The short inventory number (SIN)

With the short inventory number (SIN) for each document, CALD uses a specific reference that adapts to the requirement of displaying documents in lists and of mass citations: The SIN combines information on place and holding institution, eventually on particular collections within an institution and the inventory number of each specimen.

The SIN consists of three letters for the city, a forth upper-case letter for the institution within that city if required, the fifth underscored letter may then in addition refer either to different collections within an institution or may help to distinguish several institutions. The underscore sign marks the beginning of the inventory number. Any addition in the original inventory number given by the institution (Museum, Library, etc.) are shortened as much as possible. With these conventions applied, the SIN usually does not exceed 6-10 letters and can be easily cited. See explanations for the abbreviations of places, institutions and collections in the reference tables. A check list of documents published in CALD with a short reference to former editions can be found here.

Several notarizations (items) in one material support (manuscript)

The SIN refers to the material object on which documents are written. In order to differentiate between several notarizations written on one object, whether a sheet of paper, a parchment, a scroll, or a booklet, the SIN is followed by a backslash (/) and the number of each item in chronological order. Therefore, JerH_039/1 was written before JerH_039/2 on the same sheet of paper. With only one notarization on the object, no backslash with the number “one” is used, i.e. JerH_30.