Hi Cedar-
I have been in a similar situation at a previous institution. If you had to
mark everything, I would suggest that you have a standard numbering system
(I feel trinomial is best, but...) that includes a prefix which designates
them as one collection or the other. (such a P2006.1.1 for your permanent
collection and M2006.1.1 for the Mansion collection ) If you decided to do
that, you could move the current mansion number into the Other or old number
space in Past Perfect. With that said however, you may not want to change
Past Perfect. If not, use the system in place and assign names to the
storage locations for those items that you know came from the family,
Studiostorage or storage1 for example, to replace the use of the room in the
mansion system.
As for the items in storage. I would do the following...
For items you know came with the family collection - follow the system
association with the mansion and family
For items you know are part of the permanent collection - follow the system
of the permanent collection
For items with unknown origin - consider them to be "found in collections"
and number them into the permanent collection with the understanding that if
you can ever clear up the mystery, you can move them appropriately.
Another thought, I'm not sure how you are using the Past Perfect
"Collection" field currently, but you do not have to use the name of the
donor or a specific type of collection. You could use "Mansion Collection"
for all items associated with the family and Mansion gift and use the
trinomial system of the permanent collection (Most items may be all one
accession if they were gifted together). That field is searchable and is
easily recognizable.
If you need further assistance, please feel free to contact me. We are using
the Collection field in a similar way here and I have used prefix systems at
other institutions if you would like to discuss this further.
Hope this helps
Good Luck
Tracie Evans
Collections Manager
Texas Ranger Hall of Fame and Museum
PO Box 2570, Waco TX 76702
254/750-8631
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-----Original Message-----
From: Museum discussion list [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On
Behalf Of Cedar Phillips
Sent: Tuesday, January 31, 2006 6:09 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: object numbering question
I am currently volunteering at a museum that has several different
collections, along with several different numbering systems. We have:
(a) the museum collection. Incoming artifacts in this collection get the
standard trinomial numbering system (2006.006.001. etc.)
(b) The objects currently on display in a historic mansion. Several years
ago these were assigned inventory numbers relating to their location
(studio.nw.0009) and entered into Past Perfect. These numbers were never
placed on the objects themselves. The items on display all came from the
same family at one time (the house and its contents were donated in 1970),
and are considered separate from the museum collection.
(c) artifacts in the mansion that are not on display (in closets and
bathrooms). Many of these do come from the family, but some things have been
placed there for storage.
(d) things in the museum storage areas that are not accessioned.
We have started to do an inventory of the collection in the mansion not on
display. We're currently assigning temporary inventory numbers (sample:
Inventory.2006.0001) but would like to figure out the best solution for
assigning permanent numbers. We will also at some point need to assign
permanent numbers to the objects on display. There are also items in the
museum collection that lack numbers and will at some point need to be
addressed. Some of these items might have been moved over from the mansion
at some point. Our priority at this time are the objects stored in the
storage spaces of the mansion.
My question: how should we approach this? How should we number our mansion
collection, both the on-display (already inventoried) and the closet storage
(inventory in progress) artifacts? Are there any other factors to consider
that we may be overlooking? We would like to keep the system as streamlined
as possible, but would also like to separate the mansion collection from the
museum collection. As an added problem, not everything in the mansion
storage actually belonged to the family, and was likely stored there soon
after the museum obtained the mansion. I know that there are others out
there who have addressed similar issues, and am hoping that you'll have good
advice to share.
Thank you!
Cedar Phillips
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