Accessioning

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. The act of formally receiving and recording new items into a library, archive, or museum collection
2. A procedure in which newly acquired objects are documented and included in an institutional inventory
3. The official process of accepting and registering new materials as part of a curated collection

Etymology: The verb "accessioning" is the present participle of "accession," and its history runs through the idea of approaching or arriving. The Latin "accēdere" combined "ad-" ("to") with "cēdere" ("to go, move"), so it meant to go toward something or come near. From it came the noun "accessio," meaning an approach, an addition, or an increase, which English took over in the mid-1600s as "accession," first attested in 1646. That sense of something arriving and being added explains the modern meaning. An accession was originally an addition to something already held, and by extension came to mean a new item joining a collection. Accessioning is the careful process of recording that arrival, so each new object is documented and entered into the institution's inventory.