Hello everyone –
I have a very simple question and wanted to know how others
have approached the issue.
I have just taken over the pedestal inventory from our Associate
Curator who was previously tracking them in an excel spreadsheet. We keep
all of our pedestals in off-site storage and reuse them for the display of
other objects if the size is right. I am currently tracking them as components
of objects for which they have been used in the past or for which they are currently
used, so the pedestals numbers may appear as components for many objects.
Since the components section is usually used for tracking individual pieces of an
object (not crates or peds, etc.), this has not been ideal for pedestals.
The location of each component is tracked in the objects module along
with the object itself, but if a pedestal is listed as being in a certain
gallery, then my location reports will list these pedestals as objects. In
addition, since we use pedestals for up to three or four objects in different shows
and installations, and if I change the location of the pedestal as a component
to an object, I have to repeat it for each object.
Do any of you track pedestals in TMS? If so, how do
you do this, especially if you are an institution that may have pedestals that
are used for the display of many objects at different times? I considered
attaching it as a crate in the Container Assistant, but then there is no way to
cross-reference the pedestal to its object(s). My intern suggested we
create an object in the objects module called “Pedestals” and list ALL
of our pedestals as components. That way, we would have them in one place
and be able to view a list that our curator could use to identify pedestals he
could use for future installations. But again, we cannot attach it to a
specific object.
I would like to hear any other ideas some of you may
have. Perhaps there is something in TMS that I do not know about….
Thank you for your help!
Jennifer Ritchie
Head of Registration and Rights and Reproductions
(214) 242-5166 Fax (214) 242-5179