SI grad student Chris Monroe worked at the Smithsonian Institution's Museum Support Center during Spring Break 2001 to inventory and catalog Mesopotamian cylinder seals and seal impressions.

In preparation for data migration into a new database management system, Chris's work involved data verification and enrichment. His first step was to check that the quantities and the quality of artifacts matched the records. Chris, who recently earned a PhD in Near Eastern Studies, drew on his knowledge of Mesopotamian language and civilization to add information on dating and provenance to the existing limited information in the records. Additonally, he checked accession records and a card catalog for missing information.

In addition to working through over 700 records, he visited the Natural History Museum itself to see how similar artifacts are being displayed. At weeks end, Chris presented the Museum with an annotated printout of the old database that will be used to enter verified records into a new database management system.

He continues to correspond with Anthropology lab supervisor, James Krakker, on aspects of the database.

Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History
http://www.mnh.si.edu/