Connecting to Collections Care

Hello! 

I'm in a program called the Ohio History Service Corps, which encourages emerging museum professionals to conduct outreach with small (often all volunteer run) historical societies to increase their capacity and improve their practices. I'm working with a historical society that currently does not have a catalog of their collection, so I'm helping them create a catalog from scratch using excel. I'd like for all their catalog entries to include a catalog number, but I'm at a loss on how to create a numbering system for them. 

I thought I would be able to create a catalog number based on the accession number, but it turns out the society does not have accession records for any of their collection items. The only paperwork they have for collection items are deeds of gifts. But even so, most of their items don't have a deed of gift. 

How do I create a numbering system with no accession numbers to guide me? And how do I make a numbering system that can accommodate for the fact that we'll run into many objects that will be labelled FIC?

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Erin Robichaud
Local History Member
Ohio History Service Corps
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Original Message:
Sent: 1/17/2023 3:41:00 PM
From: Erin Robichaud
Subject: How to Start a Numbering System

Hello! 

I'm in a program called the Ohio History Service Corps, which encourages emerging museum professionals to conduct outreach with small (often all volunteer run) historical societies to increase their capacity and improve their practices. I'm working with a historical society that currently does not have a catalog of their collection, so I'm helping them create a catalog from scratch using excel. I'd like for all their catalog entries to include a catalog number, but I'm at a loss on how to create a numbering system for them. 

I thought I would be able to create a catalog number based on the accession number, but it turns out the society does not have accession records for any of their collection items. The only paperwork they have for collection items are deeds of gifts. But even so, most of their items don't have a deed of gift. 

How do I create a numbering system with no accession numbers to guide me? And how do I make a numbering system that can accommodate for the fact that we'll run into many objects that will be labelled FIC?

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Erin Robichaud
Local History Member
Ohio History Service Corps
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Thank you for mentioning the course Janice.
The course lasts 4 weeks and is entirely online.
Participants in the course also can purchase the book from the publisher using our discount.
Let me know if you have any questions.

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Brad Bredehoft
CEO
Museum Study, LLC
Minneapolis MN
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Original Message:
Sent: 01-17-2023 16:54
From: Janice Klein
Subject: How to Start a Numbering System

The absolute best guide to dealing with this is Managing Previously Unmanaged Collections by Angela Kipp (Rowman and Littlefield, 2016)   You are also in luck because Angela is teaching a course for Museum Study starting February 6: https://www.museumstudy.com/managing-previously-unmanaged-collections.

Good luck and stay safe,

janice
--

Janice Klein

Executive Director

Museum Association of Arizona

azmuseums@gmail.com

Original Message:
Sent: 1/17/2023 3:41:00 PM
From: Erin Robichaud
Subject: How to Start a Numbering System

Hello!

I'm in a program called the Ohio History Service Corps, which encourages emerging museum professionals to conduct outreach with small (often all volunteer run) historical societies to increase their capacity and improve their practices. I'm working with a historical society that currently does not have a catalog of their collection, so I'm helping them create a catalog from scratch using excel. I'd like for all their catalog entries to include a catalog number, but I'm at a loss on how to create a numbering system for them.

I thought I would be able to create a catalog number based on the accession number, but it turns out the society does not have accession records for any of their collection items. The only paperwork they have for collection items are deeds of gifts. But even so, most of their items don't have a deed of gift.

How do I create a numbering system with no accession numbers to guide me? And how do I make a numbering system that can accommodate for the fact that we'll run into many objects that will be labelled FIC?

------------------------------
Erin Robichaud
Local History Member
Ohio History Service Corps
------------------------------

Erin--

I highly recommend the book Managing Previously Unmanaged Collections by Angela Kipp (https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781442263499/Managing-Previously-Unmanaged-Collections-A-Practical-Guide-for-Museums). It will be a great guide through this and many other challenges that you'll be dealing with.


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Rebecca Elder
Preservation Consultant
Austin TX
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Original Message:
Sent: 01-17-2023 15:41
From: Erin Robichaud
Subject: How to Start a Numbering System

Hello!

I'm in a program called the Ohio History Service Corps, which encourages emerging museum professionals to conduct outreach with small (often all volunteer run) historical societies to increase their capacity and improve their practices. I'm working with a historical society that currently does not have a catalog of their collection, so I'm helping them create a catalog from scratch using excel. I'd like for all their catalog entries to include a catalog number, but I'm at a loss on how to create a numbering system for them.

I thought I would be able to create a catalog number based on the accession number, but it turns out the society does not have accession records for any of their collection items. The only paperwork they have for collection items are deeds of gifts. But even so, most of their items don't have a deed of gift.

How do I create a numbering system with no accession numbers to guide me? And how do I make a numbering system that can accommodate for the fact that we'll run into many objects that will be labelled FIC?

------------------------------
Erin Robichaud
Local History Member
Ohio History Service Corps
------------------------------