[Nhcoll-l] [EXT]Re: Numbers on specimens

Tue Aug 30 16:16:48 EDT 2022

Hi Liath,

  1.  Choosing the best place for your numbers …How easily can B-72 be removed after it has been sitting for possibly years?

B72 is used by conservators because it has good aging characteristics and is relatively easily reversed. It remains about as soluble as it starts off as over time.

  1.  Has anyone ever been in a position where the number placement has been problematic … how were you able to resolve the issue …

I have been asked on multiple occasions to remove a number from a museum artefact. So long as the base layer of B72 is present, it is relatively easy to remove. You just swab it off with solvent. If the number has been directly applied with no barrier layer, the number can be hard to remove, especially if the material is porous. In such circumstances it may be impossible to completely remove the old number.
On other occasions you may get a bit of a “water stain” where the solvent was applied to remove the number. Sometimes the solvent over-cleans the surface where the number was removed, or the material is affected by the solvent. If the material is porous, the solvent may draw dirt and residues into the surface, where it becomes impossible to remove.

  1.  Is there anyone who made the decision to NOT put numbers on specimens and why? Was it simply a matter of saving time, or were there more specific reasons?

I have not numbered items where the solvent will affect the material the number is being applied to. You can use B72 in ethanol where the material is affected by acetone, or a waterbased acrylic medium where both acetone and ethanol will cause damage, but where even water will affect things, then one may choose a string tag, or a labeled container if numbering is not possible.
In some cases (like with historic lace), the material is too fine/small to apply a number directly. With gemstones, they may be so small that it is disfiguring to cover a large percentage of the surface area with a number, so I have inserted the item in a foam cut out in a small polystyrene, clear box, and numbered the box. The item can be seen and handled in the box, and only needs to be taken out for more detailed analysis, then re-inserted in the box immediately after.

Valerie Tomlinson

From: Nhcoll-l <nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu> On Behalf Of Liath Appleton
Sent: Tuesday, August 30, 2022 3:37 PM
To: Cindy Opitz <cindy-opitz at uiowa.edu>
Cc: nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu
Subject: [EXT]Re: [Nhcoll-l] Numbers on specimens

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Thanks for all of your input. Our previous protocol (before we stopped numbering) was similar to what many of you are currently using - https://wikis.utexas.edu/display/specify6/NPL+Tasks%3A+Specimen+Numbering
I am hoping to improve our procedures and streamline things moving forward, and would appreciate further input on the following questions:

To Cindy Opitz: do you know why your collection uses the clear gel rather than another layer of B-72? Is it less likely to smudge, easier to apply, less expensive, or something else?

To everyone else:
1. Choosing the best place for your numbers - a spot that appears to be a good place for a number now, may not always be a good place later, or may be in the way if the specimen is photographed at a future date. How easily can B-72 be removed after it has been sitting for possibly years? Is it about the same as when it is relatively new?

2. Has anyone ever been in a position where the number placement has been problematic for research purposes, and how were you able to resolve the issue - if at all.

3. Is there anyone who made the decision to NOT put numbers on specimens and why? Was it simply a matter of saving time, or were there more specific reasons?

Thanks again, for your help.

Liath Appleton
Collections Manager
Non-Vertebrate Paleontology Lab
University of Texas at Austin
Bldg PRC122 - campus mail code R8500
10100 Burnet Road
Austin, TX 78758

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On Tue, Aug 30, 2022 at 12:52 AM Dirk Neumann <d.neumann at leibniz-lib.de<mailto:d.neumann at leibniz-lib.de>> wrote:
... just to add to Ronald:

there was the very informative presentation of Jacki Whisenant in Edinburgh at the SPNHC Conference on the different qualities of pens (Osteoscribing: writing on bones); definitely worth watching the Zoom recording!

With best wishes
Dirk

Am 30.08.2022 um 02:35 schrieb Ron Eng:
Currently I work primarily with fossil specimens. I would second what Carrie Eaton had said.

I prefer to write directly on the specimen (fossils and minerals) when possible. Ideally there is some matrix that will provide a suitable (unobtrusive) spot.
Use archival products.

Penmanship sample—I will give students and volunteers a blank label and ask them to write down their contact information

Here are the tools that we use

Sakura Pigma® Micron black ink pen
We currently use the Pigma® Micron pens because of the convenience with multiple users. They are available in a range of point size. We have now been using them for more than two decades.

