects for cataloguing, etc.   This doesn't mean you can't do more than one thing, just be realistic.   For
example, if you stop to catalogue something during the inventory you will soon find more than enough distractions to bring the goal of the project to a grinding halt.    An alternative might be to provide a notation code as part of the inventory that could be extracted later for
attention

If I can help in any other way, please feel free to contact me.   Good luck!

Shirley Albright
New Jersey State Museum
Bureau of Natural History
PO Box 530
Trenton, NJ  08625-0530
[log in to unmask]
(609) 292-6331

Lisa Moellering wrote:

> Thanks to all for responses to my question about different numbering
> systems.  Another question - we will soon undertake an inventory of our
> collections - it has never been done in a complete way and was wondering if
> anyone has experience with this - advice, procedures, etc...
>
> Thanks again!
>
> Regards,
>
> Lisa Moellering
> Archives and Research Services
> Holocaust Museum Houston
> 5401 Caroline Street
> Houston, Texas 77004
> 713.942.8000 ext. 110
> 713.942.7953 (fax)
> [log in to unmask]
> www.hmh.org
>
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