<html xmlns:v="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:vml" xmlns:o="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" xmlns:w="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:word" xmlns:m="http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/2004/12/omml" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40">
<head>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8">
<meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 15 (filtered medium)">
<!--[if !mso]><style>v\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);}
o\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);}
w\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);}
.shape {behavior:url(#default#VML);}
</style><![endif]--><style><!--
/* Font Definitions */
@font-face
{font-family:Wingdings;
panose-1:5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0;}
@font-face
{font-family:"Cambria Math";
panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4;}
@font-face
{font-family:Verdana;
panose-1:2 11 6 4 3 5 4 4 2 4;}
@font-face
{font-family:Aptos;
panose-1:2 11 0 4 2 2 2 2 2 4;}
@font-face
{font-family:Tahoma;
panose-1:2 11 6 4 3 5 4 4 2 4;}
/* Style Definitions */
p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal
{margin:0in;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Aptos",sans-serif;}
a:link, span.MsoHyperlink
{mso-style-priority:99;
color:#467886;
text-decoration:underline;}
p.MsoListParagraph, li.MsoListParagraph, div.MsoListParagraph
{mso-style-priority:34;
margin-top:0in;
margin-right:0in;
margin-bottom:0in;
margin-left:.5in;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Aptos",sans-serif;}
.MsoChpDefault
{mso-style-type:export-only;
font-size:10.0pt;
mso-ligatures:none;}
@page WordSection1
{size:8.5in 11.0in;
margin:1.0in 1.0in 1.0in 1.0in;}
div.WordSection1
{page:WordSection1;}
/* List Definitions */
@list l0
{mso-list-id:38867140;
mso-list-template-ids:-711793580;}
@list l0:level1
{mso-level-number-format:bullet;
mso-level-text:;
mso-level-tab-stop:.5in;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;
mso-ansi-font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Symbol;}
@list l0:level2
{mso-level-number-format:bullet;
mso-level-text:;
mso-level-tab-stop:1.0in;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;
mso-ansi-font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Symbol;}
@list l0:level3
{mso-level-number-format:bullet;
mso-level-text:;
mso-level-tab-stop:1.5in;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;
mso-ansi-font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Symbol;}
@list l0:level4
{mso-level-number-format:bullet;
mso-level-text:;
mso-level-tab-stop:2.0in;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;
mso-ansi-font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Symbol;}
@list l0:level5
{mso-level-number-format:bullet;
mso-level-text:;
mso-level-tab-stop:2.5in;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;
mso-ansi-font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Symbol;}
@list l0:level6
{mso-level-number-format:bullet;
mso-level-text:;
mso-level-tab-stop:3.0in;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;
mso-ansi-font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Symbol;}
@list l0:level7
{mso-level-number-format:bullet;
mso-level-text:;
mso-level-tab-stop:3.5in;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;
mso-ansi-font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Symbol;}
@list l0:level8
{mso-level-number-format:bullet;
mso-level-text:;
mso-level-tab-stop:4.0in;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;
mso-ansi-font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Symbol;}
@list l0:level9
{mso-level-number-format:bullet;
mso-level-text:;
mso-level-tab-stop:4.5in;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;
mso-ansi-font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Symbol;}
@list l1
{mso-list-id:349916968;
mso-list-template-ids:-375913534;}
@list l1:level1
{mso-level-number-format:bullet;
mso-level-text:;
mso-level-tab-stop:.5in;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;
mso-ansi-font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Symbol;}
@list l1:level2
{mso-level-number-format:bullet;
mso-level-text:;
mso-level-tab-stop:1.0in;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;
mso-ansi-font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Symbol;}
@list l1:level3
{mso-level-number-format:bullet;
mso-level-text:;
mso-level-tab-stop:1.5in;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;
mso-ansi-font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Symbol;}
@list l1:level4
{mso-level-number-format:bullet;
mso-level-text:;
mso-level-tab-stop:2.0in;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;
mso-ansi-font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Symbol;}
@list l1:level5
{mso-level-number-format:bullet;
mso-level-text:;
