There was a good article by William Albert Manning "Automated Systems in Museums: the Use of Bar Code Technology in Collections Management" in Museum Management and Curatorship, Vol. 18, No.1, 1999:9-18. This might answer some of your questions. The web site below has a PDF version of the article. You can get a copy of that issue free if you register on the web site.

http://www.elsevier.com/inca/publications/store/3/0/4/5/8/

Hope this helps.

Michelle Gallagher, Collections Manager

Palm Springs Desert Museum

101 Museum Dr. Palm Springs, CA 92264

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www.psmuseum.org

----Original Message Follows---- From: Frances Clymer <[log in to unmask]> Reply-To: Museum discussion list <[log in to unmask]> To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Barcoding collections Date: Thu, 4 Apr 2002 10:12:21 -0700 I have been asked to investigate the use of barcodes for collection management. As a librarian, I am familiar with the use with print materials. A present, however, I am interesting in hearing from those list members who have implemented, or are in the process of implementing the use of barcodes associated with objects and art works in their museums. Here are a few of my questions: What are the advantages? What are some of the drawbacks? Do you affix the codes to tags? to the objects? Do you print your own or purchase preprinted barcodes? As you can see, I am starting from the absolute beginning. I look forward to your replies. Please respond offlist, if you feel this is of no interest to most subscribers. Thank you, Frances B. Clymer Librarian McCracken Research Library Buffalo Bill Historical Center Cody, Wyoming ========================================================= Important Subscriber Information: The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes). If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).