FYI -- Federal Collections Report just issued by the
National Science and Technology Council (NSTC).
gaw
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> --- On Tue, 2/3/09, Peter Tirrell <[log in to unmask]>
> wrote:
>
> From: Peter Tirrell <[log in to unmask]>
> Subject: [ACUMG-L] NSTC Report
> To: "[log in to unmask]"
> <[log in to unmask]>
> Cc: "Peter Tirrell" <[log in to unmask]>
> Date: Tuesday, February 3, 2009, 9:32 AM
>
>
> NSTC RELEASES LONG-AWAITED FEDERAL COLLECTIONS REPORT
>
> The National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) has
> issued a report stressing the benefits of maintaining
> object-based collections for scientific research purposes.
> The long-awaited report is based on the results of a survey
> on the status of federal scientific collections. The report
> was compiled by the Interagency Working Group on Scientific
> Collections (IWGSC) and includes recommendations on the
> future management of the nation's scientific
> collections.
>
> The survey was conducted online between June 2006 and
> September 2007 and garnered 153 responses from fourteen
> government agencies reflecting a total of 291 federal
> scientific collections. Collections were classified into one
> of ten categories with cellular (22%), geological (21%),
> paleontology (14%), vertebrate (12%), botanical (11%), and
> invertebrate (10%) being the most common. The primary use of
> federal scientific collections is basic research, a use
> category selected by 84% of respondents. The majority of
> collections were reported as growing in size (78%). Although
> most respondents (78%) reported the condition of their
> collections as "good" or "very good",
> more than half also stated that a condition survey of their
> collection has never been performed and a complete condition
> assessment has been done by only 12% of collections. A lack
> of collection assessment can be at least partially explained
> by funding and staff trends. A large number (41%) of
> respondents stated that funds for collection care and
> management are not specifically allocated by their agencies
> and only 27% reported budget line-items dedicated to
> collection maintenance and management. In addition,
> dwindling numbers of collection support staff were cited by
> 40% of respondents.
>
> The IWGSC found that while federal collections are
> generally accessible for use in scientific research, serious
> shortfalls remain with the development of collection
> databases, availability of collection contents on the
> internet, and the formal establishment of collection
> policies. The majority of respondents (78%) reported that
> more than half of their collections are accessible for
> scientific research and other uses. While 68% of collections
> have more than half their specimen data cataloged, only 27%
> have their entire collection cataloged and a mere 16% have
> all their specimen information in a computerized database. A
> scant 14% have more than half of their collection specimen
> data available on the internet, making it more difficult for
> scientists to be aware of federal specimens that relate to
> their research. Lastly, 28% of respondents stated that they
> have no formal policies that govern the management of their
> collection. Over 50% reported that they do
> not have approved policies dealing with documentation,
> acquisition, access and use, preservation, disposal,
> handling, and security of their collections.
>
> The IWGSC recommends that costs of managing and maintaining
> collections be included in the budgets of agencies that
> possess them. They suggest that catalogs, indexes, and
> online databases of federal collections be further developed
> with the added goal of compatibility of databases between
> agencies. The working group also suggests that those
> managing collections improve the inter-agency exchange of
> information and documents relating to policies, procedure,
> and best practices so that existing protocols may serve as
> blueprints for others with underdeveloped policies. Lastly,
> the IWGSC suggests that periodic review of the status and
> condition of federal scientific collections be conducted and
> that the IWGSC should remain in function past its current
> March 2009 deadline to carry out these recommendations.
>
> The complete report on federal scientific collections is
> available online at:
>
http://www.ostp.gov/galleries/NSTC%20Reports/Revision_1-22_09_CL.pdf
>
>
> Peter B. Tirrell, Associate Director
> Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum
> of Natural History
> The University of Oklahoma
> 2401 Chautauqua Ave.
> Norman, Oklahoma 73072-7029
> Office phone: 405/ 325-1009, secretary & voice mail
> available
> Fax: 405/ 325-7699
> SNOMNH web page: http://www.snomnh. ou.edu/
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