Course: 2305313 Taxonomy

Museum
Management
Do you know what a museum of natural history is?

Varanya Aranyavalai, Ph. D.

 Characteristics of
Museum Collections
Art Museum
Natural History Museum
History Museum
Art Museum
History Museum
Museum
Science Museum
Biological Museum
Zoological Museum
Natural History Museum
Marine Science Museum
Science Museum
 Zoological Museum

Moscow's Museum of Zoology

Natural History Museum
Caring for Collections: Location
The location of the building determines if
the specimen's environment will be affected
by climatic differences, geologic stability, or
broad problems such as air pollution that a
museum cannot control.
Caring for Collections: Site
The site within a good location
may be affected by vegetation
or water drainage patterns.
Avoiding the problem would be best!
Caring for Collections: Building
The design of a building determines the quality of the
environment for the specimens kept inside. Construction of
a new building allows us to avoid many problems;
however most museums have to create barriers and/or
respond to problems in existing buildings.
Building--the design of a building
determines the quality of the
environment for the specimens kept inside.
London's Natural History Museum 1881..
sparse use of wrought iron supported by
cast iron columns and masonry walls.
Caring for Collections: Room
The placement and design of rooms
within a building act as buffer, and
another layer of control, from the
outside environment.
Caring for Collections: Cabinet
The quality and design of individual storage cabinets make
it possible to create micro-environments that are even
more protective than the room environment.

Cabinets with tight seals can also protect

specimens from wild changes in relative
humidity. Sometimes the air handling system
doesn't work as designed or isn't designed
to control humidity. When this happens, the
cabinets must serve as barriers to the
problem. Cabinets also limit movement for
insects, gaseous pollutants, dirt and
particulate matter.
Caring for Collections: Specimens
Specimens are made from materials that are naturally
deteriorating. We can slow the deterioration by using
preparation materials that are considered inert or archival.
This means that they do not react with the specimen or the
environment in any way that will speed up the deterioration.
Caring for Collections: Procedures
Procedures help us avoid sources of deterioration.
"Procedures" are the way we do something, whether
it's the way we pick up a specimen or pack it for
mailing.

Packing the bird collection for moving to

the new wing of the museum.
Specimens
Collecting
Purchasing
Donation
Exchange
 Agents of Deterioration:
What causes specimens to deteriorate ?
Direction physical forces
Thieves, Vandals, and Displacers
Fire
Water
Pests
Contaminants
Radiation
Inappropriate Temperature
Inappropriate Relative Humidity
Direction physical forces
Sudden and Catastrophic
Gradual
Intrinsic
Physical forces
We include not only major forces, such as earthquakes,
but forces as simple as mishandling of fragile specimens,
vibration, and abrasion. These cause breakage or
deformation, which often can not be repaired.
Thieves, Vandals, and Displacers
Curatorial neglect
Poor curation
Security
Human carelessness

Criminals: Theft and vandalism can

result in complete loss of specimens or
damage that is expensive
to repair.
Fire
Integrity of the building
Adherence to safety standards
Means of controlling fires
Fire
The worst case is total loss of the specimen. But
there can also be smoke and soot damage (which
rarely can be cleaned up entirely), heat damage,
and water and chemical damages due to fire
suppression systems.
Water
Flooding
Leaking pipes
Leaking ceilings
Water
If a mammal specimen gets wet and then is dried, it
goes through an expansion/contraction cycle. This
weakens the skin and during the drying part of cycle, we
might get tears and breaks in the specimen. Water can
also cause mold and mildew if the drying is not
fast enough or temperatures are high.
Water can cause the total loss of specimens. Imagine
pressed plants or pinned insects soaked with water; they
become so fragile that the slightest movement destroys
them.
Herbarium specimen with water damage
 Turtle shells and skeletons have
accumulation of mud from flood.
Pests
Arthropods
Mold
Bacteria
Miscellaneous other animals

CIGARETTE BEETLE
This destructive insect is a serious pest of dried plant material. It can also cause
serious damage to books.
Pests
Pests can cause as little damage as small holes or as
much damage as a complete loss of specimen. Frass or
insect excrement can stain specimens and cause chemical
change in the specimen over time. Insects and rodents can
be attracted by other insects.
Three moth specimens
mounted in individual
glass mounts, sealed
originally by tape, show
progressive amounts of
damage from dermestids.
Herbarium specimen with insect damage
Pest Control Programmes

