[Nhcoll-l] Catalog numbers for split lots

[John E Simmons]

Angela,
I agree with Bill, it is very important to keep the catalog numbers linked.

I have split specimen lots many times due to new identifications (usually
anuran larvae, which are usually cataloged by lot). My preference is to
leave one group of specimens under the original catalog number and assign
new catalog numbers to those that are separated out, being sure to note the
linkage in the catalog records for both the original group and for any that
are extracted and re-cataloged. There is no reason to re-catalog all of the
specimens and, in my experience, that only leads to confusion if someone
looks for the specimens under the original number.

I followed the same procedure as above when a specimen needed to be
separated from the original lot because it was illustrated, prepared as a
cleared and stained specimen, etc. Keep the original number with the lot,
assign a new catalog record to the exception.

--John

John E. Simmons
Writer and Museum Consultant
Museologica
*and*
Investigador Asociado, Departamento de Ornitologia
Museo de Historia Natural, Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, Lima


On Thu, Jan 25, 2024 at 10:36 AM William Simpson <wsimpson at fieldmuseum.org>
wrote:

> 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>
>
>
> [image: 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
> 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/
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Nhcoll-l mailing listNhcoll-l at mailman.yale.eduhttps://mailman.yale.edu/mailman/listinfo/nhcoll-l
>
> _______________________________________________
> NHCOLL-L is brought to you by the Society for the Preservation of
> Natural History Collections (SPNHC), an international society whose
> mission is to improve the preservation, conservation and management of
> natural history collections to ensure their continuing value to
> society. See http://www.spnhc.org for membership information.
> Advertising on NH-COLL-L is inappropriate.
>
> --
> Hannu Saarenmaa, CEO
> Bioshare Digitization www.bioshare.com
> --Branch of Sertifer Consulting Oy Ltd
> Kappalaisentie 2, 82900 Ilomantsi, Finland
> Tel +358-401750427 hannu at bioshare.com
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Nhcoll-l mailing listNhcoll-l at mailman.yale.eduhttps://mailman.yale.edu/mailman/listinfo/nhcoll-l
>
> _______________________________________________
> NHCOLL-L is brought to you by the Society for the Preservation of
> Natural History Collections (SPNHC), an international society whose
> mission is to improve the preservation, conservation and management of
> natural history collections to ensure their continuing value to
> society. See http://www.spnhc.org for membership information.
> Advertising on NH-COLL-L is inappropriate.
>
> _______________________________________________
> Nhcoll-l mailing list
> Nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu
> https://mailman.yale.edu/mailman/listinfo/nhcoll-l
>
> _______________________________________________
> NHCOLL-L is brought to you by the Society for the Preservation of
> Natural History Collections (SPNHC), an international society whose
> mission is to improve the preservation, conservation and management of
> natural history collections to ensure their continuing value to
> society. See http://www.spnhc.org for membership information.
> Advertising on NH-COLL-L is inappropriate.
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mailman.yale.edu/pipermail/nhcoll-l/attachments/20240125/2b131360/attachment.html>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: field-museum-logo_2018.png
Type: image/png
Size: 3117 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://mailman.yale.edu/pipermail/nhcoll-l/attachments/20240125/2b131360/attachment.png>