Roberta,

 "No one else seems to care that in twenty years I am going to have two sets
of blocks and slides with the same number hence the problem I no longer have
unique numbers." (ACTUALLY 3 SETS !!!!)

This is assuming that you first started accessioning with the present system
in 1920.  The best accessioning system in non calender year dependent, but
rather consecutive numbers transcending calendar year.  This raises a very
important point.  In the year 2050, when a pathologist simply asks for a
retrospective recut on case 30-12345, will you cut 1930-12345 or 2030-12345
?
If a slide is accidently left out on a benchtop in a filing area (and you
know it happens) where would you file 30-12345 ?  With consecutive numbering
you would not have this problem.

My suggestions to your problem would be:

1.  insist that zero be allowed in the first 2 fields of your label.
someone has known that this was going to be a problem and it should have
been addressed before now.

2.  since #1 above will probably not happen, because they don't want to
change the hard code of the program, can you leave the first two fields
(year prefix) blank?  if so, then buy pre-printed labels with the correct
year.

3. if #1 or #2 won't work, go ahead and use the crappy fix they suggest, but
tell them you want a different color ink for printing for the first 9 years.
you could use color to differentiate.


Good Luck !!!!!

Rob

-----Original Message-----
From: Roberta Horner [mailto:rjr6@psu.edu]
Sent: January 05, 2000 9:29 AM
To: Histonet
Subject: specimen numbering


The lab here has created what I consider a serious problem and I would like
to know if others out there confronted and solved it.

Our numbering system is the last two digits of the year and a 5 digit
number.  The computer will not accept a number starting with 00, so our
computer committee in their wisdom decided to us the first and last digit
for the beginning of the accession number i.e. 20.  The problem comes in
twenty years when we will again be using 20 as the first digits.  No one
else seems to care that in twenty years I am going to have two sets of
blocks and slides with the same number hence the problem I no longer have
unique numbers.

Does any one else's lab have this problem and what are you doing about it?
Any and all suggestions are welcome.  I may or may not be here at that time
but I really don't want to leave problems for someone else.

Thanks very much
Roberta Horner HT
Animal Diagnostic Lab
Penn State University