I am charged with organizing, and inputting into PastPerfect, a collection with multiple numbering systems. The systems use sequential numbers, and, unfortunately, the same numbers apply to multiple objects. For example, there is a 103 that is a photograph, a 103 that is a film negative, a 103 that is a stereoscope, a 103 that is a daguerreotype, and a 103 that is a slide. The 3D collection was also numbered this way, but since it is in a different PastPerfect category (“Objects,” not “Photos”), I don’t think any modification will be necessary.

The easiest solution would seem to be adding a prefix to PastPerfect entries (e.g. PP=photograph, NF=negative, ST=stereoscope, DA=daguerreotype, and SL=slide), but not attempting to renumber the artifacts or their catalog cards. My biggest concern with this is that the discrepancy between the artifact number and PastPerfect number will create confusion, especially as time passes. I'm also worried about future expansion of the collection -- for the time being, at least, the sequential numbering system will remain in place.

Has anyone had experience dealing with an issue like this?

Dan Grzesiak
Curator, Santa Fe Trail Center
Larned, KS

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