[Nhcoll-l] Problematic Catalog Numbers

[Kirchner-Smith, Mackenzie]

Hello everyone,

Thank you to everyone who replied to my previous question about storing nests.

Now I am looking for some advice on a problem I have encountered with the numbers of our bird specimen collection. I am working through an inventory of everything we have right now, including an inventory of all the unprepared specimens in our freezers. In doing the freezer inventory, we found that there are specimens in the freezer that were never prepared but were given catalog numbers before preparation. I have never encountered this being done before, so I have no idea how common or uncommon it may be. I do however recognize the issues with such a protocol, as we used to have an additional freezer (prior to my starting at this institution) that failed and was not noticed to have failed until everything inside had rotted. I have no idea if an inventory of what was lost was taken before it was tossed, or whether unprepared specimens with catalog numbers were lost when this occurred, but based on what was found in the other freezers I suspect some were.

Has anyone else encountered this kind if scenario and have some kind of protocol for dealing with the aftermath? Without any notes about what specimens remained unprepared I suspect I may never be able to determine which were lost, but the current plan is to label anything not found at the end of the inventory as ‘missing’ in the database. I have also found some notes written in the margins of the catalog pages saying things like “285 to be prepared” but no additional information.

Any advice or insight is appreciated. Or even just hearing that my situation isn’t completely unique!

Thank you!

- Mackenzie


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Dr. Mackenzie Kirchner, she/her
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