We use a system of "X" numbers, such as X.4500.? to donate "items found in collection." Usually that means stuff that got lost in the record keeping shuffle. We hope to sort it out as our cataloging proceeds. In some cases I'll assign "X" numbers to collections or items awaiting formal accessioning or, more often, public records in our collection or received for accessioning as temporary identifiers until we are finish coordinating our public record cataloging with State Archives. Scott D. Peters Research Director/Archivist Ocean County Historical Society 26 Hadley Ave., P.O. Box 2191 Toms River, NJ 08754-2191 (732) 341-1880 [log in to unmask] [log in to unmask] "Telling the Stories of Ocean County" Historically Speaking ALHFAM -FPIPN vice-chair for trivia, errata and miscellany [log in to unmask] "The ordinary distinctions in society are often vague, and imply no just pre-eminence: rank and titles are adventitious things and instead of designating merit or virtue, are frequently the baubles of imbecility, or the sparkling decorations of meretricious pageantry" William Griffith, on behalf, and by order of the New-Jersey Society for promoting the gradual Abolition of Slavery, Twelfth Month (December) 20th, 1803 ----- Original Message ----- From: "Cristin Grant" <[log in to unmask]> To: <[log in to unmask]> Sent: Tuesday, March 11, 2003 9:40 AM Subject: Inventory numbering system > Hello, > I am proposing to conduct a long-overdue inventory of our collection in the > near future, and am looking for some help or advice on assigning inventory > numbers. > > Here's a summary of our situation. Some items in our collection have been > accessioned and therefore have accession numbers. Other items that have not > been accessioned have inventory numbers from a previous inventory. Then > there are items that have been neither accessioned NOR inventoried. (we're > a relatively young organization as a professional museum) So, I'm looking > for a way to number these items that will be distinctly different from our > accession numbers (we use the format 2003.x.x) until we decide whether to > accession these items fully. > > Is there a standard system out there for this? Or, has anyone developed > their own system that they'd be willing to share? I've considered using a > prefix of sorts, such as "I" for inventory, or "NC" for non-collection, but > wonder if this is the best way to go. I would want to enter these items into > our database since it may be a while before decisions are made as to whether > to accession them, and in the meantime I want to keep track of them. Anyone > have any suggestions? > > Thanks much! > Cristin Grant > Susan B. Anthony House ========================================================= 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).