[Nhcoll-l] Why retain physical specimens

[John E Simmons]

Sarah,
You have received some wonderful answers to your question, but I would like
to add another. When I used to give tours of the collection I worked in, I
was often asked how much the collection was worth. My answer was the
collection was valuable to verify past research but its real value lay in
the research that had not yet been done because in the future, we would
have even better techniques to learn more things from the specimens.

Here is a link to a non-technical article that I wrote that addresses the
value of scientific collections and emphasizes the long view of collection
research. It might be useful when justifying the collection to
non-scientists:
http://articles.themuseumreview.org/tmr_vol3no1_simmons

--John

John E. Simmons
Writer and Museum Consultant
Museologica
*and*
Associate Curator of Collections
Earth and Mineral Science Museum & Art Gallery
Penn State University
*and*
Investigador Asociado, Departamento de Ornitologia
Museo de Historia Natural, Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, Lima


On Thu, Sep 26, 2019 at 2:02 PM Sarah K. Huber <skhuber at vims.edu> wrote:

> Recently I’ve been fielding a lot of questions about why our collection
> should retain a physical specimen once it has been digitized (e.g.,
> CT-scanned, photographed, x-rayed, etc.). I’m curious how often other
> museum professionals are asked this question and what your general
> responses are for justifying the retention of a physical specimen. Why do
> you tell people it’s important to retain a specimen?
>
>
>
> If anyone knows of article that have addressed this specific question I
> would appreciate references so that I can have them on hand for
> particularly curious visitors.
>
>
>
> Thanks,
>
> Sarah
>
>
>
> Sarah K. Huber, Ph.D.
> Curatorial Associate, VIMS Nunnally Ichthyology Collection
> Office 804.684.7104 | Collection 804.684.7285
> skhuber at vims.edu |
> http://www.vims.edu/research/facilities/fishcollection/index.php
> PO Box 1346 | 1370 Greate Rd., Gloucester Pt., VA 23062
>
>
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