[Nhcoll-l] Shelf depth for EtOH jar collections

Wed Feb 15 14:57:44 EST 2023

Hi All,

We updated our Herpetology Collection shelving several years ago and opted to decrease depth from 18" (457 mm) to 15" (381 mm). This was largely based on the fact that the 15" depth could accommodate two of our largest sized jar (gallon) shelved one in front of the other, whereas the deeper shelves did not add sufficient depth to add a third, so the additional 3" felt a bit like "lost space." This, combined with the fact that deeper shelves tend to hamper visual monitoring, as well as the gained aisle space provided by 15" shelves - which can now accommodate a wheelchair and large cart - tipped the scale towards a narrowed footprint.

Note that slim profile static shelves should be bracketed to walls or to one another back-to-back to reduce tip risk. We also added earthquake bars (photo attached).

Cheers,
Emily

Emily Braker
Vertebrate Collections Manager, Zoology Section
University of Colorado Museum of Natural History
265 UCB, Bruce Curtis Building
Boulder, CO 80309-0218
Phone: 303-492-8466
http://www.colorado.edu/cumuseum/research-collections/vertebrates

From: Nhcoll-l <nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu> On Behalf Of Callomon,Paul
Sent: Wednesday, February 15, 2023 12:13 PM
To: John E Simmons <simmons.johne at gmail.com>; Rob Robins <rhrobins at flmnh.ufl.edu>
Cc: Hendrickson Dean <deanhend at austin.utexas.edu>; nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu
Subject: Re: [Nhcoll-l] Shelf depth for EtOH jar collections

In the SPNHC paper, I discussed this very point. Closed trays are a no-no as they trap alcohol. Ours do not; they have broadly open corners that drain front and back in four places, sending spilled alcohol to the floor in a very efficient way by not cascading it through multiple tiers of shelving (and thus allowing more time and space for evaporation, the most dangerous aspect of a spill) but instead sending it to the drains by the most direct route. I did nevertheless point out that some fire codes might require the trays to have perforations in their bases too.

We designed this system with these factors in mind, not in ignorance of them. It is far safer in every respect than individual containers on shelves.

Paul Callomon
Collection Manager, Malacology and General Invertebrates
________________________________
Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University
1900 Benjamin Franklin Parkway, Philadelphia PA 19103-1195, USA
prc44 at drexel.edu<mailto:prc44 at drexel.edu> Tel 215-405-5096 - Fax 215-299-1170

From: Nhcoll-l <nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu<mailto:nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu>> On Behalf Of John E Simmons
Sent: Wednesday, February 15, 2023 1:52 PM
To: Rob Robins <rhrobins at flmnh.ufl.edu<mailto:rhrobins at flmnh.ufl.edu>>
Cc: Hendrickson Dean <deanhend at austin.utexas.edu<mailto:deanhend at austin.utexas.edu>>; nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu<mailto:nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu>
Subject: Re: [Nhcoll-l] Shelf depth for EtOH jar collections

External.
I believe that one of Paul's messages inadvertently did not go to nhcoll-l, so I have reposted it below, along with my response.

The reason that we did not include a tray option in Best Practices in the Preservation and Management of Fluid-Preserved Biological Collections is because the use of trays on shelving is so rarely allowed. As Andy pointed out, trays impede the flow of water from overhead sprinkler systems.

It is important to keep in mind that international fire codes do not address the storage of fluid-preserved specimens. Code regulations are focussed on the storage of bulk alcohol (usually full-strength and in large containers) and the storage of retail liquor (which is rarely more than 40% ETOH). No matter what fire code your local official use, there will be interpretations made to accommodate fluid-preserved specimens. The interpretations vary widely. For example, when the fluid collection facility was built at the University of Kansas, we were not allowed to store alcohol below grade (below ground level) because alcohol vapors are heavier than air and would accumulate below ground. However, below grade storage has been allowed in other places in the US, using the same fire code, interpreted by different officials. In the case of KU, we were fortunate that one of the architects became very interested in the project and helped us negotiate many of the objections made by our local fire marshall (although not all--we were still forced to go with 100% air make-up which was both overkill and a huge maintenance headache). So, the fact that one place allows trays does not mean others will, and we could find very few collections anywhere in the world that were allowed to use them (there are collections using metal, wood, or cardboard trays that have thus far escaped close inspection by fire officials). It is not that we did not like Paul's idea, it is that it is not practical in most places. But if you can talk your local fire marshall into allowing it, the trays are very useful.

