A display label identifies an object in a few lines. Later, its online catalogue entry includes alternative terms, several dates and a cautious note about attribution. The longer record may complicate your first impression without necessarily contradicting the label.
When researching an everyday manufactured object, compare the two texts as presentations with different space and purpose. Neither should automatically erase the other.
Match the object before comparing wording
Start with an accession or object number where one is supplied. Similar-looking objects can share a short title. A photograph, material description and dimensions can provide further checks, but a familiar title alone is a weak match.
Save the date on which you read the online entry and identify the label’s context. Was it in a permanent display, a temporary exhibition or a photograph of an older installation? If you cannot establish that, keep the uncertainty in your note.
Compare one field at a time
Write the short label’s wording next to the corresponding catalogue field. A label might use a broad date while the catalogue records a range or a qualification. Preserve words such as “probably,” “attributed to” and “associated with”; they are part of the claim.
An invented example helps: “Workshop chair, 1930s” is shorter than a record describing a chair attributed to a workshop and dated approximately 1930–1940. The two descriptions invite a closer look at the dating and attribution, not an immediate accusation of error.
Let the difference become a question
If a material or maker really differs, record both statements and look for an explanation or revision history. Do not combine them into a new description that neither source supports. A useful enquiry identifies the object number and asks about the specific difference.
Our guide to useful museum-record details can help you build the comparison. Finish your own caption at a length suited to its purpose, but retain the fuller source note nearby. A short label can be readable without becoming more certain than the evidence behind it.