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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D">The Bishop Museum’s Research and Collection page -
<a href="https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.bishopmuseum.org_research_&d=AwMFAg&c=-dg2m7zWuuDZ0MUcV7Sdqw&r=CLFZJ3fvGSmDp7xK1dNZfh6uGV_h-8NVlo3fXNoRNzI&m=DuNDmGrhP6AMG_Il5balvQzlqCilKVSDnqM2Nm0E4C8&s=myCfFp4xwtT_fhzYWmZPs0aObwjFRJN3Odf_BZ61km8&e=">http://www.bishopmuseum.org/research/</a> states that the museum has 24.7 million items.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D">Cheers/Jim<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D">James H. Boone<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D">Entomology Collection Manager<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D">Bishop Museum 1525 Bernice Street<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D">Honolulu. Hawaii<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D">(808) 848-4196<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D">jamesb@bishopmuseum.org<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:windowtext">From:</span></b><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:windowtext"> nhcoll-l-bounces@mailman.yale.edu [mailto:nhcoll-l-bounces@mailman.yale.edu]
<b>On Behalf Of </b>Doug Yanega<br>
<b>Sent:</b> Tuesday, January 27, 2015 1:14 PM<br>
<b>To:</b> nhcoll-l@mailman.yale.edu<br>
<b>Subject:</b> Re: [Nhcoll-l] Ranking of largest collections -- HELP<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">On 1/27/15 12:50 PM, Christopher Kemp wrote:<o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">I don't know if this is empirically known or somewhat debatable, but I'm trying to make a list of the top 5 natural history collections in the US, and in the world. So, two lists. And I mean in terms of size, or number of specimens. Please
weigh in. I'm assuming NMNH, AMNH, the Field for the US, but who's next? And in the world, I just don't know: the NMNH, the BMNH, the AMNH? I don't know. Share your thoughts. I'm at
<a href="mailto:cjkemp@gmail.com">cjkemp@gmail.com</a>, or respond on the listserv.<o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">The numbers are empirically known, though lists tend to be compiled by discipline. Using absolute numbers will be very misleading, and heavily bias your list towards arthropod-containing collections (e.g., our collection of 3 million places
us around #20 in terms of the size of North American insect collections, for example; however, you won't find very many collections that have no insects but still have over 3 million specimens). Number of types will also be highest in insect-containing collections,
as well.<br>
<br>
I'm trying to recall the last time I saw a printed ranking of collections, and drawing a blank; however, the NMNH, AMNH, FMNH, LACM, and CAS are what I recall as the largest US collections, but there are others like the MCZ, Peabody, Carnegie, Bishop, and ANSP.
You can look up virtually all major collections in Wikipedia for very up-to-date counts of holdings (<a href="https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__en.wikipedia.org_wiki_List-5Fof-5Fnatural-5Fhistory-5Fmuseums-5Fin-5Fthe-5FUnited-5FStates&d=AwMC-g&c=-dg2m7zWuuDZ0MUcV7Sdqw&r=CLFZJ3fvGSmDp7xK1dNZfh6uGV_h-8NVlo3fXNoRNzI&m=myvO-IsV_QaaN3EHvqE5Bx2De42llbeBeyYTzvumYJU&s=szR9bCje6egBBC1qphUuVAaNn0GQu45nso8-7-RDoKs&e=">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_natural_history_museums_in_the_United_States</a>
for the US, and <a href="https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__en.wikipedia.org_wiki_List-5Fof-5Fnatural-5Fhistory-5Fmuseums&d=AwMC-g&c=-dg2m7zWuuDZ0MUcV7Sdqw&r=CLFZJ3fvGSmDp7xK1dNZfh6uGV_h-8NVlo3fXNoRNzI&m=myvO-IsV_QaaN3EHvqE5Bx2De42llbeBeyYTzvumYJU&s=ida5A6DumJmZHvhtnrqdNeMMZhCE9DCNmO9w0XG2JqY&e=">
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_natural_history_museums</a> for worldwide), and derive rankings yourself.
<br>
<br>
I just checked the museums I recalled above, and they are indeed all quite large: NMNH - 126 million; LACM - 35 million; AMNH - 32 million; CAS - 26 million; FMNH - 24 million; Carnegie - 22 million; MCZ - 21 million; ANSP - 17 million; Peabody - 12 million.
The Bishop Museum entry doesn't give their entire holdings, but their insect collection alone is 13.5 million. If all of the University of California's collections were housed together (UC Riverside, UC Berkeley, UC Davis, primarily) we'd also be on that list,
with between 15-18 million as a group. I am not sure if any stand-alone herbaria qualify for inclusion, though many of the collections above include plant specimens. I believe that Paris is the all-around largest, by a significant margin, but the Wikipedia
entry gives no estimate of their collection size. The NHM in London claims only 80 million, which seems lower to me than I would have supposed.<br>
<br>
Hope this helps,<br>
<br>
<o:p></o:p></p>
<pre>-- <o:p></o:p></pre>
<pre>Doug Yanega Dept. of Entomology Entomology Research Museum<o:p></o:p></pre>
<pre>Univ. of California, Riverside, CA 92521-0314 skype: dyanega<o:p></o:p></pre>
<pre>phone: (951) 827-4315 (disclaimer: opinions are mine, not UCR's)<o:p></o:p></pre>
<pre> <a href="https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__cache.ucr.edu_-7Eheraty_yanega.html&d=AwMC-g&c=-dg2m7zWuuDZ0MUcV7Sdqw&r=CLFZJ3fvGSmDp7xK1dNZfh6uGV_h-8NVlo3fXNoRNzI&m=myvO-IsV_QaaN3EHvqE5Bx2De42llbeBeyYTzvumYJU&s=WgQG8FoSu-ep4dNTC11Q7XttcfVxmy9gt3CSuQoiPno&e=">http://cache.ucr.edu/~heraty/yanega.html</a><o:p></o:p></pre>
<pre> "There are some enterprises in which a careful disorderliness<o:p></o:p></pre>
<pre> is the true method" - Herman Melville, Moby Dick, Chap. 82<o:p></o:p></pre>
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