[Nhcoll-l] [EXT]Re: Shelf depth for EtOH jar collections

Wed Feb 15 12:34:08 EST 2023

Hi Tonya,

We use a mobile compactor system to house our fluid-preserved collection and it works quite well. For the fish collection (~ 64,000 lots), we use the two lower shelves for larger jars, we keep small stainless-steel tanks (114 L) on dollies on the lowest shelf, and the smaller jars (≤ 4 L) are kept on the top four shelves. We do not keep jars in boxes but rather have earthquake restraint bars on our shelving units (see attached images). The shelves are 47 cm (18 ½ inches) deep with a width of ~91 cm (36 inches), and that gives us enough space for different jar sizes without compromising safety. We house fluid-preserved specimens in several separate rooms to comply with the fire regulations stipulating a maximum of 18,800 litres of flammable liquid per room.

For the comparatively smaller herpetological collection (~38,00 jars), many jars are kept in corrugated plastic sheet bins that were custom-made for the CMN collections. This collection is grouped by jar size for each species (or lowest taxonomic level) and although it saves up space, I find it somewhat harder to locate specimens quickly when they are separated by size on a shelf.

Please let me know if you’d like more info.

Cheers,

Stephanie

Stéphanie Tessier
Collections Manager, Vertebrate Zoology
Gestionnaire des collections, zoologie des vertébrés
Canadian Museum of Nature / Musée canadien da la nature
613 364-4087
stessier at nature.ca<mailto:stessier at nature.ca>

From: Nhcoll-l <nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu> On Behalf Of Bentley, Andrew Charles
Sent: Wednesday, February 15, 2023 11:03 AM
To: Tom Schiøtte <tschioette at snm.ku.dk>; Haff, Tonya (NCMI, Crace) <Tonya.Haff at csiro.au>; nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu
Subject: [EXT]Re: [Nhcoll-l] Shelf depth for EtOH jar collections

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Most fire marshals here in the US will not allow wooden trays or trays of any kind.  Wood is flammable and as such should not be allowed in alcohol facilities as an added combustible (we are also not allowed any cardboard boxes or the like).  Trays also prevent water from sprinkler systems from being able to penetrate through upper shelves to lower shelves to extinguish a potential fire.

Here at KU we have shelves that are 430mm deep in compactors and some static shelves (our storage facility is not a uniform shape and thus precludes all computerized shelves.  We also have earthquake bars on the front of our shelves which would prevent the use of trays as they would be very hard to get out.  Our shelves are spaced 270mm apart throughout the collection with spaces below static shelves for tanks and larger jars.  There is very little toppling risk with the jar sizes and shelf liners that we use here.  See attached images

I feel that collection spaces are always a balance between management and use and finding a happy middle ground that allows for both effectively.  I feel like a jar size arrangement errs too far to the management side thus making the collection less useful.  I understand the issues of space and growth and that our collection is not growing as rapidly as some but there are other ways of resolving the taxonomy situation.  You can use a storage field (or storage tree in Specify) as a proxy for any taxonomic changes in the collection negating having to move anything while still keeping your taxonomy up to date.  However, eager to see how Rob’s new system works.

My two cents

Andy
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Andy Bentley
Ichthyology Collection Manager
University of Kansas
Biodiversity Institute
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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 Tom Schiøtte
Sent: Wednesday, February 15, 2023 3:47 AM
To: Haff, Tonya (NCMI, Crace) <Tonya.Haff at csiro.au<mailto:Tonya.Haff at csiro.au>>; nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu<mailto:nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu>
Subject: Re: [Nhcoll-l] Shelf depth for EtOH jar collections

Hi Tonya,

In Copenhagen we (generally) use shelves that are 500 mm deep. The problems that Dirk outlined with deep shelves is solved by having jars placed in wooden trays that are 500 x 235 mm (and 70 mm tall). The whole tray can be taken out for topping up, and we don’t risk toppling other jars if we reach for one at the inner part of the shelf. Moreover we have the benefit that we can put labels about contents on the outer end of the tray.

Larger jars that don’t fit in the trays or on the shelves are put on bottom shelves with double or triple height.

For some historical reason one of our collections uses the system in a slightly downscaled version with smaller shelf depth and therefore shorter trays. The principle remains the same, though.

Cheers

Tom

Tom Schiøtte

Collection manager, Echinodermata & Mollusca
Natural History Museum of Denmark (Zoology)
Universitetsparken 15
DK 2100 Copenhagen OE

+45 35 32 10 48
TSchioette at snm.ku.dk<mailto:TSchioette at snm.ku.dk>

From: Nhcoll-l <nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu<mailto:nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu>> On Behalf Of Haff, Tonya (NCMI, Crace)
Sent: 15. februar 2023 04:26
To: nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu<mailto:nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu>
Subject: [Nhcoll-l] Shelf depth for EtOH jar collections

Hi again everyone,

We are getting down to the pointy bit of having to confirm the desired depth of shelving for our new ethanol vault storage. Right now our shelves are only about 300mm deep, which is really not deep enough for some larger containers. We have specified 440mm deep shelving for the new space, but before pushing ‘go’ I thought I would ask if any of you have thoughts or very strong opinions about optimal shelf depth for storing jars of various sizes and smaller drums.

Thanks in advance for your input!

Cheers,

Tonya

-------------------------------------------------
Dr. Tonya M. Haff
Collection Manager
Australian National Wildlife Collection
CSIRO
+61(0)419569109
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