Contents 1 Statement of Purpose 2 Back to Basics Skillshare Symposium, Edinburgh June 2022 3 Contributors Statement of Purpose This page offers SPNHC members a place to share techniques, protocols, and workflows. Content formally presented at the SPNHC 2022 meeting in Edinburgh during the Back to Basics: Museum Techniques Skillshare Symposium is indicated when applicable. Back to Basics…
Contents 1 Statement of Purpose 2 Introduction 3 Keywords 4 Methods 5 Equipment 6 File Formats 7 Novel Uses 8 References Statement of Purpose This page will provide an overview of the utility for microtomography in a museum setting, considerations for specimens and considerations for destructive sampling, and resources for further information. Introduction Micro-computed tomography (micro-CT or microtomography) is a non-destructive imaging technique…
Contents 1 Statement of Purpose 2 Notes on Application 3 Mounting Media Considerations 4 Conservation Problems to Address 5 References Statement of Purpose These links and documents contain information about best practices for microscope slide curation. Notes on Application Especially small invertebrate specimens like worms, insects, crustaceans, and mites are mounted as whole mounts on microscope…
Introduction See description of Mercury chloride, (I) Hg2Cl2 and (II) HgCl2 (sublimate) on Biocides page. Links http://www.conservation-wiki.com/wiki/Health_%26_Safety:_Heavy_Metals,_their_Salts,_and_other_Compounds http://www.conservation-wiki.com/wiki/Tin-Mercury_Amalgam_Mirrors#Health_.26_Safety
Published: March 26, 2025 Committees
About The Membership Committee is responsible for activities that promote membership growth and diversity, and encourage the retention of existing members. Committee Members Up-to-date membership for committee. Committee Documents Membership Committee Description from the Leadership Manual
Published: March 26, 2025 Committees
About The Long Range Planning Committee is responsible for developing, reviewing, and updating the Society’s five-year strategic plan, and for presenting the plan to Council for approval. Committee Members Up-to-date membership for committee. Committee Documents Long Range Planning Committee Description from the Leadership Manual
Contents 1 Statement of Purpose 2 Introduction 3 Contributors 4 Loan Protocols 4.1 Outgoing Loans 4.2 Incoming Loans (Borrows) 4.3 Internal Loans 4.4 Tracking loans 5 Community Standards Statement of Purpose These links and documents contain information about best practices for loaning natural history collections between and within institutions. Introduction An institution typically lends and borrows collection items for the purpose of research/study,…
Published: March 26, 2025 Committees
Contents 1 About 2 Committee Members 3 Links 4 Committee Documents About The Legislation and Regulations Committee acts as SPNHC’s clearinghouse for information and events related to laws, regulations, permits and related issues affecting the collection, possession, ownership and transportation of natural history specimens. Committee Members Up-to-date membership for committee. Links Category:Legislation and Regulations Committee Documents Legislation and Regulations…
Contents 1 Contributors 2 Introduction 3 Setting the Stage: Types of Standards 4 Identifying Material Standards 4.1 Labeling Substrates 4.1.1 Paper 4.1.1.1 Preservation Issues 4.1.2 Coated Paper 4.1.2.1 Preservation Issues 4.1.3 Synthetic Papers 4.1.3.1 Polyethylene – Tyvek® 4.1.3.2 Spun-Bound Polyester 4.2 Ink and Printing Technologies 4.2.1 Manual Marking 4.2.1.1 Pens 4.2.1.2 Stamps 4.2.1.3 Pencils 4.2.2 Printing Technologies 4.2.2.1 Inkjet Printing 4.2.2.2 Key Requirements 4.2.2.3 Laser Printing (and Photocopiers) 4.2.2.4 Key Requirements and Tests 4.2.2.5 Thermal Transfer Printing 4.3 Attaching…
Contents 1 Statement of Purpose 2 Contributors 3 Restoration/renovation 3.1 Rehydration 3.2 Deaccessioning 4 Labels and systems for printing 5 Identification and sorting of collected material 5.1 Accessioning 5.2 Georeferencing 5.3 Cataloging 5.4 Collection organization 6 Storage in collection 6.1 Preservation types 6.2 Sensitive and rare specimen handling/preserving 6.3 Fluid preserved invertebrate handling and storage 6.3.1 Clear glass, screw-top jars 6.3.1.1 Types of glass 6.4 Plastic Containers 6.5 Vials Containing Whole Specimens 6.6 Stainless…
Published: March 26, 2025 Best Practices, Curation