Here is Paul's earlier post:
To John's first point - a metal tray system solves all the problems of shelf depth. You don't reach in to pull up and look at containers behind the first row, you pull the tray out instead. As long as you only have a maximum of two rows of containers, you can eyeball everything instantly for condition, fully addressing the point he makes about planning for maintenance cycles.
Sadly, the recent Fluid-preserved Biological Collections book did not mention these systems at all, despite our design and its advantages having been published by SPNHC.

As for collection density, fire-rated space in existing buildings is expensive to create and rarely possible to expand. Like it or not, to stay in code you often have to find ways to fit more into an existing space. We did that, in the form of a cheap and practicable upgrade to existing shelving of any kind.

Paul Callomon
Collection Manager, Malacology and General Invertebrates
________________________________
Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University
1900 Benjamin Franklin Parkway, Philadelphia PA 19103-1195, USA
prc44 at drexel.edu<mailto:prc44 at drexel.edu> Tel 215-405-5096 - Fax 215-299-1170

On Wed, Feb 15, 2023 at 1:33 PM Rob Robins <rhrobins at flmnh.ufl.edu<mailto:rhrobins at flmnh.ufl.edu>> wrote:
What we are doing at UF is a direct outgrowth of reading Adam, Dean and Melissa's paper.

Rob

Robert H. Robins
Collection Manager
Division of Ichthyology
[FLMNH Fishes logo email small]
Florida Museum
1659 Museum Rd.
Gainesville, FL 32611-7800
Office: (352) 273-1957
rhrobins at flmnh.ufl.edu<mailto:rhrobins at flmnh.ufl.edu>

The UF Fish Collection is moving:
https://www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/fish/<https://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.floridamuseum.ufl.edu%2Ffish%2F&data=05%7C01%7Cprc44%40drexel.edu%7Cd51fcbc5813148feecfe08db0f85c288%7C3664e6fa47bd45a696708c4f080f8ca6%7C0%7C0%7C638120839400297448%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=iIDPlZrF%2Fi79y6hB3eduzULNkyl%2FcdrYYTGOwQ3nUgQ%3D&reserved=0>

Search the Collection:
http://specifyportal.flmnh.ufl.edu/fishes/<https://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fspecifyportal.flmnh.ufl.edu%2Ffishes%2F&data=05%7C01%7Cprc44%40drexel.edu%7Cd51fcbc5813148feecfe08db0f85c288%7C3664e6fa47bd45a696708c4f080f8ca6%7C0%7C0%7C638120839400297448%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=l1jnUFbXx1CMYJo9brViGrQu9Em1J8wNqfa6ipYLx7U%3D&reserved=0>

Search samples suitable for dna analysis:
https://www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/grr/holdings/<https://secure-web.cisco.com/1JpTohQMotjx6pr0-2mcjO8-AU8GHUZo1sPUdi53DXR7GIUy52uXOYoGp2Lbq1aMl5J0k25Mn3QKVqH3ccaraBXkEotnXnxNs7Mkjyrxpy8N8Kca8CIHTLuUZySphEXQr6DD3qEabyc_g0fghHPuBdDz5rLKbSZquwO30SCwSDr9rhxJQ1JGM7O94xvqVV_aKAH5YIxhlrPKVmaalzoa4FXc-afzFNIoARQOKVFdQ-tMdmrNuKPK5x4d8BNr1xubUYNG8pnFUG5MymCDYKzMY9hv1KMzbviEazyvTwbwDoQ0dtdyib5Iz0lC35APRXi3U7jvMhgC7BfV4WQRsi-5VGo3Uqha8tcihKox4byN9gOFtTQxQAj4WlI28x3jQK8ObKHcK-CKO7O1GRUIdwQQVwGDQnh19-kLyoOhMhbGPJMR03uBD_nvS_x05xBa_tJIt/https%3A%2F%2Fnam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com%2F%3Furl%3Dhttps%253A%252F%252Fwww.floridamuseum.ufl.edu%252Fgrr%252Fholdings%252F%26data%3D05%257C01%257Cprc44%2540drexel.edu%257Cd51fcbc5813148feecfe08db0f85c288%257C3664e6fa47bd45a696708c4f080f8ca6%257C0%257C0%257C638120839400297448%257CUnknown%257CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%253D%257C3000%257C%257C%257C%26sdata%3DrADo3AOwYyztCwpfZ%252F3tGG2SFu1ypSGjlqkIIPsubb0%253D%26reserved%3D0>

