[NHCOLL-L:1529] photographic prints/slides

[Liz McGhee]

	I have a question for all you collection managers out there. 
John Simmons at KU was kind enough to tell me how he dealt with 
photos and slides of herps and I thought I'd ask the rest of you how 
you handle these items as well.  I've included John's very 
informative reply below FYI.
	How do you approach cataloguing photographs of herps (or any 
other critters for that matter)?  We have accepted photos of birds as 
"specimens" in the case of range extensions, county/state records, 
endangered species for years now without also having the real 
specimen in hand.  More recently I have done so with a few herps (on 
a limited basis).  They are catalogued with all of our "regular" 
specimens.
	My situation is this:  a researcher has contracted to do herp 
surveys at several national parks.  The parks do not wish anything to 
be collected except incidental road kills but do want photos of all 
species recorded by the researcher and to place said photos or slides 
in a museum collection as "vouchers".  Don't know if these would be 
the first records for the park, range extensions, or what.  I think 
we're talking possibly a couple of hundred photos/slides.  So do you 
accept photographic images as "specimens"?  What is your protocol for 
accepting or rejecting photos?  Do you catalogue them separately? 
Does a photographic specialist handle these types of materials or is 
it within the purview of the overworked collection manager.  Thanks 
for all your input.  See John Simmons reply below.

Liz

Liz,
We maintain a collection of about 14,000 color slides and another 500 or so
black & white and color prints.  About 45% of our color slides are of
individual specimens in the collection.  Many are the only "specimen" to
voucher geographic occurrence, and so forth.

We use four series of catalog numbers here.  The principle catalog is the
numbers for the collection of actual specimens (fluid, skeletal, dry).  The
second series is prefaced CT (for color transparency) and is for the color
slides.  The third series is for prints (and negatives). The fourth is for
audio recordings.  If I were starting this system all over, I would use a
single series for "images" be they slides, prints, negatives, or electronic
images.  Whenever an image or a recording is of an individual in the
collection, we cross-reference it in both catalogs.  For a few specimens, we
actually have the fluid specimen, part removed as a dry skeleton, an audio
recording of the call, and an image of it in life. 

The new database we are using (SPECIFY) will allow you to "catalog"
non-specimens, meaning we will be able to link field observations, images,
sounds, etc up to specimens collected with them in the database.  We will
retain the different series of catalog numbers, but (for example) if you
look up Acris crepitans in the database, you will get not just a list of
specimens but also a list of recordings and images of the species, too.

You should probably use some sort of release form which will allow you free
and clear use of the images that you catalog.  This will allow you to loan
them to researchers, put them on the web, etc.  Its just a simple statement
that says the collector is giving you rights to the photograph.

Hope this helps.

--John
-- 

M.Elizabeth McGhee - Asst. Curator
Mammal, Bird, Reptile and Amphibian Collections
Georgia Museum of Natural History
University of Georgia
Athens, GA  30602-1882

phone:   706-542-3940
fax:     706-542-3920
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