Contents 1 Statement of Purpose 2 Contributors 3 Guidelines for curation and management 4 Processing of Specimens 4.1 Acquisition and accession 4.2 Handling of type material 4.2.1 Primary types 4.2.2 Secondary types 4.3 Labeling 4.4 Archiving collection documents 4.5 Data capture 5 Arrangement of Main Collection 6 Conservation of Specimens 7 Access and Use of Collections 7.1 Specimen use 7.1.1 Student or thesis collections 7.1.2 Teaching and exhibition 7.1.3 Loan policies 7.1.4 Destructive sampling…
Contents 1 Statement of Purpose 2 Contributors 3 Collections and their Impact 3.1 Economy and trade 3.2 Changes over time 3.3 Environmental Quality 3.4 Food and agriculture 3.5 Public Health and Safety 3.6 National Security 3.7 Invasive Species 3.8 Scientific Treasures 3.9 Unanticipated Uses / New data 4 Who Uses Natural History Collections? 5 Consequences of Orphaned Collections 6 Links 7 Resources 8 References Statement of Purpose Our ability to understand the…
Contents 1 Statement of Purpose 2 Contributors 3 Recommended Equipment 4 Imaging specimens 5 Imaging Back-up Statement of Purpose These links and documents contain information about best practices for imaging live animals in the field. Contributors Content generated during The American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists (ASIH) Annual Joint Meeting – 2016, during an iDigBio sponsored workshop by the following…
Published: March 26, 2025 Best Practices, Committees
Contents 1 Statement of Purpose 2 Links Statement of Purpose This page is produced by the IDEA Committee as a page of resources related to Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Access within the natural history community. If you know of any resources that would be of use that we should add, please contact the committee. Links A Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Reading List, with…
Published: March 26, 2025 Committees
Contents 1 About 2 Committee Members 3 Links About IDEA stands for Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Access. This committee was officially founded in April 2021 as a full committee The function of the IDEA committee is the following: Committee Members Up-to-date membership for committee. Links For links and other aggregated resources related to inclusion, diversity, equity, and access…
Contents 1 Statement of Purpose 2 Introduction 3 Contributors 4 Fluid-Preservation Techniques 4.1 Preservation of tissue samples 4.2 Fixation and Preservation (Adult Fishes) 4.3 Formalin Fixation 4.4 Ethanol Fixation 4.5 Fixation and Preservation (Marine fish eggs and larvae) Statement of Purpose These links and documents contain information about ichthyology specimen preparation. Introduction Contributors Content generated during The American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists (ASIH)…
Contents 1 Statement of Purpose 2 Contributors 3 Restoration/renovation 3.1 Rehydration 3.2 Deaccessioning 4 Labels and systems for printing 5 Identification and sorting of collected material 5.1 Accessioning 5.2 Georeferencing 5.3 Cataloging 5.4 Collection organization 6 Storage in collection (containers) 6.1 Sensitive and rare specimen handling/preserving 6.2 Clear glass, screw-top jars 6.3 Glass Gasket jars 6.4 Plastic Containers 6.5 Vials Containing Whole Specimens 6.6 Stainless steel tanks Statement of Purpose These…
Contents 1 Statement of Purpose 2 Introduction 3 Contributors 4 Fixation and Preservation 4.1 Preservation of tissue samples 4.2 Formalin Fixation 5 Links 5.1 Consensus Documents 5.2 Community Standards 5.3 Review Documents 6 References Statement of Purpose These links and documents contain information about herpetology specimen preparation. Introduction Contributors Content generated during The American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists (ASIH) Annual Joint Meeting – 2016, during…
Contents 1 Statement of Purpose 2 Introduction 3 Contributors 4 Source Material 5 Restoration/renovation 5.1 Rehydration 5.2 Deaccessioning 6 Labels and systems for printing 7 Identification and sorting of collected material 7.1 Accessioning 7.2 Cataloging 7.3 Collection organization 8 Storage in collection (containers) 8.1 Sensitive and rare specimen handling/preserving 8.2 Clear glass, screw-top jars 8.3 Glass Gasket jars 8.4 Plastic Containers 8.5 Vials Containing Whole Specimens 8.6 Stainless steel tanks Statement of Purpose These…
Contents 1 Statement of Purpose 2 Contributors 3 Types of Geological Collections 4 Acquisition 5 Curation 5.1 Identification 5.2 Cataloging 5.3 Georeferencing 5.4 Labeling 5.5 Storage and Organization 6 Policies 6.1 Access 6.2 Health and Safety 7 Links 8 References Statement of Purpose Geological collections are extremely broad in scope and inlcude paleontological, petrological, mineralogical and many other types of materials. These collections are the foundation of our understanding of…
