I was involved with an historic site where the "Friends of the [historic
site]" association did just what you are proposing to do. I found the
system to be a nightmare! A few points to consider:
Would the object numbers carry over from year-to-year for each donor,
i.e., If John Doe is donor No. 21, would you number his first batch of
artifacts 2000.21.1-5, and then a subsequent donation from another year
2002.21.6-14? If so, you'd essentially need to maintain an accession
register for each one of your donors--that could amount to hundreds in
just a decade or two! If you don't carry the object numbers over, so
that Mr. Doe's second donation would be numbered 2002.21.1-9, then why
only "wipe the slate clean and begin with #1" for only part of the
number, and not all of it?
You'll also find that some donors will make repeated donations over a
number of years, and others may only ever donate one piece--that will
make your accession indicate Donor #21 brought in so many pieces in Jan.
2003, new donors #46 through #52 brought in other pieces in Feb.,
returning donor #35 donated more in March, etc. It will become unwieldy
to try to find a specific entry when your ledger is by design not
numerically ordered. It will also become a source of confusion for
visiting researchers or new staff who are familiar with standard
numbering practices--"if you have a collection numbered 2003.21, then
where is 2003.20?"
You'll also find that you'll be tying up donor numbers for a lot of
one-time donors--this will quickly lead to that middle number growing to
three digits, then four, and eventually five, with no prospect of ever
trimming it back down to a one or two digit number unless the entire
system is re-designed; best to design it to avoid that situation from
the start.
The accession number works best when you don't try to make it do too
much--it's just a reference number to point you to where the information
on it is (such as donor), and shouldn't be made to carry too much
information in itself. Stick with the standard of "wiping the slate
clean and begin with #1 again each year."
Incidentally, if you don't mind my asking, what was the reasoning
behind wanting the middle number to refer to donors?
Cheers,
------------------------------------------------------------
Tim McShane, Assistant--Cultural History
Medicine Hat Museum and Art Gallery
1302 Bomford Crescent S.W.
Medicine Hat, AB T1A 5E6
(403) 502-8587
>>> [log in to unmask] 08/04/03 08:28PM >>>
Hello,
I am a trustee for a small historical society in upstate NY that is
just
beginning to formally accession the various items it has acquired since
its
establishment in 2000. I am spearheading the process and hope I might
get
some advice from the get-go on the best way to number our objects. I
thought it would be a no-brainer to go with the simple 3-number system
I
have read about and seen in use. But, in pondering (perhaps too much!)
about it, I have been considering a couple of options for the middle
number
referring to the donor/source, especially. It made sense to me,
initially,
to have a unique number for each donor/source that would be used again
and
again in future years (if or when they donated other artifacts). Has
any
other small institution tried this and found success/failure? From what
I
can tell, it seems most institutions wipe the slate clean and begin
with #1
again each year. Any thoughts are much appreciated!
Thanks very much,
Traci Langworthy
Sheridan, NY Historical Society
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