[NHCOLL-L:5297] Re: Sealing wet collection jars
Dirk Neumann
Dirk.Neumann at zsm.mwn.de
Thu Feb 24 02:56:07 EST 2011
Yes, I agree, this was a very fruitful discussion, thank you all for
your comments!
Just want to add that Parafilm sealing of glasses with greased ground
flange closures (see at http://www.museumjars.com/, jar type 3) doesn't
work at all as Parafilm is not stable against the grease and will
deteriorate to a sticky slime soon.
The idea of Erik Ahlander was nice also - think they have the same
problem as we have: various types of non standardised glasses with
crumbling / cracking PE or PVC snap on lids originally acquired in the
early 1990ies. Especially glasses with small volumina have a high risk
of drying out completely in one year. A replacement (glass & lid) costs
around 0.50 EUR (pharmaceutical glass with standardised PE -lid
including PE-liner inside). This might be a bit more expensive then
taping a broken lid, but if replaced one by one the costs should
foreseeable.
At least this is what we do - if you include the amount of alcohol
needed for replacement for the evaporation losses, this will pay off in
short time. When I started here in 1999, we had to replace yearly
evaporation losses of approx. 400 L (for 30 000 glasses) in the fish
collection and now have dropped to approx. 100 L for 40 000 glasses
every two years. This saves roughly 800 EUR p.a. (~ 1020 U$) which is
e.g. 1600 new glasses (75 ml to 200 ml) ;-)
All the best
Dirk
Am 23.02.2011 19:32, schrieb John E Simmons:
> This has been an interesting discussion with some very good advice
> offered all around. Bear in mind that although the most obvious issue
> here is preservative evaporating from jars, the underlying issue is
> one of collections management and cost-effective solutions. I would
> like to offer the caution that there there is no single solution that
> is best for everyone.
>
> If you have the resources to replace the undesirable closures with the
> reliable polypropylene lids with teflon or polyethylene foam liners as
> advocated by Andy, that is a great solution, especially if you can
> standardize container sizes in the process. In the long run, that is
> a very good, effective use of collection care resources, particularly
> if the jars in the collection are opened frequently as those in Andy's
> collection are (due to the volume of research use his collection
> has). On the other hand, if you don't have the resources to replace
> the lids, and/or the jars are not opened as frequently, Judith's
> advice to use SPEC tape is excellent (I have used the SPEC tape
> applied as Judith describes with extremely satisfactory results).
>
> In summary--for some collections, it will be more cost-effective in
> the long run to replace lids and jars; for other collections, it will
> be more cost effective in the short run and probably the long run as
> well to enhance the seals with SPEC tape.
>
> Bear in mind also that not everyone has access to the polypropylene
> lids that Andy describes. I have worked with collections in Europe
> and in Latin America in countries in which the polypropylene lids are
> only available as an expensive import item, far beyond the resources
> available in the museum. Particularly in Latin America, where most
> jar lids are made of low-quality polyvinylchoride (PVC), such measures
> as using a layer of parafilm or a sheet of polyethylene film to
> enhance the closures are the most cost-effective in both the short run
> and the long run.
>
> We all have limited collection care resources, and it is important to
> consider the best way to expend those resources taking into account
> the materials that are available, the cost of the materials, the cost
> of the personnel time necessary to implement the improvement, and the
> improvements effectiveness in the long run. One size does not fit all.
>
> --John
>
> John E. Simmons
> Museologica
> 128 E. Burnside Street
> Bellefonte, Pennsylvania 16823-2010
> simmons.johne at gmail.com <mailto:simmons.johne at gmail.com>
> 303-681-5708
> www.museologica.com <http://www.museologica.com>
> and
> Adjunct Curator of Collections
> Earth and Mineral Science Museum & Art Gallery
> Penn State University
> University Park, Pennsylvania
>
>
> On Wed, Feb 23, 2011 at 12:01 PM, Ashley Henderson
> <AshleyH at cctexas.com <mailto:AshleyH at cctexas.com>> wrote:
>
> Thanks everyone for the suggestions! It's so great to have so
> many knowledgeable people out there! I have read that the
> Bakelite lids are an issue. Unfortunately, this is only one of
> several types of lids in the collection. There are also several
> variations of jars. I would like to standardize the entire
> collection at some point. But for now, it will be the cheaper tape.
> Ashley
>
> From: Ashley Henderson <AshleyH at cctexas.com
> <mailto:AshleyH at cctexas.com><mailto:AshleyH at cctexas.com
> <mailto:AshleyH at cctexas.com>>>
> Reply-To: <AshleyH at cctexas.com
> <mailto:AshleyH at cctexas.com><mailto:AshleyH at cctexas.com
> <mailto:AshleyH at cctexas.com>>>
> Date: Tue, 22 Feb 2011 16:45:54 -0600
> To: "NHCOLL-L at lists.yale.edu
> <mailto:NHCOLL-L at lists.yale.edu><mailto:NHCOLL-L at lists.yale.edu
> <mailto:NHCOLL-L at lists.yale.edu>>" <NHCOLL-L at lists.yale.edu
> <mailto:NHCOLL-L at lists.yale.edu><mailto:NHCOLL-L at lists.yale.edu
> <mailto:NHCOLL-L at lists.yale.edu>>>
> Subject: [NHCOLL-L:5277] Sealing wet collection jars
>
> Hi Everyone,
>
> I am searching for a supply to seal the jar lids in our wet
> collection. I purchased polypropylene sealing tape that is
> advertised for use with wet collections. However, it has proven
> about as effective as wrapping scotch tape around the lids. The
> lids were previously sealed with what appears to be very thin
> paraffin wax that came in tape form. However, I cannot find this
> supply. This link has an uploaded picture of the wax/tape
> substance http://i.imgur.com/uZUlM.jpg Does anyone out there have
> any ideas on this or another way of sealing the lids? Whatever I
> use must go on the exterior of the jars because many of the jars
> have a plug type lid. Thanks in advance!
>
>
>
> Ashley Henderson
>
> Collection Manager
> Corpus Christi Museum of Science and History
> www.ccmuseum.com <http://www.ccmuseum.com>
> (361) 826-4659
>
>
> Visit us on Facebook!
> Discover La Belle at www.corpuschristimuseumlabelle.blogspot.com
> <http://www.corpuschristimuseumlabelle.blogspot.com><http://www.corpuschristimuseumlabelle.blogspot.com/>
>
>
>
--
Dirk Neumann
Tel: 089 / 8107-111
Fax: 089 / 8107-300
email: Dirk.Neumann(a)zsm.mwn.de
Postanschrift:
Staatliche Naturwissenschaftliche Sammlungen Bayerns
Zoologische Staatssammlung München
Dirk Neumann, Sektion Ichthyologie / DNA-Labor
Münchhausenstr. 21
81247 München
Besuchen Sie unsere Sammlung:
http://www.zsm.mwn.de/ich/
---------
Dirk Neumann
Tel: +49-89-8107-111
Fax: +49-89-8107-300
email: Dirk.Neumann(a)zsm.mwn.de
postal address:
Bavarian Natural History Collections
The Bavarian State Collection of Zoology
Dirk Neumann, Section Ichthyology / DNA-Lab
Muenchhausenstr. 21
81247 Munich (Germany)
Visit our section at:
http://www.zsm.mwn.de/ich/
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://mailman.yale.edu/mailman/private/nhcoll-l/attachments/20110224/c1bf7e6d/attachment.html
More information about the Nhcoll-l
mailing list