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“Profiling and Improving Alcohol Collections: an Evaluation of Current Practices”

“Profiling and Improving Alcohol Collections: an Evaluation of Current Practices”. Heather M. Campbell R.L. Blinn & Andrew R. Deans. In this talk. . . . North Carolina Insect Museum A profiling system for the alcohol collection. Discuss current practices and institutional benchmarks.

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“Profiling and Improving Alcohol Collections: an Evaluation of Current Practices”

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  1. “Profiling and Improving Alcohol Collections: an Evaluation of Current Practices” Heather M. Campbell R.L. Blinn & Andrew R. Deans

  2. In this talk. . . • North Carolina Insect Museum • A profiling system for the alcohol collection. • Discuss current practices and institutional benchmarks

  3. NC State Insect Museum

  4. NC State Insect Museum • Collection established in the 1950’s, by Zeno P. Metcalf • 3 generations of Museum Director, Hemipterasystematists. • Large holdings of Sternorrhyncha and Auchenorrhyncha Zeno P. Metcalf • Theodore B. Mitchell • 1926-1961 • Massive contributions to Anthophila holdings • “The Bees of the Eastern United States” T.B. Mitchell

  5. NC State Insect Museum Present day . . . • Current Director, Andrew R. Deans • Parasitic wasp systematics! • Emphasis on informatics Andrew R. Deans • GigaPan • Website • Blog

  6. NC State Insect Museum • Due to past curators’ focus on pinned and slide mounted specimens the alcohol collection has received little attention. • Important holdings • AquaticInvertebrates • Pyralidae

  7. Development of the Profiling System • Why profile a collection? • Existing Profile Systems • Evaluated profiling regime used for NC State Insect Museum pinned collection (adapted from A&M) • Smithsonian (NMNH) • Illinois Natural History Survey (INHS) • Being a first year grad student I wanted to put my “mark on things” so I decided to make my own profiling system • By customizing the INHS profiling method

  8. Scoring Regime 1

  9. Back to the drawing board…

  10. Scoring Regime 2

  11. Results Number of Shelves Score

  12. Evaluation of Scoring Regime • Would this regime translate to other collections? • Is a shelf too large of a profiling unit? • Disproportionately skewed toward the negative • We were unable to take into account the positive aspects of the collection • Perhaps rack would be a good middle ground • Still a valuable tool for showing improvement.

  13. Opportunities for improvement Low pH=high acidity Rubber gaskets Swollen stoppers Cork stoppers!!! Light exposure!!!! Unsorted bulk samples Racks Metal lids

  14. An oral tradition… • Robert Boyle first discovered specimens could be preserved in alcohol in the 1600’s • Techniques for preparation and care are steeped in tradition. • In the absence of rigorous analysis, we lack the historical data to resolve issues

  15. Paradox How do we stop the natural process of decay without altering the nature of the specimen?

  16. Current Ideal • Alcohol concentration: 70-80% (for storage, not DNA) • Alcohol pH: 6-7 • Specimens housed in screw-top glass vials or bale-top jars with shell vials stoppered with polyethylene stoppers Photos taken by David Furth, Smithsonian NMNH

  17. Current Ideal • Explosion proof cabinets • Consistent temperature and relative humidity in collection space • Archival Racks

  18. We want to transition from Here . . . There . . .

  19. Let’s discuss • Has anyone established benchmarks for their alcohol collection? • Management plans • Profiling Systems: profile unit, is profiling worth while • Storage methods: • Identify high use areas? Active collection/ longterm storage • Bulk vial systems • Individual vial system • Is there a flexible system? Identify high use areas • Bulk Alcohol Samples • Are we dealing with a “toxic soup”?

  20. hmcampbe@ncsu.edu

  21. Thank you • Tanner Stanfield • Lab mates Trish and Andrew for emotional support • David Furth for photographs • NSF for previous funding, grant # DBI-0847924

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