Improving Access and Storage for the University of Washington Bird Collections

在S. Rohwer博士的指导下，华盛顿大学伯克博物馆获得了一笔赠款，用于改善鸟类研究收藏的储存和获取。这笔拨款专门用于增加伯克博物馆收藏的三个重要藏品的可及性和升级储存条件：1)世界上最大的鸟类展翅收藏，2)独特的海鸟皮收藏，3)世界上第12大鸟类骨骼收藏。伯克博物馆收藏的25000只展开的翅膀是独一无二的，它支持了几条研究路线，否则这些研究是不可能的。然而，在过去的15年里，它的快速增长导致了过度拥挤的储存条件，必须加以补救，以确保标本的寿命。同样，许多海鸟皮和骨骼也需要重新安置，以确保藏品的长期安全。这笔拨款将资助20个新案例，以重新安置和扩大翅膀，海鸟皮肤和骨骼收藏。此外，许多较老的骨骼标本将被转移到档案质量箱中，并使用计算机生成的标签重新标记。后者将要求来自骨骼收集的所有数据进行数字化和验证。这个数字数据库现在包含了大约9000份骨骼记录，这些记录来自旧的博物馆目录和分类账，但尚未得到与原始标本标签相符的证明。赠款包括用于完成骨骼标本数据数字化的资金，这将使伯克将鸟类学收集的所有数据，包括遗传资源数据，在互联网上提供。这将大大增加各级正规科学研究和非正规教育对馆藏的利用。此外，这将为参与一个目前提议的项目做好准备，该项目将对北美收集的所有鸟类标本进行地理参考。由于用户群体很广泛，这项资助的广泛影响是多方面的。最重要的是为国内和国际的研究人员、教育工作者和艺术家提供更好的收藏和访问，以及华盛顿大学（世界一流的研究型大学之一）充满活力的本科和高级培训项目。因为保存下来的标本是我们关于过去种群和灭绝谱系的新数据的唯一来源，改善它们长期护理的项目对社会有许多潜在的好处。这样的例子比比皆是，从发现滴滴涕导致猛禽蛋壳变薄，到记录了现在分散的东部山鸡种群遗传多样性的丧失。除了原始研究之外，我们的收藏服务于不同的用户社区，包括州和联邦机构，保护团体，野生动物艺术家和雕塑家，以及不断增长的K-12教育推广计划。

A grant has been awarded to the University of Washington Burke Museum under the direction of Dr. S. Rohwer to improve storage and access to the research collection of birds. The grant is specifically targeted at increasing accessibility and upgrading storage conditions for three remarkable collections held by the Burke Museum: 1) the largest collection of avian spread wings in the world, 2) a unique collection of seabird skins and, 3) the 12th largest avian skeleton collection in the world. The collection of 25,000 spread wings at the Burke is unique and has supported several lines of research that would have otherwise been impossible. However, its rapid growth over the past 15 years has led to over-crowded storage conditions, which must be remedied to ensure longevity of the specimens. Similarly, many of the seabird skins and much of the skeleton collection needs re-housing to ensure the long-term safety of the collections. This grant will fund twenty new cases to re-house and expand the wing, seabird skin, and skeleton collections. In addition, many of the older skeleton specimens will be moved to archival quality boxes and re-labeled using computer-generated labels. The latter will require that all of the data from the skeleton collection be digitized and proofed. The digital database now contains about 9,000 skeleton records that were entered from old museum catalogs and ledgers, but have not been proofed to the original specimen labels. Included in the grant are funds to complete the digitization of skeleton specimen data, which will poise the Burke to make all data in the ornithology collection, including genetic resource data, available over the Internet. This will dramatically increase access to the collection for both formal scientific research and informal education at all levels. Additionally, this will prepare the collection for participation in a currently proposed project to geo-reference all avian specimens in North American collections.The broader impact of this grant is multifold, because the community of users is broad. Of greatest importance is the enhanced care of and access to collections that serve a national and international community of researchers, educators, and artists, as well as a vibrant program of undergraduate and advanced training at the University of Washington - one of the world's premier research universities. Because preserved specimens are our sole source of new data about past populations and extinct lineages, projects that improve their long-term care have many potential benefits to society. Examples abound, ranging from discovering that DDT caused eggshell thinning in raptors to documenting lost genetic diversity in the now fragmented eastern populations of Prairie Chickens. Beyond original research, our collections serve a diverse community of users, including state and federal agencies, conservation groups, wildlife artists and sculptors, and a growing program of K-12 educational outreach.