The nitrogen chamber is used to ensure that there are no live insects on specimens
when they are taken into storage areas. Live pests are asphyxiated by replacing the
oxygen with nitrogen.
Contaminants
Organic gases
Inorganic gases
Particulate polluntants

Chemically based pollutants,

when reacting with moisture
in air, form acids which in
turn cause breakdown of the
specimen materials and color changes.
Radiation
Ultraviolet
Visible
Infrared
Inappropriate Temperature
Highs
Lows
Fluctuations
Inappropriate Temperature
Temperatures that are too high can dry out
specimens and make them brittle. If
temperatures are too high AND combined
with high relative humidity, mold and
mildew can form on the specimens.
Temperatures that are too low can dry a
specimen out as well (think about the
effects of food you've left in the freezer too
long.)
Inappropriate Relative Humidity
Highs
Lows
Fluctuations
Inappropriate Relative Humidity
If the relative humidity is too low, it dries
out specimens. This causes brittleness and
shrinking, and we see splits, cracks, and
holes in specimens.
If its too high, mold and mildew can form.
Moisture vapor can also cause swelling,
and permanent, irreversible physical
changes.
Specimens preparation
(narcotization)
(fixation)
(preservation)
Narcotization
Ether
Chloroform
Ethyl alcohol
Menthol
Magnesium chloride
Magnesium sulphate
Choral hydrate
MS-222
(tricaine methanesulfonate)
MS-222

FINQUEL is intended for the temporary

immobilization of fish, amphibians, and
other aquatic, cold-blooded animals.
Fixation
Formaldehyde
Glutaraldehyde
Steed Mans solution
Bouins fluid
Alcoholic Bouins solution
Preservation
Formalin
Ethyl alcohol
Isopropanol
Bird Mounting Kits
Who uses the specimens?
Who uses the specimens?

Scientists
Teachers and Museum Docents
Artists
You do!
Why do we want to make specimens
last forever?
Because of their value!
Because they are unique
and a limited resource!
Because of the costs
involved with acquiring a
specimen!
Because of their value!
The value is based in the unique characteristics of each
specimen.
Sometimes the uniqueness is due to the time and location
the specimen was collected.
Sometimes a specimen is unique
because of its set of characteristics,
such as measurements, colors, gender,
or biochemical components. Scientists
compare skulls and skins from different
individuals to learn about variation in
these characteristics. Black Bear mount.
Shot near Santa Ysabel, California

central San Diego County) May 2000.

Because of their value!
Sometimes a specimen is unique
because of its set of characteristics,
such as measurements, colors, gender,
or biochemical components. Scientists
compare skulls and skins from different
individuals to learn about variation in
these characteristics.

Comparing color variation in three black bear pelts

Because of their value!
A pocket gopher collected as part
of a series, that is one of several
collected at one time and one
place, is valuable. It helps us
learn about variation, such as
variation in hair color, or variation
in body size.

Series of gophers collected in 1941 shows color variation.

 Because they are unique--and a
limited resource!
Each specimen is unique and can never truly be replaced.
Each is collected at a single point in time, from a specific
geographic location, and has a unique genetic or geologic
history.

Calochortus albus collected

June 14, 1881, at Cuyamaca
by Daniel Cleveland
If we destroy a plant or animal specimen collected in 1881,
we can never replace that specimen!
Because of the costs involved with
acquiring a specimen!
Problems of finding a specimen
Some kinds or species are not available at all.
Examples:
Marine species
Extinct species
Endangered species
Threatened species

Costs of time
Costs of materials
Because of the costs involved with
acquiring a specimen!
Costs of time
Time for staff person to find the right kind or species
Time for staff at other institutions to locate one for us and
send it
Time for a staff member to prepare the specimen for
research
Time required to find someone else, such as a taxidermist,
to mount the specimen in a life like pose
Because of the costs involved with
acquiring a specimen!
Costs of materials
Materials to collect the specimens.
Materials to prepare or mount the specimen.
Time for a staff member to prepare the specimen
for research.
Materials to protect the mounted specimen.