Museum Inventory Project: Directions

1. 1. Gather up materials for marking/tagging the artifacts with their new official MUS numbers, gloves and other supplies.

Most of these items are in the back room of the Archives in the cabinets near the sink. You will need:

a. White gloves (only necessary to use with extra fragile or finger-printable items, e.g. original photographs)

b. Extra tags with string

c. Archival sticker labels (note: use very sparingly, only if you can’t use a tie-on label, and only on areas that are not visible when the artifact is displayed. Cut labels to very small size with scissors. Ask Emily for advice.)

d. Pencils

e. Scissors

f. Misc pieces of felt for setting down objects while you are working (get from side room of Archives)

g. Dust/wipe cloths. (note: These are mostly for your hands. Don’t clean the objects for this project, except if needed to attach a label. Get from Library supply room.)

2. 2. Make a List of all the Locations in the Museum

In the Museum list the Rooms, Cases, etc. on this Spreadsheet. The Rooms should include 2^nd Floor South (Pacific room), 2^nd Floor North (Missions/Misc room), 1^st Floor South (Chapel), 1^st Floor North (Meeting room), Office, Storage, etc. Make sure to note each room and as appropriate, each case or shelf in each room. Over the coming months, we will use this to keep track of which locations we have finished inventorying and what still needs more work. You can ignore the UC Basement for now – we’ll do it later.

3. 3. Begin the Inventory starting in the 2^nd Floor South room

a. If necessary, check out a laptop from the library circ desk or from UIS

b. Get exhibit case keys from Deni Cadd

c. Focus on one exhibit case per person at a time

d. Go through the case systematically. For each artifact: First look for its old registration number (should be tagged/labelled somewhere

· Search for the item in ArchivesSpace. Go to http://pacificu.libraryhost.com:8080/accessions > then use the “filter by text” box on the left to add keywords.

· You should be able to confirm a match by looking at the old registration number in field “String 3”

· Once it is matched, edit the record with the item’s location. Update “String 1” with its Building Room & Case, e.g.: Museum 2N Walker Case.

· If you have any special notes about uncertainty matching the item, unusual locations, etc. you can add that to the “Disposition Note” field.

· Update the physical object with its new MUS number. If at all possible, just write the new number in pencil on the existing tag/label. If this is impossible, add a new tag. Do not discard the old tag or erase the old number.

e. If an object cannot be matched with an record in ArchivesSpace, tag it with a new label and mark the label in pencil “TBA.”

f. When you are done with the case, edit the Rooms / Cases Spreadsheet : Put an “X” in the “Inventoried” column to indicate it’s done. If any items in the case could not be matched, note how many (and any other misc. notes you have) in the “Items still needing AS Records” column.

4. 4. Other miscellaneous tasks that can be done if you run into roadblocks:

a. Add information from the Donor Files that are in the Museum Office to the ArchivesSpace records. For example, look under the Condon records, Walker records, etc., for extra details that can be added to artifacts with their provenance. A CPS officer will need to specially unlock that door for you.

b. Clean bugs out of the cases and dust the cases (gross but very helpful!!)

c. Look for other records in the Museum office relating to accessions post-1997 that aren’t in the registration files. (Be careful to keep everything in the same order you found it in.)

d. Don’t forget to look at the furniture and framed objects on the walls on the 1^st floor and the hallways