We
use a 'by type' cataloguing system (one branch of registration numbers for
Vertebrates (VT89756) another for Botany (BT6574) etc.) and give items
consecutive numbers in order of their accessioning.
The
donor name is recorded with the individual items (often as 'Donor' Collection)
which will allow items to be linked together as a single collection.
Information about all our donors are kept in a Donor file, which has as much
information about their history, movements and collecting as possible.
Assessing the collection's museological worth will depend on the
collection information that is with the items, i.e. provenance of humanities
items and collection location/date/person for natural science
items.
I was curious to know what people
have done in the past that have come upon a collection, usually private, that
needs to be accessioned and catalogued. With very little (if at all)
donor information, what ways have you gone about assessing, cataloguing, and
numbering the collection?
I look forward to reading and
comparing the responses.
Joshua
Blay
http://www.joshuakblay.com
=========================================================
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).