What is an accession number?
Accession numbers are unique identifiers for reports in our database, and are provided in the CDRH acknowledgement letters. An accession number facilitates communication about specific reports because all parties can use the accession number to identify the document being discussed. Additionally, FDA imports personnel use accession numbers to confirm that a manufacturer has, at a minimum, complied with the reporting requirements for the product being imported.
Museums keep track of donated items by assigning each artifact a unique number called an accessions number. It is made up of three banks of numbers: FIRST NUMBER is the year in which the donation was made SECOND NUMBER is the number of the donation made in that year (it starts over again in a new year with one) THIRD NUMBER is given to each unique item in that donation So… Say someone brings in a donation of two pairs of shoes, one dress, and a cast iron frying pan in 2008. And 25 people already came in the door with donations this year. This is how the accession numbers would be assigned: 2008.26.1 Shoes 2008.26.2 Shoes 2008.26.3 Dress 2008.26.4 Frying Pan This donation would be the 26th donation made in 2008, and there are four items within that donation, each assigned a number 1 through 4. When numbering the artifacts, curators usually assign A & B to items that belong together in a set. Which means one shoe would say 2008.26.1A and the other would say 2008.26.1B. These numbers ar
