<div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:tahoma,sans-serif;font-size:small;color:#000000">Sarah,</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:tahoma,sans-serif;font-size:small;color:#000000">You have received some wonderful answers to your question, but I would like to add another. When I used to give tours of the collection I worked in, I was often asked how much the collection was worth. My answer was the collection was valuable to verify past research but its real value lay in the research that had not yet been done because in the future, we would have even better techniques to learn more things from the specimens.</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:tahoma,sans-serif;font-size:small;color:#000000"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:tahoma,sans-serif;font-size:small;color:#000000">Here is a link to a non-technical article that I wrote that addresses the value of scientific collections and emphasizes the long view of collection research. It might be useful when justifying the collection to non-scientists:<br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:tahoma,sans-serif;font-size:small;color:#000000">
<span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:"Courier New""><a href="http://articles.themuseumreview.org/tmr_vol3no1_simmons" style="color:blue;text-decoration:underline">http://articles.themuseumreview.org/tmr_vol3no1_simmons</a></span> <br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:tahoma,sans-serif;font-size:small;color:#000000"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:tahoma,sans-serif;font-size:small;color:#000000">--John</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:tahoma,sans-serif;font-size:small;color:#000000"><br></div><div><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><font size="2"><span style="font-family:tahoma,sans-serif">John E. Simmons<br>Writer and Museum Consultant</span></font></div><div dir="ltr"><font size="2"><span style="font-family:tahoma,sans-serif">Museologica<br><i>and</i><br>Associate Curator of Collections<br>Earth and Mineral Science Museum & Art Gallery<br>Penn State University<br><i>and</i><br>Investigador Asociado, Departamento de Ornitologia<br>Museo de Historia Natural, Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, Lima</span></font><br></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><br></div><br><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Thu, Sep 26, 2019 at 2:02 PM Sarah K. Huber <<a href="mailto:skhuber@vims.edu">skhuber@vims.edu</a>> wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex">
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<p class="MsoNormal">Recently I’ve been fielding a lot of questions about why our collection should retain a physical specimen once it has been digitized (e.g., CT-scanned, photographed, x-rayed, etc.). I’m curious how often other museum professionals are asked
this question and what your general responses are for justifying the retention of a physical specimen. Why do you tell people it’s important to retain a specimen?<u></u><u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u></u> <u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">If anyone knows of article that have addressed this specific question I would appreciate references so that I can have them on hand for particularly curious visitors.<u></u><u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u></u> <u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Thanks,<u></u><u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Sarah<u></u><u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u></u> <u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif";color:black;background:white none repeat scroll 0% 0%">Sarah K. Huber, Ph.D.</span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif";color:black;background:white none repeat scroll 0% 0%"><br>
Curatorial Associate, VIMS Nunnally Ichthyology Collection<br>
Office 804.684.7104 | Collection 804.684.7285<br>
<a href="mailto:skhuber@vims.edu" target="_blank">skhuber@vims.edu</a> | <a href="http://www.vims.edu/research/facilities/fishcollection/index.php" target="_blank">http://www.vims.edu/research/facilities/fishcollection/index.php</a></span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif";color:black"><br>
<span style="background:white none repeat scroll 0% 0%">PO Box 1346 | 1370 Greate Rd., Gloucester Pt., VA 23062<u></u><u></u></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u></u> <u></u></p>
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