My experience, too, has been to first apply the catalog number in a way that it can be easily removed, and, second, to either remove it or otherwise "mark out" the number upon deaccession. I do know, too, that there are museums that do not follow this practice. My motivation in the initial post to the list was a "just in case" one. The shoes themselves did not appear to have significant free-market value, but who knows who belonged to them before they were accessioned? Or whether they were part of a larger theft? Finding them might lead to recovering other pieces... On Wed, 17 Sep 2003 17:52:25 -0500, Jacqueline D. Frank <[log in to unmask]> wrote: ><P>Ideally, we try to completely remove the number without harming the object the deaccessioned object. Of course, in the past, some curators have adhered numbers to objects that in the process of removal have lost paint, etc. and could not be successfully removed. In these cases, the number has been removed to the best of ability and/or clearly indicated that it is no longer a museum piece. Paperwork relating to the deaccessioned object is a good idea, especially for objects with a higher monetary value. </P></DIV> ><P>It seems that it is in the best interest of a museum to adhere numbers in a way that can be easily reversed, not only to protect the object from damage when it is owned by the museum, but helps avoid complications after the object is deaccessioned. </P></DIV> ><P>Jacqueline D. Frank</P> ><DIV></DIV> ><P>Neville Public Museum of Brown County<BR><BR></P> ><DIV></DIV> ><DIV></DIV> ========================================================= 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).