mso-level-tab-stop:2.5in;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;
mso-ansi-font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Symbol;}
@list l1:level6
{mso-level-number-format:bullet;
mso-level-text:;
mso-level-tab-stop:3.0in;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;
mso-ansi-font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Symbol;}
@list l1:level7
{mso-level-number-format:bullet;
mso-level-text:;
mso-level-tab-stop:3.5in;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;
mso-ansi-font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Symbol;}
@list l1:level8
{mso-level-number-format:bullet;
mso-level-text:;
mso-level-tab-stop:4.0in;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;
mso-ansi-font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Symbol;}
@list l1:level9
{mso-level-number-format:bullet;
mso-level-text:;
mso-level-tab-stop:4.5in;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;
mso-ansi-font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Symbol;}
@list l2
{mso-list-id:402921416;
mso-list-type:hybrid;
mso-list-template-ids:309366814 67698703 -1 -1 -1 -1 -1 -1 -1 -1;}
@list l2:level1
{mso-level-tab-stop:none;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;}
@list l2:level2
{mso-level-number-format:bullet;
mso-level-text:o;
mso-level-tab-stop:none;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;
font-family:"Courier New";}
@list l2:level3
{mso-level-number-format:bullet;
mso-level-text:;
mso-level-tab-stop:none;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;
font-family:Wingdings;}
@list l2:level4
{mso-level-number-format:bullet;
mso-level-text:;
mso-level-tab-stop:none;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;
font-family:Symbol;}
@list l2:level5
{mso-level-number-format:bullet;
mso-level-text:o;
mso-level-tab-stop:none;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;
font-family:"Courier New";}
@list l2:level6
{mso-level-number-format:bullet;
mso-level-text:;
mso-level-tab-stop:none;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;
font-family:Wingdings;}
@list l2:level7
{mso-level-number-format:bullet;
mso-level-text:;
mso-level-tab-stop:none;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;
font-family:Symbol;}
@list l2:level8
{mso-level-number-format:bullet;
mso-level-text:o;
mso-level-tab-stop:none;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;
font-family:"Courier New";}
@list l2:level9
{mso-level-number-format:bullet;
mso-level-text:;
mso-level-tab-stop:none;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;
font-family:Wingdings;}
@list l3
{mso-list-id:1103571644;
mso-list-template-ids:1680639966;}
@list l3:level2
{mso-level-number-format:bullet;
mso-level-text:o;
mso-level-tab-stop:1.0in;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;
mso-ansi-font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:"Courier New";
mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";}
@list l4
{mso-list-id:1445348935;
mso-list-type:hybrid;
mso-list-template-ids:-1646867288 67698689 67698691 67698693 67698689 67698691 67698693 67698689 67698691 67698693;}
@list l4:level1
{mso-level-number-format:bullet;
mso-level-text:;
mso-level-tab-stop:none;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;
font-family:Symbol;}
@list l4:level2
{mso-level-number-format:bullet;
mso-level-text:o;
mso-level-tab-stop:none;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;
font-family:"Courier New";}
@list l4:level3
{mso-level-number-format:bullet;
mso-level-text:;
mso-level-tab-stop:none;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;
font-family:Wingdings;}
@list l4:level4
{mso-level-number-format:bullet;
mso-level-text:;
mso-level-tab-stop:none;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;
font-family:Symbol;}
@list l4:level5
{mso-level-number-format:bullet;
mso-level-text:o;
mso-level-tab-stop:none;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;
font-family:"Courier New";}
@list l4:level6
{mso-level-number-format:bullet;
mso-level-text:;
mso-level-tab-stop:none;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;
font-family:Wingdings;}
@list l4:level7
{mso-level-number-format:bullet;
mso-level-text:;
mso-level-tab-stop:none;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;
font-family:Symbol;}
@list l4:level8
{mso-level-number-format:bullet;
mso-level-text:o;
mso-level-tab-stop:none;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;
font-family:"Courier New";}
@list l4:level9
{mso-level-number-format:bullet;
mso-level-text:;
mso-level-tab-stop:none;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;
font-family:Wingdings;}
@list l5
{mso-list-id:1698507757;
mso-list-type:hybrid;
mso-list-template-ids:-1449756264 67698689 67698691 67698693 67698689 67698691 67698693 67698689 67698691 67698693;}
@list l5:level1
{mso-level-number-format:bullet;
mso-level-text:;
mso-level-tab-stop:none;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;
font-family:Symbol;}
@list l5:level2
