[NHCOLL-L:969] Re: Moving

[Judith Price]

One of the best opportunities offered by our move here at the Canadian Museum of Nature was in avoiding "packing."  We convinced the Treasury Board of the federal government (our major funding source) that we could pack the collection materials in newspaper and cardboard boxes, and then remove and dispose of those materials afterwards.  Or, for the same investment of money and time, we could put the collection in a state that was proof against all hazards *including* a move.

We managed to acquire good cabinets and conservation-approved mounting media, did as much rehousing and mounting as we could in the year before the move, and used the new cabinets as shipping containers.  Collection material bound for storage on shelves was boxed before allowing movers to do the packing in totes, and some of that material (e.g., Crustacea collection) is still housed in those chloroplast boxes as sorting aides on the shelves.

When appropriate materials were not available we designed some new containers for use in the rehousing.  Having invested in the molds, you can now find some of them for sale through our web page at:
http://www.nature.ca/prodserv/afstor_e.cfm 
(shameless plug department!)

Judith

On Thu, 22 Mar 2001, Laurel Casjens wrote:

> The Utah Museum of Natural History is contemplating a move in about 5
> years, and we want to start planning now.  We have the full complement
> of anthopology, geology, paleontology, and biology collections, each
> of which will need individual plans and procedures.
>
> I would be very interested in hearing from museums that have made a move, (I
> know there are a bunch of you out there).  I am most interested in planning:
> from inventory to planning box types and packing materials.  Any help you can
> offer would be most welcome.
>
> Thanks
>
> Laurel Casjens
>

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Paul C. Murphey, Ph.D.
Paleontology and Geology
University of Colorado Museum
315 UCB
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U.S.A.
(303) 492-8069
Fax: (303) 735-0128
Email: paul.murphey at colorado.edu 
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(Ms) Judith C. Price
Secretary, Canadian Society of Zoologists
Assistant Collection Manager, Invertebrates
Canadian Museum of Nature
P.O. Box 3443, Station D
Ottawa, ON  K1P 6P4
jprice at mus-nature.ca
tel. 613 566-4263
fax 613 364-4027

Please visit us at http://www.nature.ca