Dear List, I am certain there is someone--probably many people!--out there who can help me as I begin to oversee the cataloguing of our natural history collections here at Sweet Briar College. Following the "Guidelines for the Care of Natural History Collections" published by the Society for the Preservation of Natural History Collections, the biology department is providing the scientific expertise and I am providing my collections managment knowledge, including use of the PastPerfect database. The specimens (mostly birds and small mammals) will be identified by the professors in the biology department, and the cataloguing itself carried out by two student workers who will be trained in cataloguing techniques. But there are several questions that I have as I prepare to move forward on this project. 1) I know that sometimes specimens have been preserved with potentially harmful materials, like arsenic. Is wearing rubber gloves when handling these an adequate precaution? There is no record of how they were prepared. 2) They are stored flat in cabinets on metal trays. I was going to line each tray with a Mylar barrier. What else might I need to do from a preservation perspective? 3) I was planning on labeling them with acid-free tags on which the numbers had been written with archival pens. The string would be secured to a leg of the specimen. Is this okay? 4) The professors maintain that "no one wants to look at a dead animal" in the collections management record, and want to add watercolor images instead of the specimens as they were painted by National Geographic artist Walter Webber (it is his collection that we have). And a related question I am posing on behalf of my herpetologist colleague, who has a number of specimens preserved in alcohol-filled jars: He wants to suspend a tag with information about the specimen in the jar itself, and wonders what sort of marking implement will be impervious to the alcohol. Does anyone have any ideas? I may be betraying my lack of scientific background as I wonder why he can't mark the outside of the jar instead. Many, many thanks to all in advance for any guidance you can offer on any and all of the above queries. All best, Christian Carr -- Christian Carr Acting Director Sweet Briar Museum Visiting Assistant Professor Department of Arts Management Sweet Briar College 434.381.6246 (phone) 434.381.6132 (fax) ========================================================= Important Subscriber Information: The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes). If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).