[Nhcoll-l] REQUEST FOR OPINIONS: avoiding becoming an orphaned collection.

[Bill Harms]

I have been working as a volunteer curator at a small herbarium on the 
Patuxent Research Refuge for the past 10 years.  It is a reference 
herbarium for the refuge and holds over 5300 specimens from over 1250 taxa.

Right now we are attempting to acquire a new cabinet (a third one) for 
the herbarium and the donor wants to make sure that the herbarium will 
be taken care of in the future. If a small herbarium like the Patuxent 
herbarium has no one to actively work it, what are the pros and cons of 
putting it into a "mothball" status (not literally) until someone can 
start working it again? This could happen if the person who has been 
curating it leaves, passes away suddenly etc, but there is no one to 
take over. My feeling is that "mothballing" a herbarium is a bad idea if 
there is a POC who can give access to outside researchers, and the 
collection is safe and secure.

I am asking this because I am retiring and moving out of state. 
Currently, several volunteers are working the collection and we have 
imaged about 85% of the collection. We were on track to finish imaging 
the collection this year until COVID came along. The volunteers have 
committed to continue to maintain the collection and I will be 
consulting remotely via the internet. I hope to visit the herbarium two 
or three times per year to tie down loose ends.

Yes, I understand that the specimens of a small herbaria like this one 
can be donated another institution.  However, I would like to do what we 
can to make sure it stays on the refuge and only donate it as a last 
resort. And even then, the herbarium should be kept together as a unit.

Any suggestions?

-- 
*Bill Harms*
*Volunteer Project Coordinator/Citizen Botanist*
*Patuxent Research Refuge - PRR*
*Plant Inventory Project - PIP*
*Laurel, Maryland*
botanybill at verizon.net
*BLOG:*/botanybill.info/
*FACEBOOK:* facebook.com/PatuxentPlantSurvey/
*PLANTS OF THE REFUGE PHOTO ALBUM:* 
https://www.flickr.com/photos/11582493@N02/sets/72157676590571301
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