Kelli, I would definitely use the catalog (object) number. As others have said, that is your unique number. I would discourage you from putting both the accession and catalog number on each object unless you have a really good reason. In the future, will someone always be able to tell which number refers to which? The point of the catalog number is to identify that object therefore no need exists for the access number to be on the object also. Your database should interconnect your catalog numbers with an accession number. I have worked at a site with lots of multiply numbering systems and each object had several numbers. It gets very confusing when an object has more than 1 number attached to it. Especially when a number of years down the road, the person marking the objects with both of these numbers is no longer around, part of a number become unreadable or only one number is still on the object. Tracie Evans Collections Manager Texas Ranger Hall of Fame and Museum PO Box 2570, Waco, TX 76706 254/750-8631 -----Original Message----- From: Museum discussion list [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Kelli Bacon Sent: Thursday, November 08, 2007 9:16 AM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: object labeling Hello Museum-L members, Here's a question for all of you. If you could label an object with only the accession number or the catalog number due to the object's small size, how would you label it and why? We're already using an extremely small font for labeling and can't make it any smaller. FYI-These objects are being put into plastic bags with paper tags inside them. Both the paper tag and the bag are labeled with both the accession number and the catalog number. Thanks so much for your help. We're wrestling with the idea right now and aren't sure which is best. Kelli ********************************* Kelli Bacon Nebraska State Historical Society 1500 R St. PO Box 82554 Lincoln NE 68501-2554 402-471-4766 [log in to unmask] www.nebraskahistory.org ========================================================= 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).