[Nhcoll-l] slide storage questions

Tue Feb 14 18:25:21 EST 2023

Hi Esther,

Don't worry about hijacking, we have paraffin blocks too! Which right now we store in HDPE tubes within glass jars (when the blocks are small) or simply dry in glass jars when the specimens are larger...but we don't have many so storage efficiency hasn't been an issue. I too would love to know of other people's experiences/thoughts.

Cheers,

Tonya

From: Nhcoll-l <nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu> On Behalf Of Langan, Esther
Sent: Wednesday, 15 February 2023 1:44 AM
To: nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu
Subject: Re: [Nhcoll-l] slide storage questions

Hi all,

This is a great conversation, especially because In the near(ish) future our division and the fish division will begin this endeavor with our histology collections. The thing we will grapple with most, however, is long-term storage of associated paraffin blocks. Does anyone have good suggestions for these collections, or has anyone already cracked this nut? I've not looked recently into this storage issue, but years ago the only things I encountered were flimsy plastic or cardboard storage boxes with drawers used by the medical industry.

Tonya, sorry to partially hijack your query, but hoping this related question will be useful to you as well!

Best,

Esther

Esther M. Langan (she/hers)
Acting Collection Manager
Division of Amphibians & Reptiles
tel 301.238.1057  langane at si.edu<mailto:lastnamefirstinit at si.edu>
https://naturalhistory.si.edu/research/amphibians-reptiles

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From: Nhcoll-l <nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu<mailto:nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu>> On Behalf Of Lazo-Wasem, Eric
Sent: Tuesday, February 14, 2023 9:12 AM
To: Haff, Tonya (NCMI, Crace) <Tonya.Haff at csiro.au<mailto:Tonya.Haff at csiro.au>>; nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu<mailto:nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu>
Subject: Re: [Nhcoll-l] slide storage questions

External Email - Exercise Caution
Hi Tonya,

I am sure you  have heard enough already, but I will throw in my thoughts having addressed the situation recently.  We received two grants grant to clean, rehouse, and digitize nearly 50,000 slides amassed over more than 150 years.  In fact, some were made from European specimens in the 1850s, and ours were housed in every conceivable type of slide trays or boxes.  Slides ranged from cardboard (with fragment mounts), plastics (paleo thin sections) and glass (whole mounts, appendages, thin and thick sections). Most of the pre-1900 slides were in filthy wooden boxes that had been in the basement of out museum since the 1920s.  Here is what I have learned from all this:

To handle variable slides, we purchased trays with tabs that house 1" x 3", 2" x 3", and for the odd sizes no tabs (plastic or magnetic dividers can isolate slides to keep from moving).

Only balsam stood the test of time as a mounting medium. Glycerin and glycerin jelly routinely failed no matter how well sealed, synthetic medium such as Permount crystallizes even in good storage conditions, and lactic acid based mountants will continue to clear until the specimen is only visible with DIC microscopy.

Slides can be cleaned with DO or distilled water using a swab. We had an army of students paid to do this under the watchful eye of a conservator.

Slides stored any way other than flat in a tray will creep over time.

Wooden boxes or slide cabinets not only off-gas, but create huge problems with dust and dirt, often by erosion as slides or trays are withdrawn. Not seemingly a problem at first, but use these for 50 years or more and the residual dirt is considerable. Plastic boxes can work well, but they must be marked carefully - I can't tell you how many times I have seen box opened wrong and 100 slides fall from their slots in a terrible mess - I have done this myself!

When available, resources permitting, cabinets with powder coated finishes, including the slide trays, work well.

To get away from the traditional problem of labelling, especially when there is no room left on the slide, we printed a 1" x 3" (or 2" x 3") label with all relevant data and placed it under the slide (slides held in place with tabs, so nothing can slip). This was especially helpful in the case of type slides (thousands) were we can instantly see the relevant citation history, etc. without first consulting the database.

Lastly, we use storage codes for our cube slide cabinets, referencing cabinet (we have 27 that hold up to 2400 slides each) and tray number. With the labelling indicated above, it is easy to find a particular slide or slides as needed.

Best, Eric

Eric A. Lazo-Wasem, Senior Collections Manager

Division of Invertebrate Zoology

Peabody Museum of Natural History

Yale University

170 Whitney Avenue

New Haven, CT 06520

(203) 432-3784

________________________________
From: Nhcoll-l <nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu<mailto:nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu>> on behalf of Haff, Tonya (NCMI, Crace) <Tonya.Haff at csiro.au<mailto:Tonya.Haff at csiro.au>>
Sent: Monday, February 13, 2023 7:22 PM
To: nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu<mailto:nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu> <nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu<mailto:nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu>>
Subject: [Nhcoll-l] slide storage questions

Hello all,

I wonder if any of you have experience with archival microscope slide storage - I have a few long-term slide storage questions. We have a lot of histological and other microscope slides that need to be rehoused - for some preferably in boxes and others preferably in slide cabinets.

First, I would love to know people's thoughts on whether or not there a problem with storing slides in slide boxes long-term? I'm talking about the type where the slides are on their edge, not laying flat.  If it is not a problem, is it acceptable to use polystyrene boxes in this case? They seem to be the only ones I can (easily) find online, but I know that polystyrene is not an archival material. I also have slides that are stored flat in boxes, but they too need to be rehoused because of a problem with mould growing in the cardboard boxes they're in.

This leads me to also ask if any of you have good references or suggestions for the best way to transfer slides from boxes into slide cabinets? Or more to the point, what is the best way to manage the data about each slide, which is often written on a piece of paper or cardboard in the slide box itself? I see this as a both risky and time consuming part of rehousing the slides.

Finally, we have slides of different sizes - a standard side and an extra wide size. Do any of you have thoughts on if there is an ideal way (or an ideal box) to house such slides?

Your thoughts and advise would be, as usual, very welcome.

Cheers,

Tonya

-------------------------------------------------

Dr. Tonya M. Haff

Collection Manager

Australian National Wildlife Collection

CSIRO

+61(0)419569109

https://www.csiro.au/en/about/facilities-collections/collections/anwc<https://nam02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.csiro.au%2Fen%2Fabout%2Ffacilities-collections%2Fcollections%2Fanwc&data=05%7C01%7Clangane%40si.edu%7C468edea468934baecc0808db0e957e82%7C989b5e2a14e44efe93b78cdd5fc5d11c%7C0%7C0%7C638119807467984715%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=St37%2F5Bg9pPiwuGzbhMX5Rm37u%2BCVLaRgJVuLnssPY0%3D&reserved=0>

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