[Nhcoll-l] Rehousing specimens and retaining labels

Thu Jun 3 09:56:48 EDT 2021

Hello everyone,

Thank you very kindly for your responses and input!
I do intend to digitize the labels before any final movement of them however, we are also planning to convert our database from Access to Specify in the next year or two. Until we switch into Specify, our photos will be stored on a separate hard drive and won't be attached to the individual records right away. I'm not keen on discarding the labels entirely, as I agree with the notion that digital data remains vulnerable to several sources (e.g., hackers, server failure, human error, etc.), and the curators here are able to recognize the handwriting of previous curators and collectors, as others have noted.

Simon - Organizing the labels into stamp albums is a clever idea! We may do something similar - maybe something like a trading card binder.
Eric - I'm partial to jar-size labels too! I'm hoping to make this my next project after organizing the jars by size.

Lennart - Storing them in alcohol would take up additional space, and if you store multiple labels in a single jar of alcohol, retrieving and returning individual labels becomes a challenge and risks damaging the labels. My vote is to store them in a dry envelope or filing system like Simon suggested.
Has anyone laminated their old/redundant/archived labels? Some of our labels are in poor condition and laminating them may make handling them less hazardous.

Cheers,
Nicki

Nicki L. Seiden, M.Sc.

She/Her/Hers

Research Collection Manager

Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute

nseiden at fau.edu<mailto:hmcqueen at fau.edu>

________________________________
From: William Poly <wpoly at calacademy.org>
Sent: Thursday, June 3, 2021 6:44 AM
To: Simon Moore <couteaufin at btinternet.com>
Cc: Nicole Seiden <nseiden at fau.edu>; NHCOLL-new <nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu>
Subject: Re: [Nhcoll-l] Rehousing specimens and retaining labels

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And multiple backups of all digital data would be useful.  As others noted, the original labels contain useful info and should be saved.

On Thu, Jun 3, 2021 at 4:06 AM Simon Moore <couteaufin at btinternet.com<mailto:couteaufin at btinternet.com>> wrote:
At the Natural History Museum in London we mounted all old / redundant labels into stamp albums with Mylar strips. This was to preserve handwritings of former curators and conservators, also some historic labels.  I was unsure about relying entirely on digital data system to keep this vital resource but that in the days when data systems could be hacked and injected with erasure viruses. However, it left an impression with me which is why I’m still rather sceptical about trusting all of my vital data to the computer!

With all good wishes, Simon

Simon Moore MIScT, RSci, FLS, ACR
Conservator of Natural Sciences and Cutlery Historian,

https://avanan.url-protection.com/v1/url?o=www.natural-history-conservation.com&g=ZDU5ZDg0OWM3Mjk4Mzk4MQ==&h=OTgyN2JkMjJkNTU0Y2QxOTBkZWFiYjg0OTljZTVkNTg2MDU1ZDRiNjk5OTZhYmJhZTg4NzI4ZDdkZTliODcyYQ==&p=YXAzOmNhbGFjYWRlbXk6YXZhbmFuOmc6NGE4ZjQyZGUyZWRkYzUwOWU0NDBjZWEyYTAwYzY5Yjc6djE=

> On 2 Jun 2021, at 18:03, Nicole Seiden <nseiden at fau.edu<mailto:nseiden at fau.edu>> wrote:
>
> Hello everyone,
>
> We are about to begin a major reorganization project here at Harbor Branch to conserve on space and allow for future growth. One part to this project includes rehousing wet specimens into smaller size-appropriate jars, with our smallest jar being 20mL scintillation vials, then barcoding and organizing the jars by size. I’ve run into a dilemma with this however, and I wanted to ask the community for suggestions.
>
> Specimens housed in 20mL vials are currently stored in larger 8 oz jars so the handwritten collection label and printed label (2”x 3”) are housed with the specimen. By removing the 8 oz jars though, we can save a substantial amount of space. For example – we can house more than 5,500 scintillation jars in a single column of shelves, as opposed to ~900 8 oz jars per column. The problem with the small scintillation jars is that the collection labels are too large to store inside of them. While these jars will be barcoded with catalog numbers and unique location, I’m still uncomfortable with removing the internal specimen labels.
>
> One idea is to house these labels in a near-by folder and after this project is completed, printing off new jar-size appropriate labels, possibly with reduced information. The original handwritten labels will likely have to stay in this folder long-term though.
>
> I’m curious if anyone else has tackled this dilemma, or might have ideas on how they would address it if it were their own collection?
>
> Forever curious,
> Nicki
>
>
>
> Nicki L. Seiden, M.Sc.
> She/Her/Hers
> Research Collection Manager
> Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute
> nseiden at fau.edu<mailto:nseiden at fau.edu>
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