Accession Numbers

Odyssey accession numbers consist of five parts. 

  1. The first part is an optional collection ID. This field supports up to 4 alphanumeric characters.
  2. The second part is a four-digit number that designates the year the object was acquired.
  3. The third part is a unique one-to-eight-character alphanumeric value assigned sequentially through the year for each object or group of objects from a single source.
  4. The fourth part is a unique one-to-eight-character alphanumeric value assigned sequentially to each individual object within a given year and group of objects from a single source.
  5. The fifth part is an optional two-to-eight-character alphanumeric value.


When determining the format for your museum's accession numbers:

  1. Avoid shortening the year to only two digits, as we anticipate that most museums will endure for more than a century. This practice can also create confusion; for instance, should '64.68' be interpreted as the year 1964 or 1968?
  2. Refrain from positioning the year component at the end, as this can pose challenges for computerized record sorting. The correct format is 1991.5 rather than 91.5 or 5.1991 or 5.91.
  3. Do not utilize the entry number as an accession number, as this can result in discontinuities in the accession number sequence when loans and identifications are returned. Not every object entering the museum is destined to become a part of the long-term collections.
  4. Avoid prefixing the object number with '0'. The appropriate format is 1991.5 rather than 1991.05.


Accessions

Click the Accession button in Odyssey to view and update accession records. You are then presented with a list of all your accession records. The accession record name, unique ID, and a number of other fields are available for viewing and sorting. Three action icons, labeled view, edit, and delete, are available. (You may need to scroll right if using a small computer monitor.)


List of accession records


Click the Add Accession button in the top left corner to add a new accession record. The new accession record template appears as a result. Clicking the Import Accessions button will lead you to the ingest files screen where you can import an accession.




New accession record template.


Within each accession record, Odyssey provides fields to capture accession related information. Basic information includes the title, source or giver, unique identification, and an acknowledgment line. Assign a special number to your accession record. Odyssey automatically assigns a number to each record, but you can change this to reflect the organization of the accession records at your institution. Odyssey also lets you know if the entry you made for an accession number is still valid. Click the Save button in the top right corner once you have completed generating the accession record.


Import Accessions


When starting a new accession import, Odyssey will prompt you to name your accessions import.


After entering a name, click Start in the Name Import overlay. The import has the chosen name, and import files are generated. The screen for ingesting files is displayed.

Please follow the instructions below while ingesting an import sheet:

  • For each sheet, click the pencil icon.

  • Enter the data you want to import into your import sheet.

  • To ingest a sheet after you are finished with it, click the upload icon.

  • Click Continue to the next stage after importing all the sheets.


Your import sheet opens in a new tab after a confirmation overlay when the edit control is clicked. Note: rows can be added but columns should never be edited/added.


The begin ingesting the import sheet, click the Upload control button. Import progress is displayed via a progress bar. Following the completion of all imports, you are taken to the Correct Errors stage. 


On the Correct Errors stage, the interface displays up to 100 errors per page at the rectification step, and there are buttons to filter errors by kind and conceal finished errors. The various types of errors are divided. The repair is already performed to errors matching a correction on a completed error screen. Error dispositions with a second right-arrow indicator next to them have been chosen for worldwide application. (Note that if you switch to a different browser or account, Odyssey won't remember your corrections because they are tied to your web browser session.)


A list of templates in the import is displayed on the Upload Digital Asset stage of the page, along with a status indicator and a link to Upload Files. Accessions will serve as the page's sole "template."

Additionally, when you click Upload Files for a template, you are directed to the Upload Files page for Accessions.


Use the template Upload Digital Assets for "Accessions" to add one or more files. The file name will vanish from the list at left after a brief success indicator if the file name matches one that was supplied in the import sheet. By uploading one or more files that have the same file name over many rows in the same import sheet as well as across multiple rows in other import sheets. As mentioned previously, all asset references that match the file name in any import sheets included in the import should be matched with the file. The list of assets on the left side of the screen should no longer contain any references to the file name.


The Upload Digital Assets index page will reload after you click "Complete with this media type." 

Complete import by clicking on the finish button.