Documenting Your Collections
Info-Muse Network Documentation Guide

Les guides électroniques de la SMQ

Current Condition Date (Physical Description)

Field used for ethnology and history collectionsField used for fine and decorative arts collectionsField used for science and technology collectionsField used for archaeology collections (object data and site data)Field used for natural science collections

Definition:

  • This field contains the date on which the current condition of the object was determined.

Observation:

  • This field is used in conjunction with the Current Condition field.
    Example

    An object assessed on July 14, 1992 and declared to be in excellent condition

     Current Condition excellent
    Current Condition Date 1992-07-14

Entry rules:

  1. Enter the date in the form YYYY dash MM dash DD, in numbers only (Y for "year," M for "month," D for "day").
    Example

     Current Condition good
    Current Condition Date 1992-04-09
  2. This field may contain multiple entries separated by a semicolon followed by a space. To keep an audit trail of the condition of the object, each entry in the Current Condition Date field should correspond to an entry in the Current Condition field.
    Example

    A textile fragment, assessed on May 23, 1981, was declared to be in excellent condition. A new assessment on March 26, 1990 showed that it had deteriorated considerably.

      Object Name textile fragment
     Current Condition poor; excellent
    Current Condition Date 1990-03-26; 1981-05-23
  3. If the Current Condition field is blank, the Current Condition Date field should also remain blank.
  4. If you have undated assessments in your files, enter the most recent possible assessment date, followed by a space and the abbreviation "P" for "prior to."
    Example

    The documentation record indicates that the object is in poor condition, but is undated. You know that no one has added information to the record since the end of 1991.

     Current Conditionpoor
    Current Condition Date 1991-12-31 P
  5. If you are unsure whether your information is correct, include a space and a question mark after the date.
    Example

    An object, probably assessed on September 23, 1979, was declared to be in poor condition.

     Current Conditionpoor
    Current Condition Date 1979-09-23 ?

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