I am in the planning process of putting an inventory management system into place at our railroad museum. My first instincts are to barcode everything and establish a computer database with the corresponding data. The database would then be used to track the items and to randomly select 10 percent of the items in the database to be inventoried every month. The barcodes would be used to aid inventory and to establish ownership rights in the event of theft.

My questions are:

What other inventory control methods do other museums use?

What do I do about bar coding items that could be damaged in terms of appearance, condition, and/or value by bar codes?

Is there any other pluses or minuses that I have overlooked in my plan?


jahamilton@usa.net

It sounds like a very ambitious plan and I applaud you for it. Are you talking artifacts that are part of the 'collection' or also supplies and consumables that are expended in the everyday operations? The system would have tremendous merit if you never ran out of paper, screws, or paint but in our group it would be a hard sell just to get volunteers to comply. Many are out for the social aspects as well as to operate and/or restore equipment. In part they enjoy the experience because they can get away from that kind of regimentation in their real life.

If you are talking of cataloging artifacts then I am not sure you need to take regular inventories unless you perceive a problem with items disappearing. But a comprehensive catalog of the collection is a worthy and noble goal. Often no one person or even small group of members even know what is totally existing in the way of parts and fittings.

If it was me I would take a small segment of what you hope to include in the database and try your system to find out where the bugs might be in actually implementing it. Who knows, after you perfect it you could license applications to all the other museums.

Bob K.


68trolley@home.com

Most museums do what is called "registration." Various railway museums are into it to differing degrees.

Registration is done by the registrar. It is the recoding and documenting what comes into the collection(s) of the museum. The curator usually supplies the discription of the artifact.

On artifacts many museums will place a label or painted number to indicate the id number. Often this is a two part number that indicates the year acquired and then a sequance number. This number will then referance to the file on the artifact. The file will often include photos, discription, back history, copy of the accession (acqusition) records, etc.

If you go to the American Association of Museums web site and look at its online bookstore you should be able to find several books on registration:
.... Cataloging From Scratch
.... New Museum Registration Methods 4/R/E
.... Registration Methods for the Small Museum

Good luck.

Brian Norden

American Association of Museums online bookstore
bnorden@gateway.net

In many smaller museums without a Registrar, the registration of artifacts is often done by the Curator or Archivist.

At the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania, we follow a state-mandated registration system established by the Penna. Historical and Museum Commission, of which we are a part. Two-part bi-nomial numbers (i.e. RR99.34) are assigned to archival collections and three-part tri-nomial numbers (i.e. RR99.34.1) are assigned to artifacts. The prefix letter designation represents our site location (we are in a state system with 26 other historic sites, i.e. Railroad Museum is "RR", Ephrata Cloister is "EC", Old Economy Village is "OC", etc). Our library books are not accessioned unless they are in the rare category, are generally given a special "category number" and catalogued in the Library of Congress classification system.

Reading these bi- and tri-nomial accession numbers is not as difficult as it may seem at first. The first number represents the year in which the artifact was accessioned ("99" for 1999); the second number represents the lot or collection acquired that year; and the last number is the individual object number assigned to an item from the lot. As a rule, all accession numbers are applied to the right rear axle of all vehicles and rolling stock using white weather-proof paint and a thin-bristle brush. On objects the accession numbers are applied in very discrete areas, using Acloyd B-72 and clear Soluvar, so as to not deface or damage the artifact in any way. We strive to put accession numbers on exhibit labels as much as possible, to cut down on wear and handling of original specimens on display.

Once a locomotive, railcar or archival collection is accessioned, it is then catalogued using a standard "Cataloguing Worksheet." A catalogue card is then generated and is kept in an Accession card file. A donor card is also generated, recording a donor's name, address and all applicable accession numbers are cross-referenced and noted on the card. We also maintain a catalogue card file arranged by type of Object (i.e. L section for lanterns, B section for blotters, V section for Velocepedes, etc.).

The Accession file is also maintained as a verticle file with all gift agreements, catalogue worksheets, vehicle provenance, correspondence, and pertinent documentation. Whenever an object is relocated physically, its new location is always noted in the accession file.

Brian Norden's reading list is excellent, and serves as the basic literature on registration available to the museum field.

We can explain our procedures in greater detail at the ARM Eastern Regional Conference, slated for April 21 at Strasburg.

Kurt Bell
(Archivist, RR Museum of PA)

> Most museums do what is called
> "registration." Various railway
> museums are into it to differing degrees.

> Registration is done by the registrar. It is
> the recoding and documenting what comes into
> the collection(s) of the museum. The curator
> usually supplies the discription of the
> artifact.

> On artifacts many museums will place a label
> or painted number to indicate the id number.
> Often this is a two part number that
> indicates the year acquired and then a
> sequance number. This number will then
> referance to the file on the artifact. The
> file will often include photos, discription,
> back history, copy of the accession
> (acqusition) records, etc.

> If you go to the American Association of
> Museums web site and look at its online
> bookstore you should be able to find several
> books on registration:
> .... Cataloging From Scratch
> .... New Museum Registration Methods 4/R/E
> .... Registration Methods for the Small
> Museum

> Good luck.

> Brian Norden


http://rrmuseumpa.org

Our numbering system is simpler than yours, in that each item in the collection (photo, negative, brake handle, roll sign, etc) has a unique integer number. The record will have a field relating it to a separate Accession table that has the particulars on the donors address, date of donation, etc. I'll be at the ARM regional on 4/21, so I look forward to talking with you!

Trolley Museum of New York
n2xjk@ulster.net