From: Nhcoll-l <nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu<mailto:nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu>> On Behalf Of Hendrickson Dean
Sent: Wednesday, February 15, 2023 1:00 PM
To: nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu<mailto:nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu>
Subject: Re: [Nhcoll-l] Shelf depth for EtOH jar collections

[External Email]
I presented a talk at SPNHC in 2022 that discussed the extreme space crunch that forced us to convert a now sizeable portion of our fish collection from the classical taxonomy-ordered shelving to a much more compact and (we find in many ways) more efficient shelving system based on jar-size- and catalog-number. We're very happy with the results so far, and coincidentally our legacy, second-hand library shelving enabled a handy solution to John's point 1 - it takes us mere seconds to reliably monitor our fluid levels across an entire shelf full of upside-down jars. We still consider this experimental, but now have 4-5 years with many hundreds of jars in the test and still no sign of leaks. Mind you, these are all recently acquired and processed specimens, so new lids, liners, etc. More details are in the powerpoint and video of the presentation archived as Cohen, A. E., Hendrickson, D. A., & Casarez, M. J. (2022). Testing An Alternative Shelving Arrangement to Optimize Space and Task Efficiency in a Fluid Fish Collection. https://hdl.handle.net/2152/117476<https://secure-web.cisco.com/1ykMgeKYFvk8spuDVmEdNcWRvJQyRg9OQkiLsTPmu3q_fCItxNuE6ghZD7Tnnbs2NNLjKUrBiwVDBr_j-g2cQ7He2FFsp3ecu4DNuCU7pIxMSOFRRsn1PQkOS08Grr1SQkW9oXyu92rqk7VXy3JzO1UVFDkc6bad6oxs_tk9tY8WHMrw8j_9Q9vKBYx2lYeT7ZbDKncnM7a1tXcvZ61QkxzY55JcY7MwrLl5rgUlz9CN_ME1e40_xfB1yZAMlUTvhC9qX2h5uyeopJs58YR0dvhGA_r_1yTryizEsfgoiKoGpinra0L-LZ1Q1Q_PWCPpUfZMm7zzuuYgnV0ng4CSPmEqREi_t4swpTABdbsxjQduR9n8gZSYynuwfe7DGB0yPnxKODuur3CZEHDLmOic4eTcMdsz35dSsDihzlci73laExcEL_LYvFyuob-eV-Cwt/https%3A%2F%2Fnam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com%2F%3Furl%3Dhttps%253A%252F%252Fhdl.handle.net%252F2152%252F117476%26data%3D05%257C01%257Cprc44%2540drexel.edu%257Cd51fcbc5813148feecfe08db0f85c288%257C3664e6fa47bd45a696708c4f080f8ca6%257C0%257C0%257C638120839400297448%257CUnknown%257CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%253D%257C3000%257C%257C%257C%26sdata%3Dsflo8QMITDSvVlnA9%252BnMArz5SC%252BxXUyvWDEtf3QctJY%253D%26reserved%3D0> (the shelf-jiggling fluid level monitoring is demonstrated at the end of the presentation).

