[NHCOLL-L:3617] SAIAB Collection Use Project

[Margie Shaw]

Good day

 

My colleagues and I are embarking on a research project in which we aim to
devise a system to monitor the uses (kinds of) and usage (degree of) of
South Africa's National Fish Collection. This collection is housed at the
South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity in Grahamstown (collection
abbreviation SAIAB), the former JLB Smith Institute of Ichthyology
(collection abbreviation RUSI ).  The collection abbreviation changed from
RUSI to SAIAB around 2001.

  

The aim of this message is to pose the following questions to the NHCOLL-L
community.  We would be grateful for any information you may be able to
furnish:

 

1) Do you know of any unpublished or published work on the specific subject
of monitoring the kinds of uses and the degree of usage of (a) natural
history collection/s?  We are particularly interested in learning from
previous studies that have developed techniques for tracking down citations
of specimens in taxonomic and other literature (e.g. searching Google
Scholar and other full-text literature databases for the collection
abbreviation - 'SAIAB' in this case);

 

2) Have you used SAIAB or RUSI specimens in any way, either by a) visiting
Grahamstown, or by b) borrowing physical specimens from SAIAB or by c)
requesting photographic images or illustrations, or by d) requesting
information such as digital specimen records, or by e) using our online
databases at http://saiab.ru.ac.za/infoportal/ ?  (please list a,b,c,d or
e).  We have, in our specimen collection database, good records of specimens
that have been borrowed by researchers working in organisations around the
world.

Our aim with this question is to roughly gauge the 'level of recognition' of
our collection among the members of NHCOLL-L at this time.  We may develop a
complete survey questionnaire if the response rate is adequate.  Also, it
may be that you have written an unpublished or published work citing our
specimens even if you were not the person whose name is recorded directly
against the borrowed specimen, and we'd like to include your name in our
literature searches;

 

3) If you are willing to send us anything you have written, photographed or
drawn, unpublished or published, hard copy or digital, we would be most
grateful.  Please address any digital contribution to the Librarian, Margie
Shaw (m.shaw at ru.ac.za) or address postal items to:

 

Collection Use Project

Margie Shaw

South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity

Private Bag 1015

Grahamstown 6140

South Africa

 

Other contact details: fax: +27 46 622 2403, tel: +27 46 603 5802 (Margie)

Institute website: http://www.saiab.ru.ac.za/

SAIAB Information Portal: http://saiab.ru.ac.za/infoportal/

 

Thank you very much in advance for your time.

 

Margie Shaw

Librarian

South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity

 

 

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