SPNHC Request for Comments

The following is a brief excerpt from the introduction to the full text
(574 lines) of a Working Document on collections care, an insert in the
August 1993 issue of SPNHC (Society for the Preservation of Natural
History Collections) Newsletter, which was scanned by me and and
posted to TAXACOM, a Biological Diversity LISTSERVer at Harvard, with
the permission of Co-chair, P. S.  Cato, of the Sessional Committee.

You can get the full text most easily by using gopher to access
huh.harvard.edu, and following the path from: "Taxacom Services/Taxacom
Listserv Archive/" to the file "SPNHC Req. For Comments (584 lines)"
(which is found near the end of the list of files).

The due date for comments on the full Working Document (i.e., draft) is
October 31, 1993.


    "Working Document - July 23, 1993
    Sessional Committee on Common Philosophies and Objectives (SPNHC)
    Guidelines for Collection Care in Natural History Museums

    Request For Comments

    Collections are the lifeblood of museums. The acts of collecting,
    preserving, documenting and studying objects are the cornerstones of
    the museum domain. The Society for the Preservation of Natural
    History Collections is dedicated to promoting strong institutional
    investment in the preservation of collections in the fields of
    anthropology, earth sciences, and life sciences, as well as
    associated library and archival materials.

    - - - - <snip>  <snip> - - - -
                                                 More than ever, there
    is a need to balance wise use of collections with sound conservation
    practice. In an effort to promote this, the Committee has been
    charged with developing guidelines for managing and caring for
    natural history collections. The purpose of the guidelines is to
    advocate an institutional framework that advances professional
    standards of management and care of collections. The basis for the
    framework is *preventive* conservation and recognition of primary
    institutional responsibilities for use, management and care of
    specimens.
    - - - - <snip>  <snip> - - - -

Peter Rauch
Museum Informatics Project
UCB

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                  Conservation DistList Instance 7:27
               Distributed: Thursday, September 23, 1993
                        Message Id: cdl-7-27-006
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