There are many different ways of promoting collections and that can be a 'problem'. They all do something slightly different. FENSCORE operated at the collector/donor level for those named collections in the various institutions that contributed. It is of course considerably out of date but there are signs that some regions are going to take those data, update entries and modernise input and retrieval mechanisms.
Herbaria were and still are served by their system at this level which is internationally agreed.
Individual specimen data extracted by curators or volunteers can feed into mapping schemes or other environmentally important enterprises. Some museums have done this with great diligence and success in a systematic manner and Tullie House is a shining example. NBN Gateway is like all other schemes. There are vast lacunae in records and many 'dots' are wrongly placed. This is symptomatic of nearly all recording schemes. This is not to say that they are not useful or worthwhile, just that they do not provide the final answers.
I have looked at http://www.cornucopia.org.uk/html/ and some well-known collector's name or named collection (these are not the same) that came to mind in natural history collections came back without a hit. It seems to be mainly art and archaeology and is patchy in terms of which organisations have engaged with it.
Data gathering enterprises are prone to selectivity, usually based on the enthusiasm of the organiser(s). To some extent this explains why FENSCORE was successful; it was done by and for curators wishing to make their holdings more widely known at the collectors/collection level. The percentage of contributions received was much greater than a questionnaire approach ever achieves. In the real world not every single specimen is ever going to be catalogued in every museum in the country. What can be achieved, I think, is to update FENSCORE using the regional model backed by NatSCA providing the national overview and guidance. Is NatSCA now in a position to provide a strategy for this with a robust system for input, editing and retrieval with a suggestion of a timetable and a host site? I believe it has been discussed on various occasions. Personally, I would rather contribute to update of FENSCORE and have that as the single point of entry at the nathist collections level for British museums and related institutions.
As a user myself I need to locate the whereabouts of collections in addition to getting details of those I may already think I know about. The question is usually 'where is the collection of (things) got by (that person) and vice versa. FENSCORE answers this question admirably but of course would be greatly improved by more entries submitted and added to over time.
Geoff Hancock
Curator of Entomology
The Hunterian (Zoology Museum)
University of Glasgow
Graham Kerr Building
Glasgow, G12 8QQ
E-mail - [log in to unmask]
Tel: +44(0)141 330 2194
fax: +44(0)141 330 5971
Website: www.glasgow.ac.uk/hunterian
Zoology Museum opening hours, 9.00 - 5.00 Monday to Friday.
The Hunterian Museum opening hours:
Tuesday - Saturday 10.00am - 5.00pm; Sunday 11.00am - 4.00pm.
Current Exhibitions
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-----Original Message-----
From: The Natural Science Collections Association discussion list [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Mark Simmons
Sent: 28 March 2013 09:06
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Linking Researchers To Collections
Hi
Perhaps one of the places we should have more about our UK specimens is the NBN Gateway. I know that Steve Hewitt put lepidoptera data for Tullie House there but has anyone else placed their data on the gateway?
Cheers
Mark Simmons
Perth Museum
-----Original Message-----
From: The Natural Science Collections Association discussion list on behalf of Carnall, Mark
Sent: Wed 27/03/2013 5:10 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Linking Researchers To Collections
Dear all
Many thanks to the colleagues who have sent through links to resources I wasn't aware of and some I'd completely forgotten. I've been updating the blog page<http://blogs.ucl.ac.uk/museums/2013/03/27/how-to-find-and-research-biological-specimens-in-uk-museums/> accordingly and at some point it will appear on the Natsca website as a starting point for linking people to objects.
Looks like Herbaria are ahead of the game so it'd be great to promote existing resources further as well as aggregate and promote developing projects to both the museum and research communities.
Have a great Easter break and keep sending suggestions in.
Kind regards
Mark Carnall
Curator
Grant Museum of Zoology and Comparative Anatomy Rockefeller Building University College London
21 University Street
London
WC1E 6JJ
Tel:(+44) 020 3108 2052 (Internal ext. 52052)
Email: [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>
www.grant.museum.ucl.ac.uk<http://www.grant.museum.ucl.ac.uk/>
Museums and Collections Blog: https://blogs.ucl.ac.uk/museums/
Grant Museum Opening Times: Monday to Saturday 1-5pm
From: The Natural Science Collections Association discussion list [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Rose-Heather Mikhail
Sent: 27 March 2013 16:26
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Linking Researchers To Collections
Hello Mark,
I have found Cornucopia useful for finding collections http://www.cornucopia.org.uk/html/
Heather
NHM Volunteer
On 27 March 2013 10:35, Carnall, Mark <[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>> wrote:
Dear all
Following this year's AGM it strikes me that as a whole we're still doing a pretty poor job of linking researchers with collections and from discussions with the researchers we have coming to the Grant Museum they aren't finding out about collections using the resources we're putting out there, don't know about online databases and aren't willing to put in the effort to find all the collections out there (forgivable given that there isn't a highly visible 'list' of natural history collections anywhere that I could find).
Looking at the evaluation for the researchers we've had here this year roughly two thirds of them knew about the museum from a previous visit, a fifth found out through word of mouth and the rest is a mix of finding out about the museum through Natsca and through our website. I appreciate that this is just the data we have here but I don't have anything else to go on.
In order to try to make more of these connections that we miss I knocked up this blog post<http://blogs.ucl.ac.uk/museums/2013/03/27/how-to-find-and-research-biological-specimens-in-uk-museums/>, How to Find and Research Biological Specimens in UK Museums. Who knows maybe a frustrated researcher will Google that and land on a page that's useful. As you can see the information is pretty basic but I can't think of a better way to link appropriate researchers with our collections. If you do know of any good resources out there or any other tips you think would be useful I'd be happy to update the post.
Kind regards
Mark Carnall
Curator
Grant Museum of Zoology and Comparative Anatomy Rockefeller Building University College London
21 University Street
London
WC1E 6JJ
Tel:(+44) 020 3108 2052 (Internal ext. 52052)
Email: [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>
www.grant.museum.ucl.ac.uk<http://www.grant.museum.ucl.ac.uk/>
Museums and Collections Blog: https://blogs.ucl.ac.uk/museums/
Grant Museum Opening Times: Monday to Saturday 1-5pm
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