Documenting Your Collections
Info-Muse Network Documentation Guide

Permanent Location Site (1 to 6) (Storage Location)

Definition:

Observations:

1. Inventory and location of specimens are essential for proper collection management. These fields are vitally important, since they make it possible to locate specimens in the institution.
2. Each specimen should have a permanent location site. The Info-Muse Network suggests six fields that can be used to record this information, i.e. Permanent Location Site 1 to Permanent Location Site 6. You may not need all six fields; leave any unused fields blank.
3. Begin by drawing up a plan of the storage areas in your institution and assign a code to each location. This will give you a structured hierarchical list you can refer to when assigning a location to each specimen. Assign the biggest unit to the Permanent Location Site 1 field and continue until you reach the smallest storage unit, depending on the number of location fields required.
   
   
   Example

   Institution 1
   

   Coding	Location data Specimen A	Location data Specimen B
   Permanent Location Site 1 Building	Permanent Location Site 1 Seminary	Permanent Location Site 1 Museum
   Permanent Location Site 2 Room/Storeroom	Permanent Location Site 2 storeroom 423	Permanent Location Site 2 Orientation room
   Permanent Location Site 3 Unit/Display case	Permanent Location Site 3 unit 4	Permanent Location Site 3 display case 13
   Permanent Location Site 4 Shelf	Permanent Location Site 4 shelf C	Permanent Location Site 4
   Permanent Location Site 5 Box	Permanent Location Site 5 box C.2	Permanent Location Site 5
   Permanent Location Site 6 Tray	Permanent Location Site 6 tray C.2.1	Permanent Location Site 6

   
   
   Example

   Institution 2
   

   Coding	Location data Specimen A	Location data Specimen B
   Permanent Location Site 1 Room/Storeroom	Permanent Location Site 1 Henri-Granger Room	Permanent Location Site 1 basement storeroom
   Permanent Location Site 2 Unit	Permanent Location Site 2	Permanent Location Site 2 unit 2
   Permanent Location Site 3 Shelf/Drawer	Permanent Location Site 3	Permanent Location Site 3 shelf D

4. These fields are used in conjunction with the Permanent Location Date field.

Entry rules:

1. Enter the location, proceeding from the most general to the most specific.
   Example 1

   Record for a specimen in room 205, on unit D, shelf 12, box 4, tray 2
   

   Coding	Location data
   Permanent Location Site 1 Room	Permanent Location Site 1 room 205
   Permanent Location Site 2 Unit	Permanent Location Site 2 unit D
   Permanent Location Site 3 Shelf	Permanent Location Site 3 shelf 12
   Permanent Location Site 4 Box	Permanent Location Site 4 box 4
   Permanent Location Site 5 Tray	Permanent Location Site 5 tray 2

   Example 2

   Record for a specimen in display case 1 of the exhibition room called "Lobby"
   

   Coding	Location data
   Permanent Location Site 1 Room/Storeroom	Permanent Location Site 1 Lobby
   Permanent Location Site 2 Display case/Unit	Permanent Location Site 2 display case 1
   Permanent Location Site 3 Shelf	Permanent Location Site 3

2. If you know that you have a specimen in your collections but cannot find it, write "unknown" in the Permanent Location Site 1 field. Do not enter anything in the other location fields. Enter the date of this observation in the Permanent Location Date field.
3. If you move a specimen, remember to enter the new location in the Permanent Location Site fields and the new date in the Permanent Location Date field. It is important to keep an audit trail of locations. Archive information on previous locations.
4. These fields may contain several entries separated by a semicolon followed by a space.