[Nhcoll-l] Catalog numbers for split lots

[Lazo-Wasem, Eric]

I often have multi-taxon lots from the field, or old previously cataloged lots for which a specimen or more is removed and recatalogued.  Besides adding the old numbering to the new catalog lots, or assigning number to specimens sorted and removed from a large sample, I always make a thermal label facsimile of the original label so the "chain of custody" remains visually intact with the specimen.  This way if a transcription error occurs in the database one can verify the correct data back to the source of the information.

Best, Eric

From: Nhcoll-l <nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu> On Behalf Of William Simpson
Sent: Thursday, January 25, 2024 10:37 AM
To: nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu
Subject: Re: [Nhcoll-l] Catalog numbers for split lots


Hi Angela,

If you re-catalogue specimens out of an existing lot, just make sure you record the catalogue number of the original lot in a "Previous Catalogue Number" field or some such in the new catalogue records.

We've just separated several lots of Clepsydrops (a primitive synapsid) into over 700 individual catalogue records.  Trying to keep catalogue records confined to individuals is our goal with this.

Best,

Bill


William F. Simpson (he)
Head of Geological Collections
McCarter Collections Manager, Fossil Vertebrates
Gantz Family Collections Center

Field Museum of Natural History
1400 South DuSable Lake Shore Drive
Chicago, IL. 60605
(312) 665-7628
fieldmuseum.org<https://www.fieldmuseum.org/>


[Field Museum Logo]<http://www.fieldmuseum.org/>

On 1/25/24 3:14 AM, Hannu Saarenmaa wrote:

Hi Angela & Co

I cannot comment on fish.  But this is a common case in botany.  It is about so-called multi-gatherings.  It happens that on one herbarium sheet several specimens may have been attached.  Which may belong to different species (!).  When we digitize these, what do we do?

My first advice is to split them apart and attach them to different sheets. But that is a bit risky and could lead to a loss of the gathering history.

What we do in practice is to attach on the herbarium sheet multiple identifiers (on QR codes).   None of the original identifiers will be repeated but all will be preserved.   In other words, each specimen can carry multiple identifiers.  This is not difficult, but normal in a situation when an old (unsorted) collection is being digitized.  I do not know if this would work for fish (in liquid jars).

So my advice is abandon all old identifiers and assign a new identifier for each newly digitized specimen.  But also do keep the old identifier.  Every specimen can carry multiple identifiers.

Thanks for a good question.  We meet this every day when digitizing an old herbarium.

Hannu,
CEO of Bioshare Digitization, www.bioshare.com<http://www.bioshare.com/>
On 2024-01-25 00:21, Angela Hornsby wrote:
Hi everyone,

We have a fish lot that was originally IDed to genus and cataloged as such.  A researcher has followed up and IDed all individuals to species, splitting cleanly into new lots.  Is there a standard guiding which (if any) of these new lots should carry the original catalog number and which should receive a new one?  This catalog series is strictly integers, so I can't assign 123A, 123B, etc. without changing the series format and affecting other things (working in Arctos).

Thanks for your thoughts.

--
Angela Hornsby, Ph.D.
Zoological Collections Manager (MMNH / JFBM)
Bell Museum
University of Minnesota
https://www.bellmuseum.umn.edu/zoological-collections/




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NHCOLL-L is brought to you by the Society for the Preservation of

Natural History Collections (SPNHC), an international society whose

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Advertising on NH-COLL-L is inappropriate.
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