[NHCOLL-L:4883] Best Practices Survey - Natural History Collections

[Melissa Barton]

The Documentation Committee of the Society for the Preservation of
Natural History Collections (SPNHC) requests your participation in a
survey involving best practice topics pertinent to natural history
museums. The survey was generated as part of an internship from the
RCN (Research Coordination Network) for Building a National Community
of Natural History Collections (http://www.collectionsweb.org/),
sponsored by SPNHC, and hosted by the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of
Natural History (SNOMNH).

This survey seeks to better understand the information and resource
needs of the natural history collections community, including museums,
parks, university collections, and other organizations caring for
natural and cultural history collections. The purpose is to identify,
collect, and provide information about best practices specific to
natural history collections, including current helpful resources.
Holes or gaps in best practices need to be identified and addressed.
This survey is the first step in identifying these holes.

The results of this survey will be used to guide the creation of an
in-depth resource website on natural history collections best
practices, to be hosted by the SPNHC at http://www.spnhc.org. The
results will also be published in the SPNHC Journal, “Collection
Forum.” All answers will remain confidential and no results will be
publicly associated with an institution or individual unless specific
permission is granted.

We appreciate you filling out the survey by clicking on the link
below. The survey consists of 31 questions and should take about 10
minutes to fill out. There are no required answers. Your responses
will help determine which topics are of most concern to the natural
history community, which will be addressed first on the website.

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/DLPDRNX

We are seeking responses from people with registration and collections
management responsibilities for natural history collections. Since we
can’t always catch the right people via listservs, please feel free to
pass this on to a more appropriate individual, or to interested
colleagues elsewhere.

Thank you for your help!

Liz Leith, SPNHC Documentation Committee Co-Chair (etereba at ou.edu)
Marcy Revelez, SPNHC Documentation Committee Co-Chair (mrevelez at ou.edu)
Melissa Barton, SPNHC/RCN Intern (melissa.barton at colorado.edu)