Jessica, they don't have that book, and I was unaware of it. I will
certainly check into it.  John, that does seem like a useful idea.

On Mon, Sep 22, 2014 at 12:27 PM, John Marks <
[log in to unmask]> wrote:

>  You may be planning this, but it's helpful to have an "Old Number" field
> in whatever system you're using. Some of our artifacts have three or four
> different numbers; I put the current (or "best") number in an Object Number
> field but record the others as well. If you do begin to find original
> numbers, they can go in the Old Number field and maybe someday you'll find
> records tied to that number.
>
> John Marks
> Geneva (NY) Historical Society
>
>
> On 9/22/2014 12:28 PM, William Denius wrote:
>
> Some items still have some original identifying accession numbers
> (thankfully), but they also have a second accession number (most from
> 2006).  I think in that case, I will use the original numbers and, as you
> said, begin with 2014 for all others. I suppose I should just begin with
> exhibited items and enter them into a spreadsheet, then begin unboxing
> items. I was told that even computer files were lost, but hopefully I can
> unearth some sort of records at some point.
>
>  Thanks for the info!
>
> On Mon, Sep 22, 2014 at 11:20 AM, Kristin Hébert Veit <
> [log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
>>  William,
>>
>>  A project I am working on in Baton Rouge has the same issue - thousands
>> of items, and no documentation. Luckily, IT helped us find old inventories
>> (on floppy disks) that provided us a starting point. We were able to piece
>> collections and year of accession together from the few items that had
>> permanent markings. We began the project simply by inventorying everything
>> in our possession - we did this in an excel file. The process took a couple
>> of years, but I don't think we would have been able to move forward had we
>> not had a quick way to reference the objects. Once inventoried, we were
>> able to lump collections together by theme - ours is a political history
>> museum, so this made the most sense for us. And yes, if we did not know the
>> year of accession, we noted the current year. I have seen institutions use
>> XXXX or 0000 when in doubt.
>>
>>  Kristin Hebert Veit
>>
>>
>>
>>  Kristin Hebert Veit
>> [log in to unmask]
>> 337-352-0123
>>
>>  On Mon, Sep 22, 2014 at 10:31 AM, William Denius <[log in to unmask]>
>> wrote:
>>
>>>  Hi all,
>>>
>>>  I recently began volunteering for a museum that lost all of its
>>> accession records and many artifacts from Hurricane Katrina. In all
>>> honestly I'm at a loss for where to begin.  I know I should start with the
>>> exhibited items, but I'm not sure what to do with accession numbers since
>>> many identifying tags and all of the records are lost.  Should I begin with
>>> the current year, as in 2014.xx.x? How should I make groups for items?
>>> Should they be grouped as similar items or grouped by exhibit?
>>>
>>>  The issues go deeper than accessioning, but this museum has been told
>>> that they have a minimum of 5 years of work ahead just to get organized.
>>> Basically, this museum is starting over and the whole place is a MESS. I'm
>>> writing a collections management policy, accession forms, loan agreements,
>>> condition reports, etc. for this museum.  I also plan to work on a disaster
>>> management plan.
>>>
>>>  Needless to say, I'm a bit overwhelmed.  Any advice would be greatly
>>> appreciated!
>>>
>>>  William Denius
>>>
>>>   ------------------------------
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