STANDARDS FOR MANAGEMENT OF THE RECENT MAMMAL AND BIRD COLLECTIONS AT TEXAS TECH UNIVERSITY by AMY S. HALTER, B.S. A THESIS IN MUSEUM SCIENCE Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of Texas Tech University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of MASTER OF ARTS Approved August, 2001 © 2001 Amy S. Halter ALL RIGHTS RESERVED ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I wish to express my sincere gratitude to the members of my graduate committee. Dr. Robert J. Baker, chair, Dr. R. Richard Monk, co-chair, and Dr. Clyde Jones, for their support and guidance throughout my graduate career. Without their encouragement and enthusiasm, I would never have been able to complete this master's thesis. I thank Dr. Baker for his ideas and review of this thesis and for funding trips to museums similar to the NSRL to survey their collection management practices in preparation for writing this thesis. I especially thank Dr. Richard Monk for sharing with me his knowledge of collection management and museums, for his constant encouragement, and for his reviews of various drafts of this thesis. I thank Dr. Clyde Jones for sharing with me his extensive knowledge of museums and the natural sciences. I also wish to acknowledge the Curators and Collection Managers at the collections I visited who took the time to meet with me, answer my questions, and allow me to tour their collections. They are: Steve Cardiff, Donna Cardiff, and Mark Hafner of Louisiana State University; Thorvald Holmes, Jr. of the University of Kansas; Bill Gannon and Terry Yates of the University of New Mexico; Janet Braun of the University of Oklahoma; Robert Dowler and Marcia Revelez of Angelo State University; Fred Stangl of Midwestem State University; and George Baumgardner of Texas A&M University. Many of these collections had written procedural manuals that were invaluable in the design of this thesis. I appreciate the support and advice I have received from my colleagues and friends in the Museum and the Department of Biological Sciences. I especially wish to 11 thank Britney Hager, April Bates, Jessica Carrillo, Jacqueline Chavez, Marcia Revelez, Raegan King, Darin Carroll, and Melinda Clary. I thank my parents. Jack and Anne Halter, for their encouragement and endless patience. This truly would not have been possible without their support. ill TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS n LIST OF TABLES vi LIST OF FIGURES vn CHAPTER L INTRODUCTION 1 IL PROCESSING NEW ACQUISITIONS 3 IIL SPECIMEN PREPARATION 12 IV. ACCESSIONING 17 V. CATALOGING 21 VL OSTEOLOGICAL PREPARATION 29 VIL FINAL PROCESSING AND INSTALLATION 38 VIIL FLUID-PRESERVED COLLECTIONS 45 IX. DATA VERIFICATION AND DATA STANDARDS 55 X. CURATION 58 XL LOAN POLICY AND PROCEDURES 63 XII. TISSUE SAMPLES FROM A COLLECTION'S PERSPECTIVE 74 Xm. INTEGRATED PEST MANAGEMENT 78 XIV. COLLECTION MANAGEMENT 90 XV. CONCLUSION 100 LITERATURE CITED 103 IV APPENDIX A. GUIDELINES FOR COLLECTING TISSUES 108 B. INSTRUCTIONS FOR COMPLETING TK SHEETS 110 C. SOURCES 113 LIST OF TABLES 3.1 Types of Preparation for Mammal and Bird Specimens 15 C.l Storage 113 C.2 Chemicals 115 C.3 Preparation and Loan Supplies 116 C.4 Documentation Media 117 VI LIST OF FIGURES 2.1 TKPage 4 2.2 Field Trip Summary 5 2.3 Incoming Specimens Pinned to Boards in a Drying Box 7 2.4 Incoming Skins in Drying Hood 7 3.1 Correct Placement of Skin Tags For Bird Specimens 16 4.1 Accession Card 19 5.1 Bar Code Voucher Tag 23 5.2 Handwritten Skin Tag and Computer-Generated Skin Tag Label 26 6.1 Layering of Containers, Cardboard, and Cotton in the Dermestid Colony 32 6.2 Aspirator 36 7.1 Arrangement of Specimens in Drawers 40 7.2 Large Skeletal Material on Open Shelving 43 8.1 Standard Sizes of Glass Jars and Stainless Steel Tank For Fluid-Preserved Collections 47 8.2 Storage of Jars of Fluid-Preserved Specimens 50 11.1 Outgoing Loan Contract 66 13.1 Specimen Cases Placed on Metal Risers 83 14.1 Diagram Illustrating the Interaction of Biological, Chemical, and Mechanical Damage 91 VII CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION Museums serve an important function in society. They have existed in one form or another since the Classical Age. In the modem sense a museum's primary function is education. This is accomplished through collection-based research and public exhibitions. A society that does not support museums finds itself with weakened historic, artistic, and scientific foundations. Biological, or systematics, collections serve as the foundation for much scientific research (Baker, 1994; Baker et al, 1998; Parker et al., 1998; WUson, 1992; Yates, 1987). Examples of research areas that rely on systematics collections include biodiversity, taxonomy, systematics, phylogenetics, morphometries, and ecology. Other disciplines that benefit from