Lesson Summary Key points to remember: A simple and streamlined approach to record-keeping works best. . Maintain donor contact information in your donor files. . Collection files should contain completed accession forms and appropriate supporting documentation such as inventories. . You may want to consider a more complex filing system. . Be sure you can cross reference all segments of your files. No matter how simple or complex your documentation filing system, it is vital that you maintain the appropriate information about your collections. As years go by, and staff changes, and more collections are added, you will rely on these records to manage and understand your collections.

Whatever tools you choose to use, keep your information about your collections up to date.