CIDOC Guidelines for Museum Object Information: Part and Component Information Group

This page is part of the International Guidelines for Museum Object Information: The CIDOC Information Categories: a description of the Information Categories that can be used when developing records about the objects in museum collections. For an outline of the Information Groups and Categories in the Guidelines, turn to the introductory list.

Part and Component Information Group

Purpose:

Part and component information supports Security, Accountability, and Access. Without this information it is not possible to maintain proper control of the collections by ensuring that parts of objects are not mislaid or lost, nor is it possible to provide more detailed descriptions of objects for research purposes.

Information categories:

Number of parts or components
Description of parts and components

Examples:

Number of parts or components: 32
Description of parts and components: 8 panels, 16 feet, 8 hangings

Notes:

Where records of an object are held at different levels (e.g., sets, archives, etc., the Part and component information describes the items at the next record level down.
For each collection it must be decided whether to describe each part of an object or set as separate records, or as a single set or object, listing the separate components by name and numbering them.

Number of parts or components

Alternate names:

Amount
Number of items
Quantity

Definition:

The number of physically separated or separable parts of an object or a set of objects described by separate records at the next record level.

Examples:

Move to beginning of Part and component

Description of parts and components

Definition:

A brief description of the physically separated or separable parts of an object or set of objects.

Examples:

For an altarpiece:
2 center panels and 1 left wing

For a tea service:
1 teapot (with lid), 1 sugar bowl, 1 milk jug, 6 cups, and 6 saucers

For a jar of specimens in a life sciences collection:
50 specimens (approximately), 4 species

Notes:

When describing a lot, i.e., an aggregate of specimens in a life sciences or earth sciences collection, provide the approximate number of specimens in the lot. Also include the number of species if appropriate.

Move to beginning of Part and component

Move to outline of the Information Groups and Categories or the next section of the Guidelines, Recorder

file: guidepar.htm; author: CIDOC; updated June 1995