The accession register and catalogue for a small museum
For the volunteer registrar of a historical society or small museum: number each accession and its objects the way small museums do, add photos and locations, and print the register, labels and receipts. Your records stay on your own computer. Free to start with up to 100 objects.
Nothing to install and no account. Donor names and photos stay in this browser.
Accession register
Millbrook Valley Historical Society, an invented society. Lines 2 to 7 of 7, in number order.
- 2024.1Coles family
- 2024.2Millbrook Grange No. 7
- 2025.1Estate of Walter Hale
- 2025.2Valley Antiques
- 2025.4Dorothy Finch
- 2026.1Pellham family
What the catalogue keeps and prints
- Numbers that stay straight. The next accession and object number is suggested, parts get a and b, and gaps or duplicates are listed so they can be explained in the register rather than found at an inventory.
- The papers a collection needs. One line per accession in the register, a card per object, labels on common label sheets, a receipt for things left in temporary custody, and a condition report filled in from the record.
- Donor names never leave this browser. Names, addresses, photos and locations are stored only here. Save the catalogue file (a zip of your records and photos) after every session and keep a copy off this computer.
How it works
- Add an accession: who it came from, the date it arrived, and how (gift, purchase, bequest, found in collection or transfer). The number is suggested.
- Catalogue each object under it: name, description, maker, date, materials, dimensions, condition, location and photos. Object numbers follow on.
- Print the accession register line, the labels and a catalogue card, and file the paperwork with the accession.
- Save the catalogue file before you close the browser, and keep a copy on a USB stick or in the society's shared drive.
New to accessioning? Start with how to accession museum objects, the accession number format, or all the guides.
Why the catalogue file matters
Browsers keep this catalogue in their own storage, and some (Safari in particular) may clear the storage of a site that has not been visited for a week or so. A catalogue must outlive the browser, so Curatorbook reminds you to save the catalogue file whenever there are changes it does not hold, and asks the browser to keep its storage where the browser allows that.
What it is not
- Curatorbook keeps records; it is not legal advice. It ships no deed of gift or other legal form, and it does not certify that your procedures meet any published standard.
- It has no deed of gift form: title transfer is a legal document your board or attorney should approve. The guides explain what one covers.
- It is not a public online collection or a multi-user server system; it is one registrar's catalogue, kept and backed up by you.
- Curatorbook is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to any museum, association, standards body or software vendor, including the Collections Trust (Spectrum), the American Alliance of Museums, the American Association for State and Local History, the National Park Service, PastPerfect, CatalogIt, MUSARCH, CollectiveAccess and Omeka.