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You will need a map of all the buildings owned and/or used by your college.
You will also need the support of the maintenance staff, who can open locked
doors in more senses than one.  Work with them to set up a schedule for
surveying each building, including garages, sheds, etc.  Clipboard in hand,
go floor by floor, beginning with the attic and ending in the basement.
Look in every, and I mean every, closet.  (On a previous job, one of the
first things I was asked to do was to inventory the art collection.  After
the project was done, I discovered three paintings stashed at the back of
the closet in my own office!)  While you are at it, keep notes about the
records you'll find "stored"!  Be sure to bring a flashlight.

For your clipboard survey, you could do worse than make up a check sheet.
Use a separate sheet for each object.  First line:  Date Seen, Seen By.
Next, Location:  Building, Floor, Specifics (e.g.:  "in hall opposite room
310"), the Department occupying that turf, and/or the job title of the
person occupying that office.  Next, Category (have boxes to check off):
sculpture, painting, print, photograph, etc.  Note any related objects:
Pedestal, part of a Series, etc.  Next:  Title, if known.  Finally, a short
Description (e.g.:  "painting of Isadora Duncan, dancing", "bust of
Beethoven".) Include space for quick comments about size, condition, names
and phone numbers of people you meet on the way who seem to know something
about the object, etc.

If time permits, you should consider creating a database with more detailed
information such as media, dimensions, artist, date created, provenance,
insured value, etc.  For terminology, I recommend the Art and Architecture
Thesaurus.

By the way, you don't really believe that an inventory will keep things from
disappearing, do you?  And remember that "missing" isn't necessarily "gone".
With your allies in the maintenance dept., you should be able to set up a
procedure that notifies You whenever works of art are officially moved from
one place to another on campus, whether for display or storage.  (On the job
I mentioned, hanging a painting required workers from two different unions.)
Regular re-inventory is the only way to find out about the Unofficial
changes that happen, additions as well as subtractions.  If your institution
has an "Art Committee", get yourself on it!

**********

Laurie Langland
Archivist
Layne Library, Dakota Wesleyan University
1200 W. University Ave.
Mitchell, SD 57301

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