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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D">We regularly erase numbers when we split lots. For example: we have a single lot of 16 freshwater mussels, all identified as species A. An expert comes along
and determines that they actually represent two species. We then split the lot into two, with 10 species A keeping the original number and 6 species B getting a new number. The shells of species B have their original numbers removed (if possible) and the new
number applied. As the original numbers are almost always India Ink, they come off easily with a cotton bud and water. We also find that a piece of white pencil eraser dipped in water works very well.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D">In a case where removing the original number would damage the specimen, we might strike it through or just apply the new one beside it.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D">Searching for either number will pull up a record in the database, and the relationship between them is automatically recorded when we run the script to split
the lot. An automatically-generated comment says: “6 specimens of (species B) split from this lot on (date we did the split) and recataloged as (new number)”. In the new database record, there’s a comment that says: “Split from (original number) on (date of
split)”. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:black">Paul Callomon</span></b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:black"><br>
<i>Collection Manager, Malacology, Invertebrate Paleontology and General Invertebrates</i></span><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:black">
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:black">Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University, Philadelphia</span></b><b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:black">1900 Benjamin Franklin Parkway, Philadelphia PA 19103-1195, USA</span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:black"><br>
<i><a href="mailto:callomon@ansp.org" target="_blank">callomon@ansp.org</a> Tel 215-405-5096 - Fax 215-299-1170</i></span><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"">From:</span></b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif""> nhcoll-l-bounces@mailman.yale.edu [mailto:nhcoll-l-bounces@mailman.yale.edu]
<b>On Behalf Of </b>Anderson, Gretchen<br>
<b>Sent:</b> Tuesday, December 15, 2015 9:33 AM<br>
<b>To:</b> John E Simmons; Leslie L Skibinski<br>
<b>Cc:</b> NHCOLL-L (nhcoll-l@mailman.yale.edu)<br>
<b>Subject:</b> Re: [Nhcoll-l] Number removal upon deaccessioning<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D">There might be one additional reason you would remove (and replace) an accession/catalog number. If the number is written directly on the face of an object,
obscuring important detail or preventing it from being displayed. In this case, if the number can be removed and placed in a less distracting situation it probably should. Unfortunately, all too often in the past, numbers were sometimes applied with no consideration
of visual context.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D">In this situation the number should be re-applied in a better spot immediately. Of course – this does not apply to original collector information on tags.
If you remove a numbers make note of what you do in a condition report or in the catalogue file.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D">I recently had to remove permanent numbers from a dozen Tlingit basket. The numbers were painted on the sides of the baskets – and were about an inch high.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:12.0pt"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><i><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#1F497D">Gretchen Anderson<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#1F497D">Conservator<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#1F497D">Carnegie Museum of Natural History<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#1F497D">5800 Baum Blvd<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#1F497D">Pittsburgh, PA 15206<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#1F497D"><a href="mailto:AndersonG@CarnegieMNH.Org"><span style="color:#0563C1">AndersonG@CarnegieMNH.Org</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#1F497D">412-665-2607 (office)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#1F497D">412-420-9083 (Cell)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D">Gretchen
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">From:</span></b><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">
<a href="mailto:nhcoll-l-bounces@mailman.yale.edu">nhcoll-l-bounces@mailman.yale.edu</a> [<a href="mailto:nhcoll-l-bounces@mailman.yale.edu">mailto:nhcoll-l-bounces@mailman.yale.edu</a>]
<b>On Behalf Of </b>John E Simmons<br>
<b>Sent:</b> Monday, December 14, 2015 8:48 PM<br>
<b>To:</b> Leslie L Skibinski <<a href="mailto:lls94@cornell.edu">lls94@cornell.edu</a>><br>
<b>Cc:</b> NHCOLL-L (<a href="mailto:nhcoll-l@mailman.yale.edu">nhcoll-l@mailman.yale.edu</a>) <<a href="mailto:nhcoll-l@mailman.yale.edu">nhcoll-l@mailman.yale.edu</a>><br>
<b>Subject:</b> Re: [Nhcoll-l] Number removal upon deaccessioning<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif";color:black">Thanks for mentioning the deaccessioning workshop, Patti.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif";color:black">Just to clarify--I do agree that accession and/or catalog numbers should never, ever, be re-used (after all, the supply of numbers is infinite...!).
