Laura,

You got excellent commentary by both Timothy's (and others) to your
question. I would add just one other note.

Since prints are made from negatives (and visa versa) it helps if you
think in terms of first generation or later generations of an image.
The 'first generation' of any image is usually the original negative,
but the earliest generation that you have may be a print. Either way,
the earliest generation you have is what you most want to protect
through accessioning into your collection, whether negative or print.
When both come together, I agree that both should be catalogued with the
same accession number.

When new negatives are made in the course of copying a print, that
negative should be saved with the same accession number as the print,
because it will be used to generate new prints. You can precede the
number with the letter 'n' if it helps, and be sure to note that it's a
copy neg.

Copy prints can be handled in anyway that works for the museum as they
are not collection items. But most of all, I'd avoid having more than
one number for the same image.

Lucy Sperlin


Original question:
>
> There is a debate occurring between the director of my institution and
> myself.... the museum's collection contains many photographic negatives.
> In the past, print copies of those negatives had been made for use in
> exhibitions or for service requests.  However, after the photographic print
> was made it was then accessioned into the collection.  So, currently we
> have a negative with one number and a print of that negative with another
> number.
>   In some cases both the print and the negative were given the same number.
>
> I personally don't think that the prints should be accessioned at all but
> should be put in a reference file for future use.  However, the director
> says that they are valid as collections items and that if you follow my
> argument then we shouldn't accession any photographic prints at all and
> only negatives.  Since, he says, in actuality all photographic prints are
> essentially copies from a negative.
>
> I understand the merits of his argument but was wondering if anybody had
> any thoughts or has faced a similar situation. (I won't be offended if you
> take his side!)  Also, does anyone know of any printed sources that deal with
> these issues?
>
> Sorry for the long post and thank you in advance.
> Laura L. Hortz
> Curator of Collections
> Siouxland Heritage Museums
> Sioux Falls, SD
> 605-367-4210 ext 3021
>

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