Specimen Case Expansion of University of Alaska Museum Bird Collection

阿拉斯加不仅仅是北美的另一个地缘政治单元。从动物的角度来看，包括鸟类在内，地球上没有其他地区有这种类型。它拥有各种各样的新世界和旧世界的鸟类，以及独特的白令陆基鸟类。从历史上看，其他博物馆在记录这一非凡地区的鸟类多样性方面发挥了重要作用，但在20世纪后期，这些活动几乎完全由阿拉斯加大学博物馆（UAM）进行。1997年，UAM的鸟类收藏增加了1000个标本，增幅为14%。在可预见的未来，这一增长速度将持续或超过，并可能使UAM成为北美收藏增长前10-12家机构之一。如果计算保存的物品而不是个体，那么增长率会更大。今天加入的绝大多数标本都是作为皮肤、部分骨骼、组织样本和胃内容物准备的——每个人有五个单独的样本。这些标本的收集是完全计算机化的，编目过程包括将获得的每个标本直接输入计算机数据库。目前，标本存储量超过了箱子的可用空间。目前，这些骨骼和一些较少使用的皮肤材料被储存在鸟类饲养场的箱子顶部的纸箱里。由于在case中没有可用的馆藏扩展空间，因此并非所有馆藏都可以按分类顺序排列。这些问题都不能被主动的系统收集所接受，所有这些问题都可以通过新的案例得到缓解。该项目将支持购买新箱子，预计将满足未来3-5年的需求。

Alaska is not simply another geopolitical unit in North America. Faunistically, including birds, there is no other region of its type on the planet. It hosts a diverse New World and old World avifauna, as well as a uniquely Beringian avifauna. Historically, other museums have been important in documenting the avian diversity of this remarkable region, but in the late twentieth century these activities have been conducted almost exclusively by the University of Alaska Museum (UAM).In 1997 the UAM bird collection grew by 1,000 specimens, or by 14%. This growth rate will be sustained or exceeded for the foreseeable future, and probably ranks UAM among the top 10-12 institutions in North America in collections growth. If one counts objects preserved, rather than individuals, then the growth rate is larger. The great majority of specimens being added today are prepared as skins, partial skeletons, tissue samples, and stomach contents - five separate pieces for each individual. The collection is fully computerized, and the cataloguing process involves entering each specimen acquired directly into the computer database. At present specimen holdings exceed the space available in cases. The skeleton collection and some of the lesser-used skin material are currently being stored in cardboard boxes on top of cases in the bird range. Because there is no available collection expansion space in cases, not all of holdings can be placed in taxonomic order. None of these problems is acceptable for an active systematics collection, and all of them can be alleviated with new cases. This project will support the purchase of new cases, which are anticipated to satisfy needs for the next 3-5 years.