I would suggest avoiding giving the book one number, then giving each
page it's own number as well--this practice was the source of
considerable confusion at the last museum I worked! I also try as much
as possible to avoid adding new terms to a nomenclature--the more people
add new terms to a nomenclature, the less standardized it becomes,
defeating the purpose of the nomenclature in the first place. As for
the question on whether to assign one number to the whole book or
individually number the pages, I would say it depends on the primary
relevance of the book to your collection--was it acquired for the
artistic and/or documentary merit of the sketches, or was it acquired as
an individual's personal property that reflects a social activity of the
era? If you were to exhibit the piece, would you do so in it's
entirety, or as selected sketches?
For myself, I would assign a single number to the whole book, then
store the book reconstructed as best I can (that is, sketches in order,
interleaved with acid-free paper, tucked into their original
binding--I'm not proposing that you attempt to rebind it!) as one piece
in an A-F envelope or box. I would describe it's nomenclature as
Communication Artifact; Art; Drawing (not exactly accurate, I know--but
it get the gist of the piece while using existing nomenclature terms).
------------------------------------------------------------
Tim McShane, Assistant--Cultural History
Medicine Hat Museum and Art Gallery
1302 Bomford Crescent S.W.
Medicine Hat, AB T1A 5E6
(403) 502-8587
>>> [log in to unmask] 03/13/03 10:10AM >>>
I work in a history museum. We have been given a sketchbook used by a
local
woman around the turn of the century. The turn before last, that is.
There
are sketches in it. The pages are now all loose, but they were
definitely
sewn in when the book was new. Given that we use Past Perfect and are
thus
confined to Nomenclature, how would I classify this artifact? And how
would
I number it? Do I consider it one whole artifact, called something
that
cannot be sketchbook? Do I add sketchbook to the lexicon? Do I list the
book
with the individual sketches as parts of the whole with letter
designations?
(2003.005.003a-l) Or should I give the book one number and each
individual
sketch its own number too?
Many, many thanks for any enlightenment you can send my way.
Anne
Anne T. Lane, Collections Manager
Charlotte Museum of History & Hezekiah Alexander Homesite
3500 Shamrock Drive
Charlotte NC 28215-3214
704-568-1774, ext 110
Fax: (704) 566-1817
[log in to unmask]
www.charlottemuseum.org
Featured March and April events:
Soldiers' Stories: War in the First Person, on exhibit until September
2004
Highways and Byways of Our State, on exhibit until June 2003
Heirloom Quilts, on exhibit until March 2003
Expressions from the Palette - on exhibit April 6 - June 8, 2003
Women and the War Effort, March 22, Noon - 4:00 pm
Spring Barn Frolic, Saturday, April 5, 11:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Swing Fever: A World War II USO Show & Dance, Friday, April 11, 7:00 -
10:00
p.m.
For information on these, and all other events and exhibits, please
call
(704) 568-1774 or visit us on the web at www.charlottemuseum.org
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