[Nhcoll-l] outsourcing specimen prep

[Bryant, James]

A modest counter proposal: I gather from the NCB Naturalis website that the organization portrays itself as a collections-oriented institution, one that exhibits collections for the general public to see. Why, then, should the processing of collections be outsourced and thus hidden that much further from public view? I'd suggest to management turning the processing of specimens into a public program, make it a visible part of the institution's fundamental services to the public. NCB Naturalis claims it is helping to train biodiversity experts for the future; what better way than exhibit the entire process for the public. The crowd sourcing of the transcription of entomology data through the efforts of Paul Flemons and his team in Australia has obviously been very successful. Why not fully realize this approach to all aspects collections management?

James

James M. Bryant
Curator of Natural History
Museum Department, City of Riverside
3580 Mission Inn Avenue
Riverside, CA 92501
(951) 826-5273
(951) 369-4970 FAX
jbryant at riversideca.gov
From: nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu [mailto:nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu] On Behalf Of O'Brien, Mark
Sent: Thursday, June 07, 2012 8:36 AM
To: nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu
Subject: Re: [Nhcoll-l] outsourcing specimen prep

My view on this is - we expect that any museum uses well-trained people that have a vested interest in doing things according to the accepted standards of whatever type of taxonomic group they work on.  Museums also have a responsibility for documenting the chain of custody and permit process.   Yes, there are many tasks that can be done by marginally-trained people, but they are done under the supervision of a curator or collection manager.

I would ask the bean-counters if they would have MacDonald's cater a state dinner.

Mark

------------------------------------------------------------
Mark F. O'Brien, Collection Manager
Insect Division, Museum of Zoology
The University of Michigan
1109 Geddes Avenue
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1079
(734)-647-2199
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From: nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu [mailto:nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu] On Behalf Of Desjardins, R.B.
Sent: Thursday, June 07, 2012 8:00 AM
To: nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu
Subject: [Nhcoll-l] outsourcing specimen prep

Hello all;

Upper management at my institute would like to being outsourcing all specimen preparation:  study skins of vertebrates, spirits for herps and fish, paleo and geo, inverts, everything (except plants, maybe) to save money.   I was curious if any other institutes  has done this or has experience with anything like this?  Personally, I think it is a bad idea (and it seems most folks here agree) but I would love to know if anyone is trying this.

Thanks,

Becky Desjardins

NCB Naturalis
Leiden, Netherlands
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