Barcoding

Marsha Maguire <marsham [at] vnw__com> writes

>I work in a new museum that
>is building a multi-format collection.  We were hoping to be able to
>identify the artifacts, sound recordings, prints, photos,
>instruments, etc., with barcodes (which we were planning to affix to
>the items' enclosures--paper or polyester sleeves, acid-free boxes,
>etc.).  We thought we'd use Gaylord's photocomposed barcode labels,
>having our codes preprinted. These are foil-backed, but we're not
>sure if the paper is acid-neutral or not.

I have a further question rather than an answer on this matter. I
work in an archive and we have recently been contemplating the use
of barcodes for the identification of material in our holdings. One
concern with the systems currently available is that a barcode is on
a sticky label of one sort or another. These labels, no matter how
good they are, will tend to fall off in the short to long term. When
this happens we will have lost the identifier for the material and
as far as the system will be concerned, the object will no longer
exist.

I therefore wonder if the technology exists to print the barcode
directly on to a surface, rather than on to a label. Most material
in an archive has a cover or box which is intimately associated with
the object but which is not actually a part of it. If it were
possible to directly print the barcode on the box or cover then it
would never be lost, provided the ink used is permanent, of course.
If the printer were portable, this would be better still.

Ian Batterham
Conservation Officer
Australian Archives
Preservation Services
Australian Archives, National Office
PO Box 34
Dickson  ACT 2602
Australia
+61 6 209 3509
Fax: +61 6 241 7711

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                  Conservation DistList Instance 9:38
                Distributed: Thursday, November 2, 1995
                        Message Id: cdl-9-38-017
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