[Nhcoll-l] Unique IDs for museum objects versus specimens

[John E Simmons]

On Thu, Aug 14, 2014 at 10:18 AM, Bentley, Andrew Charles <abentley at ku.edu>
wrote:

>  The first is numbering systems... The only one that works effectively is
> a simple number.  The more complex a number becomes (adding delimiters or
> sub numbers or sub-sub numbers) the more error prone the possibilities
> become. Not only that, but it is no longer a number (in digital jargon) but
> is now a string which has all sorts of other implications in the digital
> world.
>
>
>
Thanks for your response, Andy. In support of simple numbering systems, it
is worthwhile to take a step back and remember that we use numbering
systems to identify specimens (be it individuals or lots)--specimen numbers
no longer need to convey information, just serve as identifiers.

Historically, complex numbering formats conveyed information about the
objects or specimens by incorporating dates, accession numbers, and so
forth (e.g., 2014.11.3) or linkage (e.g., 2014.11.3.a). These numbering
schemes were very useful at the time they were developed. However, now that
we have good electronic databases, it is no longer advantageous to use
complex numbers to show linkage between specimens as the database can do
that for us better, more completely, and more accurately.

There are many advantages to using a simple, sequential numbering system,
including the reduction of errors (as Andy mentioned) but also to reduce
the size of the label (complex numbers require more space on a label or
tag).

Despite the decades of use of electronic databases in museum collections,
we still have an annoying tendency to try to duplicate our old pencil and
paper systems, rather than to use electronic systems to help make
collections management easier and with fewer errors.

--John

John E. Simmons
Museologica
128 E. Burnside Street
Bellefonte, Pennsylvania 16823-2010
simmons.johne at gmail.com
303-681-5708
www.museologica.com
and
Adjunct Curator of Collections
Earth and Mineral Science Museum & Art Gallery
Penn State University
University Park, Pennsylvania
and
Instructor, Museum Studies
School of Library and Information Science
Kent State University
and
Lecturer in Art
Juniata College
Huntingdon, Pennsylvania
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