Support to Verify the Computer Database of the Herpetological Collections of The Field Museum

菲尔德博物馆的两栖动物和爬行动物部门拥有超过265,000个标本，代表6239个物种，是美国五大爬行动物收藏馆之一。无论从哪方面来看，这些藏品都是世界级的，而且被大量使用。随着该司庞大的在线爬虫学数据库的改进，预计使用率会更高。然而，在数据库中存在一些长期存在的问题，这些问题现在迫切需要解决，以便最大限度地提高其准确性和对当前用户以及期望利用在线访问的扩展社区的有用性。不纠正这些问题将产生有害的影响，因为数据库中的错误会在研究、专业和非专业出版物中不必要地传播。自1993年以来，已尝试编辑数据库的某些部分，以响应收到的资料或标本请求。然而，这种劳动密集的过程与几乎占用所有可用工作人员时间的高水平的正常收集活动不相容。这种零敲碎打的方法导致对某些请求的响应出现不可接受的延迟，并且占用了其他重要的收集管理任务的时间，从而产生了其他问题。此外，这种方法不可能在对在线用户开放访问的情况下实现。只有全面地解决馆藏和数据库中的当前问题，才能保证在线用户获得完整、正确、最新的馆藏信息。为了验证、编辑和盘点收集数据库，本项目将分两个阶段实施：1)仔细、完整地验证数据库记录中的地方数据、原始收集者/捐助者提供的记录和原始目录之间的一致性，然后纠正任何差异。2)进行全面的收集盘存，确保集装箱内物品、标签或盘存清单与数据库信息相匹配；并且，确保数据库记录和标本上的数据标签信息一致。

With over 265,000 specimens representing 6,239 species, the collection of the Division of Amphibians and Reptiles at the Field Museum is one of the five largest herpetological collections in the United States. By every measure the collection is world class and heavily used. Even greater usage is expected as the Division's massive online herpetological database is improved. Within the database, however, are some long- standing problems which are now critical to resolve in order to maximize its accuracy and usefulness to both current users as well as the expanded community expected to utilize online access. Failure to correct these problems will have deleterious effects as the errors in the database are unnecessarily propagated in research, and in professional and lay publications. Since 1993 an attempt has been made to edit portions of the database in response to incoming requests for information or specimens. However this labor-intensive process is incompatible with the high levels of normal collection activities which occupy virtually all available staff time. This piecemeal approach has resulted in unacceptable delays in responding to some requests, and it has taken time from other essential collection curation tasks, thereby creating other problems. Furthermore, such an approach is impossible to implement with open access to online users. Only a comprehensive approach to resolving the current problems in the collections and the database can assure that online users will have complete,correct, current information about the collection. In order to verify, edit, and inventory the collection database this two-phase project will implement: 1) A careful, complete verification of the agreement between the locality data in the database records, the original collector/donor-supplied records, and the original catalogs, followed by the correction of any discrepancies. 2) A comprehensive collection inventory to assure the matching of the contents of containers, their labels or inventory lists, and the information in the database; and, to assure agreement information in the database records and on data tags attached to the specimens.