Databasing, Curating, and Protecting: A proposal to update and modernize the University of Washington Herbarium

在R.Olmstead博士的指导下，华盛顿大学获得了一笔赠款，以改善华盛顿大学植物标本馆(WTU)维管束植物、非维管束植物和真菌收藏的长期保存和获取。华盛顿大学植物标本馆是太平洋西北部最大的标本馆，有超过57万个标本，分布在维管束植物、隐花苔藓(苔藓和地衣)、真菌和藻类中。这些藏品是一种无价的植物学资源，因为它们支持国内和国际的系统学、植物区系和保护生物学研究。该项目的目标包括用钢制标本箱取代木制标本箱，将过时的压实机系统从电子设备转变为机械辅助设备，对北美西部所有维管植物标本进行数据库管理，以及整理苔藓和地衣标本。购买钢制标本箱将保护数以万计的标本免受虫害、火灾或水的破坏。目前，这些标本由于存放在木柜中而暴露在这些风险之下。将与档案存储专家签订合同，将现有的移动存储单元转换为机械辅助，以消除对已有22年历史的电子系统的进一步依赖，因为该系统既没有备件，也没有训练有素的维修人员。在现代情况下保存标本，并拥有可操作的存储设备，将确保所有背景的当前和未来用户都可以使用这些收藏品。将聘请一名数据库管理员来监督WTU太平洋西北维管植物采集的数据库工作。将聘请一名受过系统学研究生水平培训的馆长来管理苔藓和地衣收藏。这些重要的收藏品，包括最近生物调查产生的标本，20多年来没有得到训练有素的专家的注意。该项目的活动支持华盛顿大学的研究、教育和公众宣传使命。西大标本储存和获取的改进确保了场内和场外研究人员世世代代以学术方式使用这些藏品的新机会。本科生参与这个项目提供了博物馆管理和研究方面的培训机会。重要的是，这个项目的影响远远超出了科学和大学社区。WTU收藏品的使用者包括公众、各级教育机构的学生、政府机构工作人员和以保护环境为导向的非营利组织。可靠地获得适当储存和整理的标本确保了它们长期可供广大观众使用。

A grant has been awarded to the University of Washington under the direction of Dr. R. Olmstead to improve the long-term preservation of and access to the University of Washington Herbarium's (WTU) vascular plant, nonvascular plant, and fungal collections. The University of Washington Herbarium is the largest herbarium in the Pacific Northwest, with over 570,000 specimens divided among vascular plants, cryptogams (bryophytes and lichens), fungi, and algae. The collections are an invaluable botanical resource because they support systematics, floristics, and conservation biology research both nationally and internationally. The goals of this project include replacing wooden specimen cases with steel ones, converting the outdated compactor system from electronics based to mechanical assist, databasing all western North America vascular plant specimens, and curating the moss and lichen collections. The purchase of steel herbarium cases will protect tens of thousands of specimens against pest, fire, or water damage. Currently these specimens are exposed to these risks due to their storage in wooden cabinets. Archival storage specialists will be contracted to convert the existing mobile storage unit to mechanical assist in order to eliminate further reliance on a 22 year-old electronic system for which neither spare parts nor trained maintenance personnel are available. Housing specimens in modern cases, and having operable storage equipment will ensure that the collections are available to current and future users of all backgrounds. A database manager will be hired to supervise the databasing of WTU's Pacific Northwest vascular plant collection. A curator with graduate-level training in systematics will be hired to curate the moss and lichen collections. These important collections, including specimens resulting from recent biotic surveys, have not received the attention of a trained expert in over 20 years. The activities of this project support the University of Washington's mission of research, education, and public outreach. Improved storage of and accessibility to WTU's specimens ensures novel opportunities for the scholarly use of the collections by on and off-site researchers for generations to come. Participation in this project by undergraduate students provides training opportunities in museum curation and research. Importantly, the impact of this project extends well beyond the scientific and university community. Users of WTU's collections include the public, students from all education levels, government agency personnel, and conservation-oriented non-profit organizations. Reliable access to properly stored and curated specimens ensures their long-term availability to a broad audience.