Before I dive again into the exciting world of cataloging, let me define a few terms and lay a bit of groundwork here. Most of the items that come into the museum’s collection are donated. Only on occasion does the director purchase a piece. When a donor brings their items to the museum a deed of gift is created which puts into writing the official transfer of goods. These items are lumped together into one number – this is called an accession number. These numbers start with the year of the donation and then their order in donations that year. For example the pieces I am working on were donated this year and were the fourteenth items given to the museum – so the accession number is VM-2012-014. (VM stands for Vegas Museum).
On the infrequent occasion that the museum no longer needs an object in their collection, the item can be given back to the donor – this is known as deaccessioning. After the proper paperwork is signed and processed, then the items come to Michelle – the registrar and well, to me for the summer. We give each individual object a catalog number. This takes the initial accession number and adds to the end the number of pieces in the particular accession. For example, in this box I was working on was a framed newspaper clipping. It was the first item I cataloged from that accession so its official catalog number became VM-2012-014-001. Making some sense yet?
Next time I’ll talk a little bit about my most recent cataloging project and the hidden treasures Michelle and I have been encountering in the collections – excitement awaits!
Until then,
Allison
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