Wet Specimen Collections and Alcohol Management A presentation by Giselle Stanton Collection Information - Standards and Support Collection Information Services The Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa

James Hector was appointed Director of the Colonial Survey in 1865 'One of the most important duties in connection with the geological survey of a new country is the formation of a scientific museum.'

Fish Molluscs Birds Crustaceans Marine invertebrates Insects Natural Environment 1.2 million specimen lots Land mammals Plants / Botany Marine mammals Reptiles and Amphibians Fossil vertebrates

Overview for today 1.Natural history wet specimen collections 2.Redevelopment Project 3.Alcohol Management 4.Developing a process for wet specimens

1. Natural history wet specimen collections 90,000 litres of alcohol (ethanol & isopropanol) 54,000 jars (100ml – 2L) 1500 polypails (20L) 154 mobile tanks (250L – 500L) 8 large immobile tanks (max. 2000L) 10 stepping / formalin tanks

2. Redevelopment Project Scientific Research Preservation and Conservation Access Regulations

Why redevelop alcohol management?

Seals broken, the effects of evaporation, rust and mould is seen.

Damage from mould

Rusting of storage systems

3. Alcohol Management What is Alcohol Management? Preservation Conservation Health and safety compliance Regulations

New Government Regulations The Hazardous Substances and New Organisms (HSNO) Act 2006: 1. Property Controls 2. Lifecycle Controls

KE EMu Specimen tab – Catalogue Module

Why move the alcohol Management tab?

Problem with Alcohol Management tab being in the catalogue is duplication

Benefits of Alcohol Management tab in the Locations module 1 container of alcohol=1 holder location

Stage one: Sources of data identified Alcohol

What is a Holder? 3 holder types: Jars Polypails Tanks

4.Developing a process for wet specimens in KE EMu 6 step process: 1.New Holder Location records 2.New Alcohol Management tab 3.Sources of legacy data identified 4.Data grooming 5.Data standards set 6.Data transfer

Ability to move and track current locations to fixed locations Size and volumes of containers recorded Brand and type of container recorded Safety and handling requirements recorded 1.New Holder Locations Why Holder locations?

Holder Locations

2. New Alcohol Management Tab

3. Sources of alcohol data identified Paper registers Catalogue cards Notes, other free text fields Large MS Excel worksheets Alcohol Management tab

4. Data Grooming Sources of data cleaned Staff input and internal institutional knowledge Removal of abbreviations and acronyms Gaps filled Global Replaces Location codes linked to specimens

5. Data standards set Controlled vocabulary Agreed terminology Agreed process

6. Data Transfer Clean data transfer Export sheets made using a MS Excel CSV file Verified and Imported into the new alcohol management tab

Data transfer still in progress for collections other than Fish Valuable statistics gained Clean and verified data Wet specimen process reviewed and standards set Meets new regulations and compliance requirements Progress Status today…

Alcohol Management into the future Benchmarks: Access to specimens Identify the wet collections Reliable statistics and information Taxonomic ordering - no longer essential Wet specimen conservation

Conclusions 1.The Museum of New Zealand, Te Papa Tongarewa 2.Natural history wet specimen collections 3.Redevelopment Project 4.Alcohol Management 5.Developing a process for wet specimens in KE