[NHCOLL-L:1159] request for info about managment of natural history collections

[Piet Stoffelen]

In the herbarium of The National Botanic Garden of Belgium (BR) houses
many holdings of the 19th. century.
The managment of such historical collection has its own problems.

My question is if some one can advise my or can give the references of a
good book/course about the managment of natural history collections.


As I had made some revisions of African genera I am well informed about
the botanical aspects of the herbarium collections. I known also some
good manuals about herbarium managment. They give a good review of the
botanical aspects of the collection managment but they do not discuss
other aspect such managment of historical collections and archives
(infact herbariums itself are archives). Nevertheless the historical
herbarium collections are more than botanical collections.
I would like to inform me about these aspects too.


Some examples of problems are:
What we have to do when the paper on which a specimen is mounted is of a
bad quality? What to do if the format of the mounted specimens is larger
than the cabinets of the herbarium? How to add label on historical
collection? .....

Thanks in advance,

Piet
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Dr. Piet Stoffelen

National Botanic Garden of Belgium
----------------------------------
Domein van Bouchout
B-1860 Meise
Belgium
Phone: +32-(0)2-269.39.05 ---------- Fax: +32-(0)2-270.15.67