Inventory

Do you have an inventory of your music therapy materials?

It is a tool that can be invaluable if disaster ever happens. I have a partial inventory, and I think that I will focus on making my inventory more complete this year. The first of the month may be a good time to update the inventory, so I will work on that this morning.

I have an inventory of instruments. It is not complete, but I did arrange for storage a couple of years ago, and I counted everything at that point, so I only have to add the instruments that I have purchased at conferences over the past two years to make that more complete.

My problem?

Oh, I have way too many books of music, visual aids, file folder activities, children's books, and other types of resources that are not listed on the inventory as of yet. Listing these things will take time, but it will be worth it in the long run.

I use a simple Excel document to track my inventory. I list the name of the instrument, the type of material it is, whether I received it in new or used condition, and the location where I've stored it. I can pull up the inventory, search for a specific name or type of resource, and Bam! There's the listing!! It makes finding materials so much easier!

I also use my inventory listing to inform my check-out system. I copy the name of the instrument and the storage location columns from the inventory and then I use the database to indicate when I remove those things for use in sessions. (This is not something I have to do very often anymore, but it was a LIFESAVER when I was an itinerant therapist with two interns.) I put the date that I remove something from storage in the next column over and then I remove that date when I replace it. This helps me remember how many things I take with me to various locations, and it also helps me identify when things go missing.

I am going to put some of my books onto my inventory this morning before I go out to do some holiday shopping for my family. I'll start with whatever book I choose for tomorrow's Song Conversion Sunday post and then go from there.

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