Page:The museum, (Jackson, Marget Talbot, 1917).djvu/265

Rh directly on any object but always on a tag or label attached to it.

There is never but one copy of the accessions book. The card catalogue of accessions, however, should be made in duplicate or triplicate according to the size of the museum. It should be kept thoroughly up to date and there should always be a complete copy somewhere outside the museum building in case of accident of any kind, fire, earthquake or other disturbance. One copy should always be in the director's office, another, covering all material in his department, in the office of the curator. A sample card will be found on page 251.

All information should be on the front side of the card. Certain museums use cards of extraordinary size. This is quite unnecessary. The most satisfactory method is always to use standard sizes. The ordinary 4×6 card is quite large enough. It should be without lines, so that it can more easily be used in the typewriter. For this reason also it should be of rather thin board. The custom of mounting a small photograph of the object upon the card is admirable. It makes identification much simpler, and where this is done it also makes a long and detailed description of the object unnecessary. The best museum practice demands that only such facts as cannot be