[Nhcoll-l] Rehousing specimens and retaining labels

[William Poly]

And multiple backups of all digital data would be useful.  As others noted,
the original labels contain useful info and should be saved.


On Thu, Jun 3, 2021 at 4:06 AM Simon Moore <couteaufin at btinternet.com>
wrote:

> At the Natural History Museum in London we mounted all old / redundant
> labels into stamp albums with Mylar strips. This was to preserve
> handwritings of former curators and conservators, also some historic
> labels.  I was unsure about relying entirely on digital data system to keep
> this vital resource but that in the days when data systems could be hacked
> and injected with erasure viruses. However, it left an impression with me
> which is why I’m still rather sceptical about trusting all of my vital data
> to the computer!
>
> With all good wishes, Simon
>
> Simon Moore MIScT, RSci, FLS, ACR
> Conservator of Natural Sciences and Cutlery Historian,
>
>
> https://avanan.url-protection.com/v1/url?o=www.natural-history-conservation.com&g=ZDU5ZDg0OWM3Mjk4Mzk4MQ==&h=OTgyN2JkMjJkNTU0Y2QxOTBkZWFiYjg0OTljZTVkNTg2MDU1ZDRiNjk5OTZhYmJhZTg4NzI4ZDdkZTliODcyYQ==&p=YXAzOmNhbGFjYWRlbXk6YXZhbmFuOmc6NGE4ZjQyZGUyZWRkYzUwOWU0NDBjZWEyYTAwYzY5Yjc6djE=
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> > On 2 Jun 2021, at 18:03, Nicole Seiden <nseiden at fau.edu> wrote:
> >
> > Hello everyone,
> >
> > We are about to begin a major reorganization project here at Harbor
> Branch to conserve on space and allow for future growth. One part to this
> project includes rehousing wet specimens into smaller size-appropriate
> jars, with our smallest jar being 20mL scintillation vials, then barcoding
> and organizing the jars by size. I’ve run into a dilemma with this however,
> and I wanted to ask the community for suggestions.
> >
> > Specimens housed in 20mL vials are currently stored in larger 8 oz jars
> so the handwritten collection label and printed label (2”x 3”) are housed
> with the specimen. By removing the 8 oz jars though, we can save a
> substantial amount of space. For example – we can house more than 5,500
> scintillation jars in a single column of shelves, as opposed to ~900 8 oz
> jars per column. The problem with the small scintillation jars is that the
> collection labels are too large to store inside of them. While these jars
> will be barcoded with catalog numbers and unique location, I’m still
> uncomfortable with removing the internal specimen labels.
> >
> > One idea is to house these labels in a near-by folder and after this
> project is completed, printing off new jar-size appropriate labels,
> possibly with reduced information. The original handwritten labels will
> likely have to stay in this folder long-term though.
> >
> > I’m curious if anyone else has tackled this dilemma, or might have ideas
> on how they would address it if it were their own collection?
> >
> > Forever curious,
> > Nicki
> >
> >
> >
> > Nicki L. Seiden, M.Sc.
> > She/Her/Hers
> > Research Collection Manager
> > Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute
> > nseiden at fau.edu
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