Published: March 26, 2025 Best Practices
Contents 1 Statement of Purpose 2 Introduction 3 Developing Policies 3.1 Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) 3.2 Guide to operations 4 Funding and Budgets 5 Facility Management 5.1 Access and security 5.2 Space planning 5.3 Lighting 5.4 Flooring 5.5 Ventilation 5.6 Oxygen monitors 5.7 Backup precautions 6 Genetic and Genomic Collections Storage 6.1 Temperature considerations 6.2 Liquid nitrogen cryovats 6.3 Liquid nitrogen supply 6.4 Mechanical freezers and refrigerators 7 Operational Best Practice 7.1 Facility functions and services…
Contents 1 Statement of Purpose 2 Contributor 3 Introduction 4 Code of Conduct for Paleontological Collectors 5 Additional Resources Statement of Purpose This document is being created as a guideline for all field collections involving paleontology as a list of do’s and don’ts when you are on someone else’s land. Contributor Jacob Bridy Introduction While cultivating a friendly working relationship…
Contents 1 Statement of Purpose 2 Recommendations 3 Food Management Policy & Procedures 3.1 Special events 3.1.1 Case Study: Special events 3.2 Staff issues 3.2.1 Case Studies: Staff issues 3.3 Visitor issues 3.3.1 Case Study: Visitor issues 3.4 Vendor food location 3.4.1 Case Study: Vendor food location 3.5 Design of food 3.5.1 Case Study: Design of food 3.6 Food preparation areas 3.6.1 Case Study: Food preparation areas 4 Links 5 Contributors Statement…
Contents 1 Statement of Purpose 2 Introduction 3 Importance of stable environment for long-term preservation 3.1 Unstable storage environment accelerates deterioration 4 Temperature based expansion of ethanol 5 Contributors 6 Source Material 7 References Statement of Purpose These links and documents contain information about best practices for fluid collections relevant to natural history collections. Introduction Fluid-preserved specimens may be plants,…
Contents 1 Statement of Purpose 2 Introduction 3 Preventing Evaporation 3.1 Risks of Evaporation 4 Topping Up 4.1 Quantitative Topping up Tools 5 Future Monitoring 6 Contributors 7 Additional Resources 8 References Statement of Purpose These links and documents contain information about best practices for monitoring fluid collections in natural history collections preserved in ethanol (EtOH). For additional information on fluid collection curation and management,…
Contents 1 Statement of Purpose 2 Contributors 3 Fluid Collections 2D Imaging 31 Workflows and Guides 3.2 Immersion tanks 4 Links Statement of Purpose This page is for information and workflows about imaging fluid collections Introduction Contributors Andrew D. Williston; Emily Braker Fluid Collections 2D Imaging Fluid-preserved specimens face some unique imaging challenges due to the risk of desiccation…
Contents 1 Statement of Purpose 2 Introduction 3 Contributors 4 Fluid Collections 5 Links Statement of Purpose This section includes information related to fire safety and suppression within natural history museums. Introduction Fire can be caused by faulty construction, carelessness, improper protocols, or lack of policy within an institution. All aspects of a natural history museum or collection facility should…
Published: March 26, 2025 Committees
About The Finance Committee acts solely in an advisory capacity to the Treasurer and Council. Committee Members Up-to-date membership for committee. Committee Documents Finance Committee Description from the Leadership Manual
Contents 1 Statement of Purpose 2 Contributors 3 Introduction 4 Budget and Funding 5 Long-term storage of specimens 6 Logistics 7 Scientific Supplies and Equipment 7.1 Chemical Agents 7.2 General Supplies for Documentation 7.3 Measuring and monitoring equipment 7.4 Specimen Collection Equipment 7.5 Specimen Fixation Supplies 7.6 Shipping materials 7.7 Sterilization Equipment 8 Camping Equipment 9 First Aid 9.1 Medications 9.2 General First Aid 10 Links 11 References Statement of Purpose These links and documents…
Contents 1 Statement of Purpose 2 Contributors 3 Recording medium 4 Formatting 5 Field Catalog minimal data requirements 6 Field Journal 7 Voucher-less specimens 8 Examples Statement of Purpose These links and documents contain information about best practices for field notes. Contributors Content generated during The American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists (ASIH) Annual Joint Meeting…