{mso-level-number-format:bullet;
mso-level-text:o;
mso-level-tab-stop:none;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;
font-family:"Courier New";}
@list l5:level3
{mso-level-number-format:bullet;
mso-level-text:;
mso-level-tab-stop:none;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;
font-family:Wingdings;}
@list l5:level4
{mso-level-number-format:bullet;
mso-level-text:;
mso-level-tab-stop:none;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;
font-family:Symbol;}
@list l5:level5
{mso-level-number-format:bullet;
mso-level-text:o;
mso-level-tab-stop:none;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;
font-family:"Courier New";}
@list l5:level6
{mso-level-number-format:bullet;
mso-level-text:;
mso-level-tab-stop:none;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;
font-family:Wingdings;}
@list l5:level7
{mso-level-number-format:bullet;
mso-level-text:;
mso-level-tab-stop:none;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;
font-family:Symbol;}
@list l5:level8
{mso-level-number-format:bullet;
mso-level-text:o;
mso-level-tab-stop:none;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;
font-family:"Courier New";}
@list l5:level9
{mso-level-number-format:bullet;
mso-level-text:;
mso-level-tab-stop:none;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;
font-family:Wingdings;}
ol
{margin-bottom:0in;}
ul
{margin-bottom:0in;}
--></style><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:shapedefaults v:ext="edit" spidmax="1026" />
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:shapelayout v:ext="edit">
<o:idmap v:ext="edit" data="1" />
</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]-->
</head>
<body lang="EN-US" link="#467886" vlink="purple" style="word-wrap:break-word">
<div class="WordSection1">
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">Paul,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">See <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><a href="https://www.researchgate.net/post/Should-natural-history-museums-keep-large-series-of-common-species">https://www.researchgate.net/post/Should-natural-history-museums-keep-large-series-of-common-species</a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">and the attached paper which was spawned from the discussion have some interesting perspectives.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">I recently formalized our policy here at OSUM.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<ul style="margin-top:0in" type="disc">
<li class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-left:0in;mso-list:l5 level1 lfo3"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">I have made it a policy that I do not catalogue new marine material unless it is of special interest to staff/faculty. This represents a conscious decision
to limit growth of the collection along a major axis, but it saves a significant amount of my time, because we don’t have any marine malacologists in our department, and the collection is already weak in that area.
<o:p></o:p></span></li></ul>
<ul style="margin-top:0in" type="disc">
<li class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-left:0in;mso-list:l4 level1 lfo6"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">We cull lots of bivalves pretty aggressively, and put the culled specimens in an uncatalogued collection that we use for education/exchange with other
institutions. We don’t cull vouchers, new taxa to the collection, or rare species.
<o:p></o:p></span></li></ul>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">In order of priority, we catalogue / accept the following, regardless of how many specimens we have already:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<ol style="margin-top:0in" start="1" type="1">
<li class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-left:0in;mso-list:l2 level1 lfo9"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">Specimens that are vouchers for scientific papers and state-funded surveys (this is our principal mandate as a collection, our funding is tied to it.)<o:p></o:p></span></li><li class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-left:0in;mso-list:l2 level1 lfo9"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">Specimens of recently extinct species<o:p></o:p></span></li><li class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-left:0in;mso-list:l2 level1 lfo9"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">Specimens of species which are new to the collection<o:p></o:p></span></li><li class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-left:0in;mso-list:l2 level1 lfo9"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">Specimens of federally threatened or endangered species<o:p></o:p></span></li><li class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-left:0in;mso-list:l2 level1 lfo9"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">Specimens from countries other than the U.S.