Koh-I-Noor® RAPIDOGRAPH® pens
                        Recommended sizes: 0 and 00
                        Koh-I-Noor® black India ink
This is the best tried and true method. The Koh-I-Noor® ink and pens are the standard. However the pens require a bit of care and maintenance.

for DARK specimens
1.      We use white acrylic paint to paint a rectangular writing surface
2.      We use a Sakura white Pentouch® Marker to write directly on the specimen. (The smallest tip size is a bit broad.)

For a clear coat painted over the written number
Paraloid B72 (ethyl methacrylate co-polymer) clear lacquer
(25% solution by weight in acetone)
Note: the clear B72 lacquer may make the Pigma® Micron pen ink run if the ink has not dried completely.

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Geology & Paleontology Collections Manager
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Burke Museum
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From: Nhcoll-l <nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu><mailto:nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu> On Behalf Of Fox, Marilyn
Sent: Monday, August 29, 2022 9:44 AM
To: nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu<mailto:nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu>
Subject: Re: [Nhcoll-l] Numbers on specimens

This is a poster that covers the labeling techniques that Carrie mentioned.
https://vertpaleo.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Davidson_et_al_2006.pdf

We prefer the Paraloid B72 'sandwich' method and have used it on all sorts of surfaces.

Marilyn Fox (marilyn.fox at yale.edu<mailto:marilyn.fox at yale.edu>)
Chief Preparator, Division of Vertebrate Paleontology
Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History
Collections Study Center
900 West Campus Drive, Room K224
West Haven CT 06516

________________________________
From: Nhcoll-l <nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu<mailto:nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu>> on behalf of Carrie A. Eaton <carrie at geology.wisc.edu<mailto:carrie at geology.wisc.edu>>
Sent: Monday, August 29, 2022 12:28 PM
To: Liath Appleton <liathappleton at gmail.com<mailto:liathappleton at gmail.com>>; nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu<mailto:nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu> <nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu<mailto:nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu>>
Subject: Re: [Nhcoll-l] Numbers on specimens

Hi Liath,
We apply numbers directly to specimens here – minerals, rocks, fossils alike. Depending on the coloration, surface texture, etc I will use a few different techniques using an archival varnish, titanium white acrylic paint, india ink, and other archival safe products. We use a technique in our prep lab now to keep data with the specimen where preparators will cut out a small piece of Japanese rice paper or archival tissue, write the number on with archival pen, and then adhere this small rectangle of paper to the surface with B72 or B76 (stole this idea from Amy Davidson – thank you!) as a ‘temporary number’ but so far it seems like our temporary prep lab labels have been staying on just as well as the painted/ink ones. My students/volunteers have varying abilities when it comes to writing tiny and/or cleanly so when I find a student who has great tiny writing, they almost always get put on cataloging and numbering for as much as they can stand it. Other curatorial duties (cavity mounts, making boxes, data entry) are then the tasks of my students from whom handwriting is a challenge. It all is helpful!
Cheers,
Carrie

Carrie Eaton, Museum Curator
UW Geology Museum
1215 West Dayton Street
Madison, WI 53706
608.262.4912
twitter @uwgeologymuseum
facebook.com/uwgeologymuseum<http://facebook.com/uwgeologymuseum>

From: Nhcoll-l <nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu<mailto:nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu>> On Behalf Of Liath Appleton
Sent: Monday, August 29, 2022 11:16 AM
To: nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu<mailto:nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu>
Subject: [Nhcoll-l] Numbers on specimens

As most of you know, specimens often have their old numbers written somewhere directly on the surface of the object. In our collections we do not write numbers on the specimens, primarily because the previous curator didn't want to police the handwriting skills of her volunteers. That makes sense, but I think that we really should have the numbers on there somehow. Some people have suggested printing out the numbers and using some type of glue to adhere the numbers to the specimens. I've seen this done before, but I've also seen many of those labels falling off over time. When I managed mollusk collections, writing directly on the shell surface was usually easy to do, but for my current collections that consist primarily of fossils, rocks and minerals, writing on the surface can be tricky. For those of you who do apply numbers to specimens, what are your thoughts on the subject?
Thanks ---Liath

Liath Appleton
Collections Manager
Non-Vertebrate Paleontology Lab
University of Texas at Austin
Bldg PRC122 - campus mail code R8500
10100 Burnet Road
Austin, TX 78758

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