Dear colleagues, dear Mr. Huber,
thank you for this extensive explanation on the pro and cons of barcode systems. As I mentionned earlier in this discussion, the same purpose can be reached by other means. The transponder technique is widely used day by day in other parts of the economy, and of cause, some people are - as always - sceptic about this "new" invention. 

But the tronsponder technology which can bear even more information than just inventory numbers, is only of the alternatives. The other is an documentation program which allows to transfer location data not only to one objects but to a group of objects. An example: Lending 10 pictures from storage room A (their permanent location) to another museum for an external exhibition, can be done within seconds after return with a modern documentation program by klicking "back to permanent location" to a marked grouped of 9, and 1 to "Prevart GmbH". By this technology, somebody does not need 2 hours for 500 chairs, but much less...

By referring to this particular one object going out for restauration, please keep in mind what was mentionned by Mr. Huber and others: If the location is not your 123 shelve but the main entry, the room of the director, the permanent collection, another museum or any place else, the use of barcode labelling system does not work. In this case, you have to go back to type the new location manually. So check the possibilities of your documentation program and use a list of abbreviated index list of different locations. 

Best regards

Christian Müller-Straten

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