[Nhcoll-l] Barcodes and accession numbers

[Callomon,Paul]

A further distinction between accessioning and cataloging is the "plenum space" between the two operations.

When we receive a donated collection we put an accession number on the deed of gift. All the donated material - specimens, catalogs, images etc. - thus falls under that accession number and we gain legal title to it.

However, it is usually the case that we then discard a proportion of the material because, for example, it has insufficient or no data and/or it represents taxa that we already have good coverage for. In all but very rare cases we cannot do this in the collection's original location, usually because there's an imperative to move it in a fixed time (they're selling the house...) or the donor wants to ship it entire.

Once the accession is complete, and as time allows, we then catalog the material we are keeping into the permanent collection.
By weeding the accession before cataloging it, we ensure that catalog numbers are only issued for material that will not then leave the collection, avoiding wasted effort.


Paul Callomon
Collection Manager, Malacology and General Invertebrates
________________________________
Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University
1900 Benjamin Franklin Parkway, Philadelphia PA 19103-1195, USA
prc44 at drexel.edu<mailto:prc44 at drexel.edu> Tel 215-405-5096 - Fax 215-299-1170


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