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

在R博士的指导下，华盛顿大学获得了一笔赠款。奥姆斯特德，以改善长期保存和访问华盛顿大学标本馆（WTU）维管植物，非维管植物和真菌收藏。 华盛顿大学植物标本馆是太平洋西北部最大的植物标本馆，拥有超过570，000个标本，分为维管植物，隐花植物（bratellites和地衣），真菌和藻类。 这些收藏品是一种宝贵的植物资源，因为它们支持国内和国际的系统学，植物区系学和保护生物学研究。 该项目的目标包括用钢制标本箱取代木制标本箱，将过时的电子压实系统转换为机械辅助，将所有北美西部维管植物标本数据库化，并策划苔藓和地衣收藏。 购买钢制标本箱将保护成千上万的标本免受虫害、火灾或水的破坏。 目前，这些标本由于储存在木柜中而面临这些风险。 将与档案储存专家签订合同，将现有的移动的储存设备改为机械辅助设备，以消除对使用了22年之久的电子系统的进一步依赖，因为该系统既没有备件，也没有经过培训的维修人员。 在现代的情况下，住房标本，并具有可操作的存储设备将确保收藏品可供所有背景的当前和未来的用户。 将聘请一名数据库经理监督WTU的太平洋西北维管植物收集的数据库。将聘请一名受过系统学研究生培训的馆长来管理苔藓和地衣收藏。 这些重要的收藏品，包括最近生物调查所得的标本，20多年来没有得到受过训练的专家的注意。 该项目的活动支持华盛顿大学的研究，教育和公共宣传的使命。 改进WTU标本的存储和可访问性，确保了现场和场外研究人员对未来几代人的学术使用的新机会。 本科生参与这个项目提供了博物馆策展和研究的培训机会。 重要的是，该项目的影响远远超出了科学界和大学界。 WTU收藏品的用户包括公众、各级教育的学生、政府机构人员和以保护为导向的非营利组织。 可靠地访问妥善储存和策划的标本，确保其长期提供给广大观众。

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 The goals of this project include replacing wooden specimen cases with steel ones, converting the outdated compactor system from electronics based to mechanical assist, databasing all western North America vascular plant specimens, and curating the moss and lichen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.