<br>
<br>
Whether an accession number or catalog number should be removed from a specimen or object is a bit more nuanced. We didn't have time in the webinar to get into the fine details, but my position is as follows:
<br>
<br>
If the specimen or object is going to go to another museum, in almost all cases you should leave the number on it as it makes it far easier to track it down in the future, long after everyone has forgotten the details of the deacession and transfer. However,
if the specimen or object is to be sold or destroyed, I would in almost all cases remove any accession or catalog numbers. There are several reasons for this. One is that the presence of the number makes the object or specimen appear to still belong to your
institution when, in fact, you no longer own it, which can be confusing. Another is that this evidence that the object or specimen was once in a museum affects the price (usually makes it worth a lot more). A third reason is that leaving the number on may
make it appear as though your institution is selling specimens or objects just to make money (deacessioning as a collections management tool is rarely understood by non-museum folks).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif";color:black">In natural history museums in particular, specimens are normally deaccessioned only for trade or exchange to another museum. In this case, leaving
the original accession and/or catalog numbers attached is important for keeping track of the specimen (over the years I have worked in museums I have several times seen specimens with multiple catalog tags on them, making it easy to trace their history). For
some kinds of specimens (e.g., amphibians and reptiles) the catalog tag usually just bears a number and museum identifier and can be replaced if needed, but for some other kind of specimens (e.g., birds or mammals) the catalog tag may carry original information
and must be treated as an archival document and not be destroyed.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif";color:black">A couple of museums I have worked with have had the misfortune to discover that objects they deacessioned wound up for sale by a third party on eBay
or similar sites listed as "from the collection of X museum," which does nobody any good and usually reflects badly on the museum that deacessioned the object.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif";color:black">--John<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><br clear="all">
<o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">John E. Simmons<br>
Museologica<br>
128 E. Burnside Street<br>
Bellefonte, Pennsylvania 16823-2010<br>
<a href="mailto:simmons.johne@gmail.com" target="_blank">simmons.johne@gmail.com</a><br>
303-681-5708<br>
<a href="https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.museologica.com&d=AwMFaQ&c=-dg2m7zWuuDZ0MUcV7Sdqw&r=CLFZJ3fvGSmDp7xK1dNZfh6uGV_h-8NVlo3fXNoRNzI&m=yOSfhluLJOrCk2AbtWtDAGSqiX_3J2qQT3xklVB9i9w&s=mLoQcmPFRPVghtYWCKM0qyUzLohZZedolEothXdfCqg&e=" target="_blank">www.museologica.com</a><br>
and<br>
Adjunct Curator of Collections<br>
Earth and Mineral Science Museum & Art Gallery<br>
Penn State University<br>
University Park, Pennsylvania<br>
and<br>
Instructor, Museum Studies<br>
School of Library and Information Science<br>
Kent State University<br>
and<br>
Lecturer in Art<br>
Juniata College<br>
Huntingdon, Pennsylvania<o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">On Mon, Dec 14, 2015 at 1:27 PM, Leslie L Skibinski <<a href="mailto:lls94@cornell.edu" target="_blank">lls94@cornell.edu</a>> wrote:<o:p></o:p></p>
<blockquote style="border:none;border-left:solid #CCCCCC 1.0pt;padding:0in 0in 0in 6.0pt;margin-left:4.8pt;margin-top:5.0pt;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:5.0pt">
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto">Hello everyone,<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto">What does your institutional policy say about “removing” your institutions catalog or accession numbers from specimens when you deaccession something? Do you remove or gesso over
the number? Do you draw a line through it? Do you do nothing to the number?<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto">Do you have different procedures if you are disposing of the material in different ways (i.e. transfer to another institution vs destruction, etc.)?<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto">If you are transferring it to another institution and you have obliterated the number on the object, do you also take the number off the label? If you do, how do you ensure the
information on the label/the label itself stays with the specimen? Do you remove the label and lose provenance or do you keep the label with the specimen?<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto">Any insights, examples or literature citations would be appreciated.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto">Leslie L. Skibinski<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto">Collection Manager<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto">Paleontological Research Institution<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto">1259 Trumansburg Road<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto">Ithaca, New York 14850<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto">Ph.
<a href="tel:%28607%29%20273-6623%C2%A0%20ext.%2028" target="_blank">(607) 273-6623 ext. 28</a><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto">Fax:
<a href="tel:%28607%29%20273-6620" target="_blank">(607) 273-6620</a><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"> <o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:12.0pt"><br>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><br>
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