<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">Tracking in-house use is a pain... When I was herpetology collection manager at KU, I created two simple forms for this use, a withdrawal form (for collection use) and a change form. <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">The withdrawal form was printed on yellow paper and asked for the user's name, specimen name, and catalog number(s) on the container and the date (keeping it as simple as possible). The user had to fill out the form (which took less than a minute) and put it in a jar of the same size as the one they were removing from the collection (this was both as a place-holder and to speed up re-shelving). Users had to return all specimen containers to the lab where either I or an assistant checked the fluid level, placement of label, and seal before the jar was reshelved. When the container was re-shelved, the yellow card went to my office where I could keep them on file and thus do an annual check on in-house use. Of course there were people who tried to sneak jars out of the collection (usually curators) so from time to time I would do an office check for such containers.</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">The specimen data change form was printed on green paper and asked for the specimen name, catalog number, user name, and what the change was (these were typically re-identifications or corrections of locality data). Change forms were attached to the jar and returned to the lab so I could then decide (in consultation with the curators) which changes we were to make and which to ignore.</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">The weakness in this system is getting everyone to comply. The key to success was not letting anyone re-shelve specimens except the collection manager or curatorial assistants (that way container integrity could be checked and jars were far less likely to be put in the wrong place). Once this system was initiated, we had far fewer instances of jars leaking in the collection and being shelved out-of-order. <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">Examples of both forms can be found in the 3rd edition of Herpetological Collecting and Collections Management as figure 27 on page 124 (withdrawal form) and figure 29 on page 130 (specimen data change form). I will attach PDFs of both.<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">I have no idea if the system is still in use there or not.</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 clear="all"></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 Fri, Jan 28, 2022 at 12:05 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">I would be curious how different collections track in-house usage of specimens. I have tried many different protocols for doing this in our collection, and none have been completely successful. I would also be curious, given your protocol,
how compliant users are. (We do not have our specimens bar-coded, so this is not an option for tracking at this time.)
<u></u><u></u></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">I do record when specimens get re-shelved, but without knowing when they left the collection, I am unable to determine the amount of time (months, years, decades) that they were used. Therefore, my annual reporting statistics don’t necessarily
reflect actual specimen usage. <u></u><u></u></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Thanks,<u></u><u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Sarah<u></u><u></u></p>
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<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"><span style="color:blue">skhuber@vims.edu</span></a> |
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