How to Catalog a Museum Collection Step by Step

Start with how things arrive, not with the spreadsheet

Most small collections begin as a pile: boxes in a back room, things on shelves with no tags, objects whose owner nobody is quite sure about. The temptation is to open a spreadsheet and start typing. Resist that for a moment and ask one question first: does this object belong to the museum, or is it only being held?

That distinction drives everything else. Items that have been formally accepted belong to the museum and go into the catalog. Items that were dropped off, are being considered, or are on loan from someone else are in a different category, and mixing them in is the root of most 'whose is this?' arguments years later. Sort your pile into three rough groups: clearly yours, clearly someone else's, and unknown. Work on the first group first, and flag the third for research.

Give every object one permanent number

A catalog number is the thread that ties an object to its record, its photo, its label and its history. Choose a numbering pattern once and stick to it. A common and sensible pattern has three parts: the year, the sequence of the acceptance within that year, and the item within that acceptance. So 2026.3.1 means the first item from the third acceptance of 2026.

Two rules matter more than the pattern itself. First, a number belongs to one object forever. If an object is later removed from the collection, its number is retired, never handed to something new, because old photos, letters and notes still refer to it. Second, write the number on or with the object in a way that will survive, and keep a label or tag attached. A number that exists only in a database is easy to lose when a box is moved.

If you already have numbers from an older system, keep them. Renumbering a collection that people have referred to for decades creates confusion for no gain.

Capture the minimum, then build up

The reason many cataloging projects stall is that the first record feels like it must be perfect. It does not. A usable first record needs only a name. Everything else can be filled in over time, and volunteers can add records without knowing the whole discipline.

A good order for building a record, from most to least urgent:

• Name: a plain description of what it is, in words a stranger would use.
• Number: the permanent identifier, written on the object or its tag.
• Photo: one clear picture is worth a paragraph of description. Add more angles later.
• Location: exactly where it is today, down to the shelf or box.
• Source: who it came from, when, and under what terms.
• Description and story: measurements, materials, dates, and what people remember about it.
• Condition: a first honest assessment, with a note on anything fragile.

Record where things are, and every time they move

Location is the most common thing small museums lose track of. Think of storage as a hierarchy: site, building, room, shelf, and box if you use them. Every object should sit at the lowest level you can name. When something moves, whether to an exhibit, to a conservator or to a different shelf, the old location and the new one both belong in the record, with the date.

MuseumBuild organizes locations as a hierarchy of site, building, room and shelf, and every move is recorded permanently. That means you can always answer two questions: where is it now, and where has it been? Whatever tool you use, build the habit that no object moves without the record being updated in the same breath. Put the update on the same checklist as carrying the box.

Photograph, label and make objects findable

A photo and a durable label turn a pile into a collection. When you inventory a room, a practical sequence is to photograph each object, create a quick record, assign it a location, and then produce a list of what the room contains. You are not trying to finish descriptions on the first pass. You are trying to make sure nothing is invisible.

Labels matter because objects outlive the people who remember them. A tag that points back to the record means whoever finds a box in twenty years can identify what is inside. In MuseumBuild every object gets a QR label automatically, printable on demand, and you can link an existing physical code instead if one is already on the item.

Keep it up to date with a routine

A catalog is not finished; it is maintained. The records that stay trustworthy are the ones that have a small, regular rhythm behind them. Build these into your calendar rather than relying on memory:

• Condition checks on a cycle. Give each object a grade and a note, and set shorter cycles for fragile things like textiles, paper and photographs. Six months is a reasonable default for ordinary objects.
• Appraisals as history. When an object is valued, add the new value with the date and who gave it rather than overwriting the old one. The latest is the current estimate; the earlier ones are the history.
• Movement logs. Update the record whenever something is shelved, exhibited, lent or returned.
• Stories as they arrive. When a donor, a relative or a longtime member tells you something, write it down while they are still in the room.
• A periodic review. Once a quarter, look for records with no photo, no location or no source, and fix a few.

Decide what is public, deliberately

Cataloging and publishing are separate acts. Your working records will contain donor names, values and exact storage locations, none of which belong on a public page. Keep the working catalog private by default, and choose individually which objects to share and what name and description to show.

In MuseumBuild, new museums start private by default, and publishing copies only the name, description and photos to the public page. Donor details, values and exact locations are never published, and withdrawing an object removes it from the public page instantly. Imported records also come in private until you choose to publish them.

Moving an existing catalog in

If you already have a spreadsheet or another system, you do not need to retype it. Tidy the columns first: one row per object, one column for the number, one for the name, one for the description. In MuseumBuild, the Import screen takes a CSV file of objects or of contacts, recognizes common column names, lets you check how each column maps before anything is created, and keeps your existing object numbers.

You can also export your catalog at any time, so adopting a tool never locks your records in. Whatever you choose, keep a dated backup copy of your catalog somewhere outside the museum building.

Common questions

Related

• How museum accession numbers work
• Accepting a museum donation properly
• Import your existing records
• Putting your collection online
• All guides