Attachment 7 - Terms and Definitions for Artifact Inventory and Collection Counts.doc

ATTACHMENT 7

NL Terms and Definitions for Artifact Inventory and Collection Counts

Updated August 29 2008

This document is intended to:

· Foster uniform terminology addressing artifact collection counts and related methodologies across the Libraries;

· Provide the basis for uniform counting and for consistent reporting of collection totals;

· Support museum staff when called on to explain what is behind collection totals, and why these may change as documentation and cataloging progresses.

GIFT

The term ‘gift’ is a problematic term when considered across all of the library collections. Gifts given to the President or other recipient - primarily but not exclusively while the President is in office - comprise a large portion of the NL museum collections. The museums also hold major deposits of donated historical materials originating with former Presidents, their associates, and the public - also commonly termed ‘gifts’. White House documentation and other legacy inventories vary in their approach to the problem of item-level accountability. Administrations from Presidents Truman through Ford tracked gifts to the President using a descriptive index card system. Once White House Gift Office databases came into being (beginning with President Carter), each ‘gift’ would be logged in under one identification number, even if it included multiple items such as multiple copies of a book or complex items such as a large dinner service, in order to facilitate acknowledgements and reporting. Likewise, caches of deeded or ‘gifted’ material may be comprised of any number of individual or complex items received as one donation. Several of the NL museums also inherited inventories created by NARS or other interim custodians, each with its own descriptive methodology.

In circumstances where a count of museum holdings is needed, confusion arises if there is not clarity as to how holdings are counted and possibly compared with earlier documentation. The following terms are designed to establish uniform terminology to associate with cataloging and counting practices in the Presidential library museums:

ARTIFACT

An ‘artifact’ functions as a unit, and may consist of a single item such as a t-shirt or a baseball, or may be a complex item such as a multi-piece tea service. For complex artifacts, all pieces were generally manufactured or made together, and are intended to be used together (such as all of the elements of the tea service (one ‘artifact’), or a pair of earrings (one ‘artifact’). One does not assume that a baseball cap, t-shirt and a baseball would always be used together even if they were originally given to the President as one ‘gift’. These are generally documented in the NL museum collections as three ‘artifacts’. A single controlled term Item Name can be assigned to an ‘artifact’ (“Suit, Ladies’” or “Set, Tea”).

OBJECT (MUSEUM OBJECT)

An ‘artifact’ may be of a complex nature, such as the tea set noted above, the elements of which individually constitute an ‘object’. While ‘object’ refers to the t-shirt or baseball noted above, it would also correlate to each tea cup and saucer in the tea set, or each napkin in a set of table linens. An ‘object’ can stand on its own, (one would not necessarily use all of the teacups or all of the napkins at a given sitting) but is generally intended to be used as part of a greater whole.

NOTE: for purposes of NARA-wide discussion, the term ‘Object’ should be termed ‘Museum Object’ in order to distinguish from ‘Digital Object’ and other similar terminology operative in the NARA environment.

PIECE

An ‘object’ may also be of a complex nature, such as a teapot with a lid, the elements of which individually constitute a ‘piece.’ While ‘piece,’ refers to the tea cup, napkin, hat or baseball noted above, it would also correlate to any separable part that cannot stand on its own, such as each teapot and lid in a tea set, or the cap and body of a pen, which must be used as part of a greater whole. In the case of a framed item that is separated from its frame, or a broken artifact or object, one might account for the resulting fragment(s) as ‘pieces’, but only if the individual pieces are to be catalogued and marked as such on a permanent basis.

RECORD (iO Record)

A given Record in the iO Catalog generally documents one ‘artifact’ in the case of single items such as a t-shirt or a baseball. Where complex artifacts are involved, individual iO records may optionally document ‘PART’ of an artifact (rather than a the ‘WHOLE’) in order to describe and track complex items at a more detailed level (at the object or piece level). This becomes useful when individual ‘objects’ or ‘pieces’ are stored separately, develop a unique condition or exhibit history, or vary in their design or decoration enough to require individual physical description. Another exception may be duplicate items given as part of a single gift or accession (such as a group of identical lapel pins). Staff may for convenience sake document these together on one iO record sharing a single, common description, then proceed to create separate records for individual ‘artifacts’ if one or more of the duplicates is de-accessioned, or develops a unique condition or exhibit history. The ‘Whole/Part’ field in iO flags atypical records (‘DUPLICATES’, ‘LOT’, ‘PART’, etc.) for easy identification, and can also assist with managing complex situations such as a pair of earrings that is part of a matching jewelry set (PART – PAIR).

Presently, a total Artifact Count may be obtained from iO as the number of Permanent Collection records, plus a factor accounting for the number of duplicate, lot or other multiple artifact records and minus a factor accounting for multiple PART records which together compromise only one WHOLE artifact, and any de-accessions or voided records. Optionally, an Artifact Count field may be implemented using a re-titled optional Number field to auto-count all values entered in the field (see NL Artifacts Working Guidelines #3c as a model).

A total Object Count may be obtained from iO using a re-titled iO Optional Number field, which auto-totals all the values in that field. (see NL Artifacts Working Guidelines #3c).

A total Piece Count may be obtained from iO using the re-titled iO Item Count field, which auto-totals all the values in that field (see NL Artifacts Working Guidelines #3b).

NOTE: For purposes of NARA-wide discussion, the term ‘Record’ should be termed ‘iO Record’ in order to distinguish from ‘Record’ (textual), ‘ARC Record’ or ‘ARC Description’ and other terminology operative in the ARC environment.

EXAMPLES: The following examples demonstrate how each example would be counted for the record configuration indicated. (For many of the examples, other configurations are possible).

Tea Set (teapot w/ lid, 4 cups, 4 saucers)

Documented as 1 WHOLE record:

Artifact Count: 1

Object Count: 9

Piece Count: 10

Tea Set (teapot w/ lid, sugar w/ lid, creamer, tray)

Documented as 4 PART records:

Artifact Count: 1 covering all 4 PARTs

Object Count: 1 for each record; total 4

Piece Count: teapot/lid 2, sugar/lid 2, creamer 1, tray 1; total 6

Pen Set (pen (pen + cap), pencil, 1-pc case)

Documented as 1 record:

Artifact Count: 1

Object Count: 3

Piece Count: 4

10 identical campaign buttons received as one gift or donation

Documented as 1 record, flagged DUPLICATES

Artifact Count: 10

Object Count: 10

Piece Count: 10

30 assorted golf balls received as one gift or donation

Documented as 1 record flagged LOT

Artifact Count: 30

Object Count: 30

Piece Count: 30

Pair of earrings

Documented as 1 record

Artifact Count: 1

Object Count: 1

Piece Count: 2

Table linen set (Tablecloth, 4 napkins, table runner)

Documented as 1 record:

Artifact Count: 1 Object Count: 6

Piece Count: 6

Sculpture and wood base;

base is stored separately

Documented as 2 PART records:

Artifact Count: 1 covering both PARTs

Object Count: 1

Piece Count: 1 each record; 2 total

Necklace (charm on chain)

Documented as 1 record:

Artifact Count: 1

Object Count: 1

Piece Count: 2

Necklace (choker)

Documented as 1 record:

Artifact Count: 1

Object Count: 1

Piece Count: 1

Coin in presentation box:

Documented as 1 record:

Artifact Count: 1

Object Count: 2 (if the case is catalogued)

NOTE: Boxes or cases should only be catalogued as objects/pieces if they have historic value).

Piece count: 2 (if the case is catalogued)

Board Game

Documented as 1 record:

Artifact Count: 1

Object Count: 1

Piece Count: 33

32 pieces plus board

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