How To Catalog a Tattoo

Some questions to ask:

1. Is it still on the person?

2. Is the person still alive?

3. Is it the design, the placement, the method, the tattooer or the person-as-canvas that we are cataloging?

4. How many points of access do we want before it gets too confusing?

Japanese tattooed men have been known to donate their skin-as-canvas after their death to museums: I'm going to see how they are cataloged there. 

Toyko Medical Museum-Article by Ben Hill

 Probably as works of art.

I looked on WorldCat and found two cataloged tattoos, as well as a record for probably a temporary tattoo:

http://www.worldcat.org/profiles/ephemeraextremus/lists/1720151