Dean
[Fishes of Texas]<https://secure-web.cisco.com/1RonrVQe8MCD7FfW4ZIKbvKKUSHoFTILMGq3AgPubwsu9m-8CWF6tV6X1Jv2cDmy-0zMvUYfsOzvt0Ec16v6bcl3I74iaLGRiR1sR9g_6JhZaDMrKBUFGLi0A1ItuYrpWw9zacGOfUqEyUJ7jtBZfHdZiQ0T7dE4_z4T3GK33TRh3SXJVw2jgOIS0IF-yQ_gAcjOwAscap0pxeTd16eR1w5cIbgHW_YiJIsK0U3S1nTChvJqSt8jI-ackPwUvHRNMbzJcBN9q5h390xgnT4Gmg-OsW-pu-7Wqz9IPvPs7GHm5c-vsL6N3i1C0R4gscyZCY0CPZH6typaXFpq_dM8Y3PQWeSSgCcDwVSODVl7x-dK_cVy8Xt2sz3SEGJwsWhhpthueycbt1OI5YwPki_0K9WLdFId-FTowVoF1BQ8ZrrXCl7kU07nrcUrQg9NAai9x/https%3A%2F%2Fnam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com%2F%3Furl%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.fishesoftexas.org%252Fhome%252F%26data%3D05%257C01%257Cprc44%2540drexel.edu%257Cd51fcbc5813148feecfe08db0f85c288%257C3664e6fa47bd45a696708c4f080f8ca6%257C0%257C0%257C638120839400453683%257CUnknown%257CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%253D%257C3000%257C%257C%257C%26sdata%3DRzfnrmUGBAYqLsmxibvEM4bEfCHDjlW2bLxHX2q%252Bptw%253D%26reserved%3D0>Dean A. Hendrickson, Ph.D. (he/him/his)
Curator of Ichthyology, Biodiversity Center<https://secure-web.cisco.com/1Vow3kthMhkLFJ5CqN3SMMy7x1hR3eEu5T5Y7Fw3I2XnNTdWf6frXo2krBYSYkl_eyCBwFou_-MUwpVT3v1_jKE9qNF7R1b34YIvMUsHW_-YGWtawXt3Pc3gxsF3AVZ0J3SmCDdvwAbGd6I0H9C2iWFy7rRdW3ziE4KtLtAXPsUYBlnNtvV3zyNAIUXtYWyVIMcTHkaKVh8Mlr8ZBwoEzfk97_i2-f3IqoM01m8HRrdVQYipHmZqBkYHZukLpMa1DbGittzKGVxsZhp-DLC-UIEkAeHKKY9Z_dnJZgVyyJsNH4CLYX4pvN_aZ95oJg3W7Gd_VH7UwMxmcxByIGlJvP_NHU-PFw-U2ODpdhlQ9lwA8VK4ZTxcabAcJuARSGznKKTshS4UDwYCeSzY_3QABCqkwLEMZ96e67kbammSuPNH9_Q8A1CDeyOOkqn2B87r7/https%3A%2F%2Fnam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com%2F%3Furl%3Dhttps%253A%252F%252Fbiodiversity.utexas.edu%252F%26data%3D05%257C01%257Cprc44%2540drexel.edu%257Cd51fcbc5813148feecfe08db0f85c288%257C3664e6fa47bd45a696708c4f080f8ca6%257C0%257C0%257C638120839400453683%257CUnknown%257CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%253D%257C3000%257C%257C%257C%26sdata%3DhIDwvVuEhnSVUjS7%252B%252BI3f9Mw76NEaoQnMzVhqzAcNpg%253D%26reserved%3D0>, University of Texas<https://secure-web.cisco.com/1EFoiqZSl0bKckbUZkS3hjA5tqrqwbXk1r1Q-djsGGEcOPEzo9UE1S_P1j9-yII3M-ClGA2ZjOKTuWr-qzHBnZ0Qz-wrkv-EzTkYqMrOtT4ZXWVNMyT-iK0bDN-A6Z8Y1MaXFk_R1WE9x5DhMVtp6vFH4Rw6LQErkFbVOZMbL_bhOzR42nLEDLrb-eN7iDpvzDdIIhOzLKAOyRniBPJcgvHWsQsP4gG_qedxH_cl6j0ElZct6vtcSmFXWQcc9ny1GRearCwZ9g-iNt2ZDcYnLOmtS5N_tvbQzZuHKysEpEfFUc9C3GL9FP8ydbUfqh1b6QLPUjf9w-bO_0S22fhur5WynYStm7yodUSXJ_G3wxlWS2xIOhNHh2RcRvm-b8afQ3qrXVoTTJ9hPc8EqJ1cZXP-wHi4isBbIflCw5e9nnd_uBNqnuowuzVu6oncmCDQ8/https%3A%2F%2Fnam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