RAMHSS: Conservation, Processing and Computerization of the Diatom Collection of the California Academy of Sciences

加利福尼亚科学院的硅藻收藏是北美西部最大的系统参考收藏。它包括3.7万多张准备好的幻灯片和数百个模式标本。来自美国西部和太平洋边缘的海洋、淡水和化石硅藻样本使该收藏成为国际上重要的资源。硅藻馆馆长John P. Kociolek博士发起了一个多方面的项目，旨在提高这些藏品的可访问性，并增加其对系统、进化和生态研究的影响。大型馆藏中的捐赠藏品将被整合并输入计算机数据库，未准备好的样品将被处理成可用的标本玻片。诸如此类的自然历史收藏是各种生物研究的基础。生态学、进化生物学和生物地理学只是依赖系统收集的众多科学学科中的三个。支持这些收藏的增长和改进将为未来几代研究人员提供生物学研究的基本工具。

The Diatom Collection of the California Academy of Sciences is the largest systematic reference collection of its type in western North America. It includes more than 37,000 prepared slides and hundreds of type specimens. Marine, freshwater, and fossil diatom samples from the western U.S. and the Pacific margin make this collection an internationally important resource. Dr. John P. Kociolek, Curator of Diatoms, has initiated a multifaceted program aimed at improving the accessibility of the collection, and increasing its impact on systematic, evolutionary, and ecological research. The donated collections within the larger holdings will be integrated and entered into a computer database, and unprepared samples will be processed into usable specimen slides. Natural history collections such as this are the foundations on which diverse biological research is based. Ecology, evolutionary biology, and biogeography are but three of the many scientific disciplines that rely on systematic collections. Supporting the growth and improvement of these collections will provide future generations of investigators with the essential tools of biological research.