AFRICOM Handbook of Standards: Object management/Gestion


This page is part of a handbook of documentation standards, developed by the International Council of Museums for use by museums in Africa. For an overview of the project, turn to the initial page.


1. Object management/Gestion


1.1 Country / pays

name of the country where the institution is found

(1994 list of United Nations Member States in Africa and the Indian Ocean, to be updated as necessary):

Algeria
Angola
Benin
Botswana
Burkina Faso
Burundi
Cameroon
Cape Verde
Central African Republic
Chad
Comoros
Congo
Côte d'Ivoire
Djibouti
Egypt
Equatorial Guinea
Eritrea
Ethiopia
Gabon
Gambia
Ghana
Guinea
Guinea-Bissau
Kenya
Lesotho
Liberia
Libyan Arab Jamahiriya
Madagascar
Malawi
Mali
Mauritania
Mauritius
Morocco
Mozambique
Namibia
Niger
Nigeria
Rwanda
Sao Tomé and Principe
Senegal
Seychelles
Sierra Leone
Somalia
Sudan
South Africa
Swaziland
Togo
Tunisia
Uganda
United Republic of Tanzania
Zaire
Zambia
Zimbabwe

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1.2 Institution name / Nom de l'institution

name of the institution where the object is conserved. The name of the owner institution if different from that of where it is conserved, and whether it is on short- or long-term loan,...-- will be indicated in the field "1.7 Acquisition source". Enter the complete name of the institution, not an abbreviation.

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1.3 Museum department / Département du musée

Name of the museum department or section responsible for the object within the institution. Enter the complete name, not an abbreviation.
Nota bene: This field is especially useful when two objects in the same museum but in two different departments have the same accession number.

1.3bis Collection / Collection: the addition of this field was felt to be indispensable especially for museums which use the same numbering system for each collection.

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1.4 Current accession number / numéro d'inventaire

the unique identification number of the object, given by the owner or the owner institution, and placed on the object.

1.4bis Previous accession number / Ancien numéro d'inventaire: useful in the case where the retrieval of an item belonging to the collection justifies the attribution of a new accession number. In that case, the new accession number is entered in field 1.4 and the old one in this field in order to keep a record of the previous accession number. However, it can also be useful to keep a record of other types of object identification numbers (for example a catalogue number). According to needs, these can be indicated in section " 4. Documentation".

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1.5 Acquisition or accession method / Mode d'acquisition ou d'entrée

how the object became part of the collection and whether it is an acquisition, a loan, etc. The term must be chosen from the museum's point of view (eg. an object which was collected but bought by the museum will be considered as "purchased").

Bequest / Donation
Collected / Collecte (includes scientific expeditions such as ethnographical collecting and archaeological finds)
Confiscated / Saisie
Donated / Don
Exchanges / Echanges
on Loan / en Dépot
Purchase /Achat
Restitution / Restitution
Unknown / Inconnu

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1.6 Acquisition or accession date / Date d'acquisition ou d'entrée

year of acquisition or loan of the object. Different from the collecting date registered in field 3.15.

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1.7 Acquisition source / Source

person or institution whence the object was acquired: the previous owner of the object, whether the seller, museum, etc.

1.7bis Permanent location of object / Emplacement permanent de l'objet: the precise location inside or outside (repository) the museum where the object is generally conserved.

The museum must manage the movement and associated data of objects in an appropriately precise and structured way, which would preclude the need to create additional fields for temporary locations of the object. This field can be complemented by additional fields for more detailed levels of location.

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1.8 Permanent location of object / Emplacement permanent de l'objet

the permanent location of the object

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Move to initial page about the Standard, the introductory page outlining its structure or the next subsection of the standard about Object description.


author: ICOM; updated June 1995