collections of specimens include genetic and molecular research, toxicology, biological informatics, epidemiology, and resource conservation. Systematics collections can be considered in the same light as research libraries. The specimens contain a wealth of information that is available to users of the collection. Scientists, using a variety of methods, can "read" this information from the specimens. Systematics collections include both geographic and temporal components. They document the Earth's biodiversity not only geographically, but also over the period of time that the collection has existed. In other words, a scientist can use the collection to determine not only where species exist today (and their characteristics) but also the same kinds of information firom the past. Because of the scientific value and applicability of systematics collections it is crucial that they receive the best possible care. In order to be effective, collection management procedures must be consistent and materials used in the collection must be of archival quality and approved for such use. The best way to ensure this is to have a written collection management policy that describes the institution's overall responsibility to its collections and written collection management procedures for each individual collection (Recent vertebrates. Recent invertebrates, paleontology, etc.). Based on personal visits to several systematic mammal collections, experience in the Recent mammal collection at the Natural Science Research Laboratory of the Museum of Texas Tech University, and review of the written procedures manuals of similar collections, written collection management procedures have been developed. These include detailed descriptions of nearly all activities associated with the collection as well as indicating materials approved for use within the collection. Recommendations also have been made conceming methods of improving collection care such as integrated pest management. The remainder of this thesis contains these procedures. Other topics (such as disaster response) were not included because they are better dealt with on an institutional basis. While the details of collection management may differ between institutions, the overall concems remain constant. Every institution should develop its own collection management policy and procedures statements. However, the ability of institutions to examine the policy and procedures statements from other museums will ultimately result in better long-term collection care. CHAPTER II PROCESSESTG NEW ACQUISITIONS As stated in its Acquisition Policy, the Museum of Texas Tech University reserves the right to refuse acceptance of any materials that do not meet the requirements set forth by the museum. These reasons include, but are not limited to: substandard quality of specimens or data; specimens acquired through illegal means; or specimens that are not relevant to the mission statement or scope of the museum's collections. The NSRL acquires specimens through several sources. The majority of specimens are collected through active field work done by biologists associated with Texas Tech University. Specimens may be transferred to the NSRL from other collections or donated by private collectors. In addition, specimens may be held in trust for federal and state agencies. Incoming material is accompanied by the collectors' field notes, completed TK pages (Figure 2.1), and other related materials (images, permits, etc.). It is the responsibility of the trip leader to collect all field notes, etc. and to provide these to the collection manager, who then completes the Field Trip Summary. The Field Trip Summary includes the name, date, and collecting localities of the trip, as well as the number of specimens collected, range of TK numbers used, and names of the collectors (Figure 2.2). Blank Field Trip Summary sheets are available at the NSRL. The specimens are not processed until all of the associated data is given to the museum. Original joumals, field catalogs, and the Field Trip Summary are kept in the NSRL as TK . ^ "-^ _"_ "v^' '•«' SPECIES Uptortycteris CAKr&SOCLC Country MEK\CO State _OA>CACA_ County. Specific Locality Us Mmas (Locality same as: TK UTM or Lat/Long \ei-wiius-ie24qg,i^ Elevation Collector Rradlt-y tk. oS. Collection Date w .tvtty 2000 Preparator \Ko.xtXo. e^vetcz No. v\'\ Preparation Date i5Jui>) 2.000 VOUCHER: ^ .SkiSkin --' .SkulSkull y Post-cranial Skeleton Alcoholic Other Museum Collection Catalog Number, Measurements &o JL 15 fb - 7 = total tall hind foot aar tngut vmght .Male •* Female Reproductive Condition TISSUE: Heart/Kidney »^ Lung _Reproductive Organs [Heart ^ Spleen _Entire Specimen .Kidney Brain .Lysis Buffer •• Liver v/^ Blood Alcohol ^ Muscle Embryo 'other OTHER PREPARATIONS: Mitotic Meiotic Tissue Culture .Sperm