Hi Christina,

We recently put several thousand objects on display, using the Exhibitions Module to help us sort everything in order.  We used the Section and Sub-section fields for reference, but our sorting was done first on the case number field, which we have renamed "Case/Wall/Panel Number," and second on the sequence number field, which we have renamed "Object Order."  Both of these fields are sortable, and this is reflected in our exhibition reports pulled from the module.

In the case I'm showing below, the F and 5 refer to the gallery (National Stamp Salon) and section (National Stamp Collection); 010 refers to Frame #10, and a refers to the left side.  As you can see, we order everything within a case or frame with the object order field.  For exhibition prep, we noted everything as "F-5-010a-2," which could translate to the outline numbering your curators are hoping to use.
[cid:image001.png@01D08291.2D8F4FE0]
We did also repurpose Catalogue Number as "Graphic Number (GG)," but this field did not sort in our reports, and was purely for reference.  Our scrip used one numbering system, while the exhibit designers used another.  Both numbers related in a way, but we just wanted to keep track of both numbers for our own sanity.  Note: don't use two separate numbering systems!  In the end, the way we used the fields did work really well for us.  Hope you have a successful project!

Caitlin Badowski
TMS Administrator
Smithsonian National Postal Museum
2 Massachusetts Avenue NE, MRC 570
Washington, DC 20013-7012
(202) 633-8735
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From: The Museum System (TMS) Users [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Cristina Lichauco
Sent: Wednesday, April 29, 2015 3:14 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Exhibition Objects Outline Numbering


Hi All -



We have an exhibition project coming up where the curators have asked to have object lists that are sorted according to an outline format versus straight exhibition numbers (so an outline number such as 2.2.1 or 1.3.1, corresponding to a sections and sub-sections). They do not know how deep this hierarchy will go, but probably at least four levels if not more.



Has anyone used this sort of numbering scheme for objects in the exhibition module? What fields did you use? We previously were using the sequence field for exhibition sequence numbers, but that field appears to take integers only and I am not sure how it would sort a number of the type above in a report. I would rather not use the section and sub-section fields as it looks like the hierarchy will go deeper than those allow, and we may need them further along in the exhibition process.



Ideas?


Cristina Lichauco
Collections Database Administrator
Asian Art Museum
200 Larkin Street
San Francisco, CA 94102
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T: 415-581-3676

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