I am in a very similar situation. I ran across one of these duplicate number situations last week, but have not acted on it yet. My idea was to leave the number to the better documented item, and select the next available accession number for that particular year. Or would it be better to use an accession number from the current year? The objects I have encountered with this particular problem are not marked, making the solution a bit easier. Either way, I would document your final decision on the catalog card. I would be interested in any replies on this topic, thank you. Joshua K. Blay ------------------------------------------------- "Those who would sacrifice a little Liberty for more Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety." Benjamin Franklin -----Original Message----- From: Museum discussion list [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Mary Agnes Beach Sent: Monday, March 28, 2005 12:11 PM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: [MUSEUM-L] re-numbering Hello Listers! In sorting through records made over decades by a combination of volunteers and one professional staff person, our current staff is finding an assortment of problems we want to solve by current standards. The one we have on our plate now is that a number was assigned twice. I am able to determine that one item has better documentation and thereby could perhaps lay claim more affirmatively to the number. That leaves the second item. Do we treat the item as a new accession and give it a number that reflects the current year? In addition, what would people suggest we do in terms of documenting the change? Feel free to contact me off list if you prefer. ========================================================= 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).