On Tue, 18 Nov 1997, Perry wrote:

> This is to inquire about the status of the Accession Book in museum
> record keeping. It has been recommended by one of our staff to abandon
> keeping this book in favor of computerized records with a hard copy work
> sheet.  The worksheet information would be entered into the computer.
> I would like to get some feedback as to making a fundmental change such
> as this.

Don't do it! The hand-written ledger we've kept since 1980 still is in
constant use by our staff.  Sometimes you just don't remember enough
details about an accession--except that Mrs. So-and-So (or was that
Thus-and-Such?) brought in a stuffed, mounted Grebe in 1981 or 1982, the
computers are down, etc.  We sit down with that ledger and hey, presto,
nearly always find the answer to the question.  The ledger also comes in
handy for transactions where someone brought in an object for examination,
but not for acquisition or loan.
As a "registrar" for 18 years, I can't imagine living without our ledger,
even though our collection is nearly completely on-line and we have
microfiche duplicates of everything you can think of.
Robin Toulouse
Collections Services Manager
The Children's Museum of Indianapolis



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> Ken Perry
> Director
> Museum of the Big Bend
>