[Nhcoll-l] no data specimens

Thu Oct 14 09:41:51 EDT 2021

We regularly receive donations of entire private shell collections, often after their owner dies. Owners or their legal representatives must sign our Deed of Gift, which specifies that we (a) transfers to us unconditional legal ownership of all material and (b) clearly states that we reserve the right to dispose of part or all of the collection in an appropriate way.
The sheer size of these collections often means that we will discard a considerable proportion, mainly because many specimens do not have a date of collection and/or sufficiently specific locality data to make them useful to science. Lacking an institutional registrar, we are able to separate this material before any collection cataloging takes place and the problem of "de-accessioning" thus does not arise (note the distinction between assuming legal ownership and accessioning).
We maintain several large "free shells for kids" buckets, from which visitors and their kids can pick out shells to take home. These are currently only brought out during specific events such as Academy Members' Night or the Philadelphia Shell Show, but there is no reason why they could not be a permanent feature of the children's area of the museum. We certainly have enough surplus shells. Occasionally Academy benefactors or board members will bring their kids or grandkids for a "behind-the-scenes-tour" and letting them loose with a bag in the shell buckets is a major highlight that all enjoy.
In consigning material to the Free Shells bucket, we first remove any labels and weed out anything that has dangerously sharp edges or spines. Kids love picking shells out and filling a bag, and I know from my own experience that being able to take shells home at an early age can spark a lifelong attachment to them.
Removing the labels anonymizes the shells, allowing wonder and curiosity to operate properly, and avoids any complications that might arise if they could still be linked to their previous owners. If someone asks, we can always tell them what species a shell represents, and roughly where it is from, though to date very few people have. However, we get very positive feedback from members and visitors about their children's experience with the "shell buckets" and donors are pleased to hear that their surplus material is helping inspire natural curiosity in a new generation.

Paul Callomon
Collection Manager, Malacology and General Invertebrates
________________________________
Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University
1900 Benjamin Franklin Parkway, Philadelphia PA 19103-1195, USA
prc44 at drexel.edu<mailto:prc44 at drexel.edu> Tel 215-405-5096 - Fax 215-299-1170

From: Nhcoll-l <nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu> On Behalf Of Catherine Early (she/her)
Sent: Thursday, October 14, 2021 9:18 AM
To: nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu
Subject: [Nhcoll-l] no data specimens

External.
Hello all,

I have a two-part question today:

1) Is there any scientific value to tanned hides with no data? We have many large mammal hides that were purchased from fur suppliers in the 1970's that take up a lot of room but lack data. We might keep one of each species for identification, but otherwise, they do not belong in a scientific collection (where we are constantly running out of space), correct?

2) Have any of your institutions developed protocols for deaccessioning no data specimens into the hands of private citizens? We will prioritize giving no data (former) specimens to education centers, but there is a limited need for no data shell collections that previous curators accepted from donors, so we will likely need to look elsewhere. We know that we would be limited in what we could give to private citizens by permit restrictions for owning wildlife parts, but we're also very concerned with devaluing public opinions of specimens by creating the impression that specimens can just be given away. I would love to hear any language or agreements you've developed to make it clear why items are deaccessioned and how they differ from scientific specimens.

Thanks,
Catherine

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Catherine M. Early, PhD

she/her

Barbara Brown Chair of Ornithology

e: cearly at smm.org<mailto:cearly at smm.org>

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