I love it when I see my specialty on here! I can give some advice, but there are very few definites in costume and I know nothing about your collection. 20th century can be pretty vague. Twentieth century costume can be very difficult, mostly because references tend to focus a great deal on designer wear and most collections have a great deal of non-designer that may be harder to identify. Also, when you are unfamiliar with the pieces, they look very different flat then dressed and this can make them harder to date. For basic identification, Dover publications do a great deal of books that are basically original catalog reprints that are very useful for dating objects. There are others that are drawings, but I find the drawings to be of little help if I am looking for a specific details that help date objects. Things like sleeve shape, fastenings and inner structure are the most helpful in dating (and even then there can be alot of questions). For basic dating and inventory I would stick more to these. If you have alot of accessories, you will want to get books specifically on accessories and look at them before you buy, some are useless for cataloguing (no images) or badly researched, others are amazing. The Costume Society of America website has a bookstore section with recommended books on costume that you can order through Amazon (and help the CSA in the process). www.costumesocietyamerica.com If you do have specific books you are considering, I can probably give you an opinion on it for this use. As far as care, there are several websites on basic care, but they are general. CCI notes cover a great deal of costume specifics and are very good. I would greatly recommend looking into a seminar or or class on costume care if possible, there are issues that other objects don't have, particularly 20th century plastics and such (some are VERY bad). Boxing and handling dresses and such correctly takes some practice and knowledge as they are three dimensional and floppy. I can help you with some specifics off list if you like and if you are in the Atlanta area in two weeks I am conducting a short class on costume care for the museum I voluteer at. I have worked on many costume inventories as it is my specialty and can answer some questions that are bound to come up. I can also help you with finding local resources in a lot of places. Elizabeth Walton www.clotheslinejournal.com (Online academic costume journal created by Moi) I am about to do an inventory for a museum of a woman's clothing collection. Could the listers please recommend references which I could use for description, identification and care. Thanks. ========================================================= 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). ========================================================= 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).