It has been a long time since any posting got as much response as the
     Munsell Color Charts one.  They are near and dear to my heart, so want
     to get my two-cents worth in as well.
 
     As we all know by now there are several Munsell color charts.  The
     ones for soils, by the way, can be kept clean by laminating them in
     plastic or, if that is too permanent, put them in a zip-lock bag or
     use one of those vacuum food sealers that are advertised on TV. Then
     there are the glossy and matte chips for use with just about anything
     else.
 
     Working a lot with glass beads, I find that knowing the exact Munsell
     value range for a specific bead variety lets me get a lot better grasp
     on what is in a specific collection when it comes to inter-site
     comparisons.  There have been several instances where I thought I had
     good matches on paper with people using terms like "deep blue," "dark
     blue" and so on.  When I finally got to see the beads up close &
     personal, there were actually No matches at all!
 
     Munsell is the preferred scientific community's color standard.  It is
     also very expensive.  Consequently I have sought an inexpensive
     substitute for some time and there are two that I would recommend
     because they display a wide range of colors and are also widely
     available:
 
     "The Pantone Textile Color Guide -- Paper Edition" with 1,701 colors
     arranged in a fan format.  Costs $99 the last I heard from Pantone,
     Inc., 55 Knickerbocker Rd., Moonachie, NJ 07074-9988.  tel:
     201-935-5500.  They also have offices in England and Hong Kong.  There
     are several other Pantone fans and color charts as well but this is
     the ideal one.  At some point I will sit down and figure out Munsell
     equivalents for these so the two systems may be tied together.
 
     The other possibility is the "Pantone Book of Color" by Leatrice
     Eiseman and Lawrence Herbert; publ. by Harry N. Abrams, New York,
     1990.  It is only about $30 but is in a book format which is not easy
     to use when trying to figure out exactly what color you have.  The
     back of the title page states: "This book is not intended for use in
     professional technical color specification," and states that for that
     you should get the textile fan.  However, for archaeological/material
     culture research purposes it will suffice.  It is certainly a far
     sight better than a box of Crayons!
 
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     Parks Canada, Material Culture Research