I am currently volunteering at a museum that has several different collections, along with several different numbering systems. We have: (a) the museum collection. Incoming artifacts in this collection get the standard trinomial numbering system (2006.006.001. etc.) (b) The objects currently on display in a historic mansion. Several years ago these were assigned inventory numbers relating to their location (studio.nw.0009) and entered into Past Perfect. These numbers were never placed on the objects themselves. The items on display all came from the same family at one time (the house and its contents were donated in 1970), and are considered separate from the museum collection. (c) artifacts in the mansion that are not on display (in closets and bathrooms). Many of these do come from the family, but some things have been placed there for storage. (d) things in the museum storage areas that are not accessioned. We have started to do an inventory of the collection in the mansion not on display. We're currently assigning temporary inventory numbers (sample: Inventory.2006.0001) but would like to figure out the best solution for assigning permanent numbers. We will also at some point need to assign permanent numbers to the objects on display. There are also items in the museum collection that lack numbers and will at some point need to be addressed. Some of these items might have been moved over from the mansion at some point. Our priority at this time are the objects stored in the storage spaces of the mansion. My question: how should we approach this? How should we number our mansion collection, both the on-display (already inventoried) and the closet storage (inventory in progress) artifacts? Are there any other factors to consider that we may be overlooking? We would like to keep the system as streamlined as possible, but would also like to separate the mansion collection from the museum collection. As an added problem, not everything in the mansion storage actually belonged to the family, and was likely stored there soon after the museum obtained the mansion. I know that there are others out there who have addressed similar issues, and am hoping that you'll have good advice to share. Thank you! Cedar Phillips ========================================================= 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).