I second Robert. One of the beautiful things about accession numbers is that they are meaningful and useful at a glance. We also use the classic trinomial accession number method, with some extra complications (if you're interested, I'd be happy to forward the descriptions of each part of the number. It can get quite complex for us, but it works).
For things like photos in photo albums, if the photo comes out of the album for separate display, that one photograph might become something like 2008.12.3a <- the "a" refers to the photograph itself, because it is a part of the whole album. For artist portfolios, which have sheets which are designed to come out and be displayed separately, the number could be as large as 2008.12.4.1-15 (for a portfolio with 13 prints, plus a colophon and a hard cover - 15 pieces total) In our CMS, we have fields which pertain to Other Numbers. These could be temporary numbers, numbers the donor assigned to the piece before we received it, incorrect numbers (there might be paperwork floating around referencing the incorrect number), etc. I would caution against labeling the works themselves with a "meaningless" number. We were just discussing this ourselves, and realized that while the RID# is unique to each record, there is the chance that if we ever migrate the system again. As each software package and database structure is different, a new database may not be able to import the RID# of the previous system. There are some cases in which we will use the RID# - temporary loans for exhibition, for example - but for our collections, we'll stick with the standard. Hope this helps! Perian Sully Collection Information and New Media Coordinator Judah L. Magnes Museum -----Original Message----- From: mcn-l-bounces at mcn.edu [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Robert Mason Sent: Thursday, August 07, 2008 7:04 AM To: 'mcn-l at mcn.edu' Subject: Re: [MCN-L] "meaningless" inventory numbers Here at the Royal Ontario Museum we have a system in which we have the year as the first element, then a batch number, and then the unique identifier, sometimes with a further number for multiple component objects. The IT dept, however, likes to use the unique identifier from the database, which is just a number, so the curatorial types are always talking about the "Accession number" and the IT people are always talking about the "RID#". Curatorial resists this, however, as people actually remember what the numbers mean, for instance I know that accession number 988.117.32 would be an artefact from excavations in Fustat, Egypt - all the 988.117. numbers are. Similarly people can remember specific objects and their histories from the accession number. So personally, I'd have to say meaningful numbers are a good thing. On the database, however, any link to the main museum image bank, the web, etc is done through IT's RID#, so in a way, we have the both of both worlds, but as lo ng as you make sure you have a meaningful number that is unique for each object, it should work without a meaningless number. Robert Mason _____________________________________________ Dr. Robert B. J. Mason (E-mail: robm at rom.on.ca; fax (416) 586-5877) Dept of World Cultures, Royal Ontario Museum, 100 Queen's Park, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 2C6, CANADA Associate Professor, Near and Middle Eastern Civilizations, University of Toronto, 4 Bancroft Avenue, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 1C1, CANADA web: http://www.utoronto.ca/nmc/mason/mason.html >>> Bas Nederveen <B.Nederveen at rijksmuseum.nl> 8/7/2008 6:54 AM >>> "meaningless" inventory numbers The Rijksmuseum Amsterdam is exploring the possibility to introduce "meaningless" inventory numbers, i.e. plain numbers without any references to additional information, such as for example purchase date, department or object status. We would therefore like to get in contact with institutions which have experience in this matter. Since this matter relates to database management it seemed appropriate to try MCN-L. We are particularly interested in the following: How do you catalogue related items such as services or (photo's in) photo albums? These item usually have a group record and separate object records. How do you record relations between them? Are you facing difficulties in daily practice if information can no longer be deduced from the inventory number? For example in your warehouse, while documenting etc. Are related object still easy to find (without immediate access to a computer)? What do your inventory numbers look like? Are you following any (inter)national standards? Sincerely, Bas Nederveen Drs. B. Nederveen Documentalist, Afdeling Collectieregistratie & Documentatie Documentalist, Registration & Documentation Department T +31 (0)20 67 47 230 Bezoekadres/Visitors' address Frans van Mierisstraat 92, 1071 RZ Amsterdam Vrijdag afwezig/Fridays absent De Meesterwerken/ The Masterpieces Rijksmuseum is dagelijks open van 9-18 uur. Op vrijdag van 9-20.30 uur met speciaal avondprogramma. Rijksmuseum is open daily from 9 am - 6 pm. On Friday from 9 am to 8.30 pm. www.rijksmuseum.nl<http://www.rijksmuseum.nl ( http://www.rijksmuseum.nl/ )> _______________________________________ Rijksmuseum Postbus/PO Box 74888, 1070 DN Amsterdam Nederland / The Netherlands T +31 (0) 20 6747000 F +31 (0) 20 6747001 www.rijksmuseum.nl<http://www.rijksmuseum.nl/> _______________________________________________ You are currently subscribed to mcn-l, the listserv of the Museum Computer Network (http://www.mcn.edu) To post to this list, send messages to: mcn-l at mcn.edu To unsubscribe or change mcn-l delivery options visit: http://toronto.mediatrope.com/mailman/listinfo/mcn-l _______________________________________________ You are currently subscribed to mcn-l, the listserv of the Museum Computer Network (http://www.mcn.edu) To post to this list, send messages to: mcn-l at mcn.edu To unsubscribe or change mcn-l delivery options visit: http://toronto.mediatrope.com/mailman/listinfo/mcn-l