com%2F%3Furl%3Dhttps%253A%252F%252Fwww.utexas.edu%252F%26data%3D05%257C01%257Cprc44%2540drexel.edu%257Cd51fcbc5813148feecfe08db0f85c288%257C3664e6fa47bd45a696708c4f080f8ca6%257C0%257C0%257C638120839400453683%257CUnknown%257CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%253D%257C3000%257C%257C%257C%26sdata%3DqRCn6VFDKHcnrkGvat0TnuVM48UFB%252Fz5j%252BU6Tkq13UM%253D%26reserved%3D0>,
Texas Natural History Collections,10100 Burnet Rd., PRC176/R4000
Austin, Texas 78758 USA +1-512-656-9504 (cel.); Orcid<https://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Forcid.org%2F0000-0001-7835-0295&data=05%7C01%7Cprc44%40drexel.edu%7Cd51fcbc5813148feecfe08db0f85c288%7C3664e6fa47bd45a696708c4f080f8ca6%7C0%7C0%7C638120839400453683%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=VgU0rhtzRVI4vDRNyCR2wcjwyieYapDSxxRLgEs7W58%3D&reserved=0> / lab<https://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fsites.cns.utexas.edu%2Fhendricksonlab%2Fhome&data=05%7C01%7Cprc44%40drexel.edu%7Cd51fcbc5813148feecfe08db0f85c288%7C3664e6fa47bd45a696708c4f080f8ca6%7C0%7C0%7C638120839400453683%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=%2FhAZhaHLYe9RrqRSGD0GsoUleLt5oRUoVnaLc2LFH%2FU%3D&reserved=0> / collection<https://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fintegrativebio.utexas.edu%2Fbiodiversity-collections%2Fcollections%2Fichthyology-fish&data=05%7C01%7Cprc44%40drexel.edu%7Cd51fcbc5813148feecfe08db0f85c288%7C3664e6fa47bd45a696708c4f080f8ca6%7C0%7C0%7C638120839400453683%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=w7YBRErWOGhc%2Fw9h%2Fk8BrClXleSzxzfgaCvcs5hw0QY%3D&reserved=0> / zoom<https://secure-web.cisco.com/16YPrxOMP5quqTQTWmzJc7jIuSc6q-yFNtnZxP6vU4LnjyzBMDOBRhOzpwXV-Y2LneVc3TmGyo42ftVJt86fH1cebaZHtc7hEnSgcTvfIufQk6CJLIUjNjK7cYEQK5nYHg6DytyB4wQGabSymrnnycPwEkQXmFBrBwugxHZc6yqqdRFT_3amVNJ3_uvhXc4DSY4kJE-5b19GJ9qQ-48aGeHoXBRk4wRba2PxLS0iGPLHSPvDjOlAUrxU2dDIKZHV6J_JO8d1eqr8joe4BASzW6hqm5XcoTkEkddhPj2TUx4RpC5SSIvO9qHvmywzY8Qd05jPlSaEc8ss-CEICjHIb4iLmcIX5oKCSxmpwURz_6Zo4Y1RUGKla8ZEGNummF4Q74f5q0lvclE8f41f78C_nPxVrHeNrfR1kymlzWqDOI4DX8tybRfFkyffuYFkT4Lih/https%3A%2F%2Fnam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com%2F%3Furl%3Dhttps%253A%252F%252Futexas.zoom.us%252Fj%252F7165800443%26data%3D05%257C01%257Cprc44%2540drexel.edu%257Cd51fcbc5813148feecfe08db0f85c288%257C3664e6fa47bd45a696708c4f080f8ca6%257C0%257C0%257C638120839400453683%257CUnknown%257CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%253D%257C3000%257C%257C%257C%26sdata%3DLhpVw6gav5bHcFhNIHw%252F8LPq%252B3dPmmqiGcEZ1uO3yEQ%253D%26reserved%3D0>

