[Nhcoll-l] Tracking in-house specimen usage

[Carla Cicero]

Hi Sarah - I create loans in Arctos for any bird specimens that leave the
MVZ, even if just temporary (e.g., for a class or display). I also create
in-house loans for researchers that use the bird collections in the museum,
if they are generating data or products from those specimens (genetic,
morphological, isotopes, artwork, etc.). That way I can link the specimen
usage to associated projects and publications resulting from that use. I
don't create loans if someone visits the collection and is just browsing,
that is too hard to track.

Best,
Carla

On Fri, Jan 28, 2022 at 9:05 AM Sarah K. Huber <skhuber at vims.edu> wrote:

> I would be curious how different collections track in-house usage of
> specimens. I have tried many different protocols for doing this in our
> collection, and none have been completely successful. I would also be
> curious, given your protocol, how compliant users are. (We do not have our
> specimens bar-coded, so this is not an option for tracking at this time.)
>
>
>
> I do record when specimens get re-shelved, but without knowing when they
> left the collection, I am unable to determine the amount of time (months,
> years, decades) that they were used. Therefore, my annual reporting
> statistics don’t necessarily reflect actual specimen usage.
>
>
>
> 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 |
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-- 
Carla Cicero, Ph.D
Staff Curator of Birds
Museum of Vertebrate Zoology
3101 Valley Life Sciences Building
University of California
Berkeley, CA 94720-3160
TEL: (510) 642-7868
FAX: (510) 643-8238

http://mvz.berkeley.edu
https://carlacicero.net
http://vertnet.org
https://arctosdb.org
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bird_collections
http://americanornithology.org/ <http://www.americanornithology.org/>
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