[Rockhounds] Numbering Specimens (WAS: Paint)

[jabac]

John Siebel wrote:
> Hi All,
>
> As I mentioned in my previous post, I'm getting a start on organizing 
> a huge amount of unlabeled specimens. But I'm hitting a mental 
> gridlock when it comes to numbering them. Where to start? Do I simply 
> grab the first one I see and give it the honor of being #0001? Should 
> I start with the more impressive specimens and work my way down from 
> there? Should I work chronologically from earliest collected to most 
> recent (although that sounds unlikely)? How to deal with multiples 
> (like the dozens of stilbite/calcite/quartz from XYZ Quarry)? Do they 
> all get the same number?
>
> I'm also consider sub-classification (if that's the right term), 
> fossils being  f-0001 or 0001-f  for instance. But I can see that 
> getting pretty whacky with the rest of the collection. Any thoughts?
>
> Perhaps Julie's OCD is rubbing off on me but I want to start this 
> process in a logical manner so I'm not tempted to redo it at a later 
> date. Like that will ever happen!
>
> Thanks for any input - John
>
How would you organize a library of books? The Library of Congress does 
it by categories.  But they also do it by acquisition number. It's all 
in the catalogue! So, does the actual numbering matter a great deal as 
long as the location is known and easily found later? The key is in the 
catalogue. So perhaps the major system might be by sort e.g. 
Category::book = Dana::mineral (or some such system; remember there is 
also the Dewey System for books). Then a subsystem for location within 
the division by sort. And don't forget that a "numbering" system can 
also be alphanumeric.

In other words, like creating databases, most of the work is in the 
thinking through how the whole thing fits together in the first place! 
Visit  some museums and talk to curators. How do they do the organizing 
and numbering? Ask Mindat. Talk to authors of field and identification 
guides; look at some of them and how they are  organized.  I think after 
a few  weeks of thinking about the problem, your solution will be 
obvious to you. It may not fit anybody else's circumstances...but no 
matter if it works for you...and is well catalogued!


john