From: Nhcoll-l <nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu<mailto:nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu>> On Behalf Of John E Simmons
Sent: Wednesday, February 15, 2023 10:07 AM
To: Dirk Neumann <d.neumann at leibniz-lib.de<mailto:d.neumann at leibniz-lib.de>>
Cc: nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu<mailto:nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu>
Subject: Re: [Nhcoll-l] Shelf depth for EtOH jar collections

The advice offered so far on this thread is excellent, particularly the idea of abandoning systematic arrangements. There are two other points in support of the advice that has already been offered that should be mentioned:

1-Deeper shelves do allow storage of collections in dense arrangements (assuming the containers are appropriately sized) but dense storage is a negative, not a positive. Yes, it saves a bit of space, but what is sacrificed is the ability to monitor the condition of the containers and specimens. The ideal arrangement would be shelves with only one row of jars because with that arrangement specimens and fluid level and color could immediately be seen, enabling the correction of developing problems, particularly loss of fluid. However, shelving with just one row of jars is not practical, so the question becomes how many rows of jars is practical? With two or more rows the jars in front must be moved to see the jars in back, which takes additional time and also, each time a jar is picked up and moved, it increases the risk of either compromising the container seal or getting the containers out of order. With deep shelves, so that the containers are several rows deep, the time spent monitoring the collection (checking for problems) increases enormously. In my experience, the time (and therefore the cost) of monitoring collections is rarely considered when planning collection storage, which is foolish. A fluid collection needs to be inspected regularly to avoid problems.

2-Systematic arrangements are false in the sense that they are not phylogenetic arrangements (nobody has branching shelving). What systematic arrangements do is simply re-create the linear scala naturae of Aristotle, using scientific names. The arguments that this allows for better exploration of the collection, etc., are silly. And as Paul points out, containers should not be opened in the collection storage room to examine specimens. Systematic arrangements made sense when collections were smaller, space was available, and scientific names were more stable. In a world of rapidly changing systematic arrangements, we should make good use of electronic databases to both bear the current name of species and to serve as a finding aid for containers, and arrange storage to efficiently store specimens in a stable environment on storage furniture designed to accommodate efficient monitoring of specimens and containers.

--John

John E. Simmons
Writer and Museum Consultant
Museologica
and
Associate Curator of Collections
Earth and Mineral Science Museum & Art Gallery
Penn State University
and
Investigador Asociado, Departamento de Ornitologia
Museo de Historia Natural, Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, Lima

On Wed, Feb 15, 2023 at 2:15 AM Dirk Neumann <d.neumann at leibniz-lib.de<mailto:d.neumann at leibniz-lib.de>> wrote:
Hi Tonya,

we recommend in our book<https://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.universityproducts.com%2Fbest-practices-in-the-preservation-and-management.html&data=05%7C01%7Cprc44%40drexel.edu%7Cd51fcbc5813148feecfe08db0f85c288%7C3664e6fa47bd45a696708c4f080f8ca6%7C0%7C0%7C638120839400453683%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=IzRd56F3IomCGZBWP3I8hgmT3yXcNlECTi8PBQCpMSY%3D&reserved=0> (p. 94) to prefer 300 mm deep shelves. You can do deeper shelves (in Munich we had 450 mm), but this doesn't save space, as you cannot place more large jars on such such shelves.

Usually, large glass cylinders are rarely deeper than 300 mm. If there are larger containers, it might be worth considering 1 isle with deeper shelves (e.g., 450 mm) for these jars, or to arrange all large jars on special heavy duty shelves, as for example in the tank room at the NHM in London.

If you choose 440 mm deep shelves for the entire collection, you increase the required staff time for monitoring and maintenance, because usually the number of small jars is much higher, and there is a tendency that small jars are crowding on deeper shelves as the offer more space. Visual inspection of such densely packed shelves however needs more time. If staff time is a critical variable, 300 mm would be preferable.

Another point worth considering: deep shelves usually require wider isles and operating areas. This may not be intuitive right from the start, but you need to reach deeper into the (crowded) shelf. If the isle is as narrow as it would be for a 300 mm deep shelf, the risk to knock other jars is higher.

If available space in the new storage room is not the limiting factor, I would choose 300 mm deep shelves.

Hope this helps
Dirk

Am 15.02.2023 um 04:26 schrieb Haff, Tonya (NCMI, Crace):
Hi again everyone,

We are getting down to the pointy bit of having to confirm the desired depth of shelving for our new ethanol vault storage. Right now our shelves are only about 300mm deep, which is really not deep enough for some larger containers. We have specified 440mm deep shelving for the new space, but before pushing 'go' I thought I would ask if any of you have thoughts or very strong opinions about optimal shelf depth for storing jars of various sizes and smaller drums.

Thanks in advance for your input!

Cheers,

Tonya

-------------------------------------------------
Dr. Tonya M. Haff
Collection Manager
Australian National Wildlife Collection
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****

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