Maja- Our museum has to perform an inventory every year and we have gone through a few different procedures until we found one that fit us the best. Currently, the way we track inventory is by location purpose. In location purpose, we have options for 2008 Inventory, 2007 Inventory, etc. We inventory by location; first we would print out a list by location and verify that the objects are still there and then go back to TMS and move the objects by 'returning to home location' and using the purpose '2008 Inventory'. One thing you have to be careful of is objects that aren't in their home locations, for these you will have to move the objects individually (temp move purposes 2008 Inventory and same temp location entered). By inventorying by location, you can move/ mark records faster that have been inventoried and now you have a previous location record for past inventories (great for auditing and solving mysteries). As the inventory goes along, you can always perform an advanced search looking for objects that have not been moved for purposes of 2008 Inventory to determine what still needs to be found. We also do create paper records for problems- objects missing, found, moved, etc. and we solve these problems at the end. This the gist of our inventory process, feel free to call me if you have any questions. Thanks Ashley Ashley Burke Assistant Registrar The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art 5401 Bay Shore Rd. Sarasota, FL 34243 941-359-5700 ext. 1504 [log in to unmask] This e-mail is subject to the Sunshine Act and its contents may be subject to public disclosure. From: The Museum System (TMS) Users [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Maja Clark Sent: Friday, May 30, 2008 9:23 PM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: first-time inventory Hi All, Our museum is long overdue to conduct a collections-wide inventory. I've never done one before and wonder what sage advice might be out there among TMS users on how to most efficiently conduct the inventory and update our TMS records accordingly. Your advice would be greatly appreciated. Aloha, Maja Maja Clark Registrar, Shangri La Doris Duke Foundation for Islamic Art 4055 Papu Circle Honolulu, HI 96816 (808) 792-5506 www.shangrilahawaii.org<http://www.shangrilahawaii.org/>