<o:p></o:p></span></li><li class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-left:0in;mso-list:l2 level1 lfo9"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">Specimens from combinations of time and place that do not occur in the collection already, regardless of how many specimens of that species we already
have.<o:p></o:p></span></li><ul style="margin-top:0in" type="circle">
<li class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-left:0in;mso-list:l2 level2 lfo9"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">Time interval is 1 year. Space interval is based on watershed. So, if we don’t have a specimen from that watershed in that year, the lot gets added to
the queue. <o:p></o:p></span></li><li class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-left:0in;mso-list:l2 level2 lfo9"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">Lots in this category (i.e. unremarkable lots of things we already have many specimens of) will often be culled down to 1 or 2 specimens unless a large
series hasn’t been collected in a while (this is a subjective decision but can be quickly seen in the database)<o:p></o:p></span></li></ul>
</ol>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">We are newly using a Specify 7 database, which makes it easy to save queries that cover the above situations for checking things out before cataloguing.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">-N<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">--<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;line-height:13.5pt;background:white">
<span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#333333"><img border="0" width="224" height="45" style="width:2.3333in;height:.4687in" id="Picture_x0020_1" src="cid:image001.png@01DAD9D0.4F5C6090" alt="The Ohio State University"><br>
</span><b><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#BB0000;background:white">Nathaniel F. Shoobs</span></b><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#333333"><br>
Curator of Mollusks<br>
</span><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#BB0000;background:white">College of Arts & Sciences</span><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#333333"> Dept. of Evolution, Ecology, and Organismal Biology<br>
Museum of Biological Diversity, 1315 Kinnear Rd, Columbus, OH 43212<br>
614-688-1342 (Office)<br>
</span><span style="color:black"><a href="http://mbd.osu.edu"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#0563C1;background:white">mbd.osu.edu</span></a></span><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<div id="mail-editor-reference-message-container">
<div>
<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #B5C4DF 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:12.0pt"><b><span style="color:black">From:
</span></b><span style="color:black">Nhcoll-l <nhcoll-l-bounces@mailman.yale.edu> on behalf of Callomon,Paul <prc44@drexel.edu><br>
<b>Date: </b>Friday, July 19, 2024 at 11:36</span><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black"> </span><span style="color:black">AM<br>
<b>To: </b>NH-COLL listserv (nhcoll-l@mailman.yale.edu) <nhcoll-l@mailman.yale.edu><br>
<b>Subject: </b>[Nhcoll-l] FW: Automating desirability<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-line-height-alt:.75pt"><span style="font-size:1.0pt;color:white">Folks, We are working on a large-scale project to deal with the backlog of incoming material to our collection that has built up over several decades. As part of
this, we are aiming to build sets of criteria and cascading binary decision points
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-line-height-alt:.75pt"><span style="font-size:1.0pt;color:white"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">Folks,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">We are working on a large-scale project to deal with the backlog of incoming material to our collection that has built up over several decades. As part of this, we are aiming to build sets of criteria and cascading binary decision points
that will eventually allow personnel with no training in taxonomy to use an automated system to assess whether a particular specimen lot should be cataloged or not. This would become a plug-in to our database, so that workers could go directly from a label
to a decision to data input. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Examples of binaries include: How many do we already have / from that country / from that specific locality / from that time frame. Other possible criteria include, for example, “Lot size” (large lots from a single collecting event may
be more useful for analysis than single specimens), “Unique or recognized collector name,” “rarity in museum collections versus abundance in nature” (not an easy one, though aggregators and resources like iNaturalist are making this possible).</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Resulting decisions would be Catalog/Do not catalog/Set aside. Material in the last set would then be reviewed by taxonomists as happens now, but with suitably refined algorithms correctly assigning the common stuff it would hopefully be
a small proportion of the total. All collections face a decline in the numbers of in-house people who can make these decisions off the tops of their heads, and in addition to creating new career pathways into taxonomy we also need to automate those parts of
our jobs that safely can be. Collections like ours are facing a deluge of new material as a whole generation of collectors manifests impermanence – we have accepted 17,000 lots in a single family via just two donations in the last few years, for example.
</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">So to an ask: In this developmental phase we are looking for any papers published on related subjects, and particularly the creation and use of algorithms in operations like this. If you know of any papers that deal with “transforming taxonomically
informed decisions into binary algorithms” or “how can existing databases can proactively assign a relative value to an incoming lot” even tangentially or in nominally unrelated fields, please pass the reference on.
</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif;color:black">Paul Callomon</span></b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif;color:black"><br>
<i>Collection Manager, Malacology and General Invertebrates</i></span></p>
<div class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center">
<hr size="0" width="100%" align="center">
</div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:black">Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University, Philadelphia</span></b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif;color:black"><br>
</span><a href="mailto:callomon@ansp.org"><i><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif;color:blue">callomon@ansp.org</span></i></a><i><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif;color:black"> Tel 215-405-5096 - Fax 215-299-1170</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</body>
</html>