GUIDELINES FOR THE CURATION OF GEOLOGICAL MATERIALS

3. Placing of specimens held under Entry Documentation in special storage
areas with care taken to avoid confusion of specimens.
4. Rapid processing of those items which are to be kept by the museum into
Acquisition Documentation and Cataloguing.
Entry Documentation provides the means for rapid, accurate and flexible
processing and is important not only as a requirement of museum organisation
but also, for those items to be subsequently acquired by the museum, as a means
to achieving the full and more detailed specimen cataloguing of the highest
quality. It represents a holding device whilst safeguarding identity and associated
data.
It also allows the following:
the efficient processing of large groups of associated material;
the recording of any item received irrespective of its eventual fate, e.g.
specimens on approval, specimens on loan; cabinets; documents; etc.
the recording of specimens to be prepared prior to value judgements.
It should be clear that at this stage in the museum life of a specimen, there is a
shortfall in the quality of documentation compared to the highest principles of
museum work: there are no permanent specimen markings, no detailed account
of specimen identities, and inadequate precautions against specimen loss. abuse
or non-recognition. To this extent, Entry Documentation must be seen as a
necessary but temporary evil and operated with great care and foresight to avoid
potential problems.
A note of warning: bear in mind the possibility that the person who
subsequently undertakes a specimen's Acquisition Documentation and cataloguing
may not be the same individual who completes its initial Entry Documentation.
The latter must, therefore. be written clearly, unambiguously, legibly,
objectively and fully.
METHODS AND TECHNIQUES OF ENTRY DOCUMENTATION
When an object or a group of objects enters the museum it becomes the
responsibility of the museum and as such must be properly accounted for. This is
simply achieved by allocating a unique Entry Number to the item and recording
basic information against this number is a suitable format.
The Entry Number may be in any form so long as it is clearly distinct from the
current style of Specimen Identity Number allocated during cataloguing (B4.2).
We recommend using a serial number, perhaps distinguished by style, format or
prefix from the Specimen ldentity Number.
e.g. G.12; G146
Many museums use a serial number and year thus:
1982.45
G1981112, etc.
Ideally, however, no Entry Number should contain actual data such as a date
since errors can mislead. The Entry Number is a crucial link between the entry
record and item, and a label bearing this number must accompany each specimen
or group of specimens. An extreme and undesirable practice is to permanently
attach an Entry Number to each specimen; this may imply a museum's wish or even