Curation of the Wasp Nest Collection of The American Museum of Natural History

美国自然历史博物馆黄蜂巢藏品的策展

• 批准号: 0446968
• 负责人: James Carpenter
• 金额: $ 23.76万
• 依托单位: American Museum Natural History
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2005
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2005-03-15 至 2008-02-29
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0446968&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Curation; Wasp; Nest; Collection; American

A grant has been awarded to the American Museum of Natural History under the direction of Dr. James Carpenter and Lisa Kronthal for partial support of curation of one of the largest collections of social wasp nests (family Vespidae) in the world, according to modern conservation techniques, and for digital photography of the collection to allow Internet access. The collection will be re-housed in new cabinetry, with appropriate supports constructed. The conservation will preserve a unique resource for future researchers, for without proper preservation the collection will continue to deteriorate and information will be lost. This project will also improve availability of the collection by permitting electronic access.This project represents a unique collaboration: scientists and professional conservators have never worked together on a wasp nest collection. We will produce a "Best Practices" document for treating such collections which will be made available on the AMNH natural sciences conservation website - the first resource for how to treat such collections properly. The document will provide general information on the construction and composition of the nests as well as information concerning their response to external environments and forces found within a museum setting. Instructions and parameters concerning handling, long-term storage and re-housing will be presented using supplementary diagrams. Images of examples from the collections will be presented to further illustrate specific steps involved in re-housing and building supports. Student training will also be provided, for an intern in the newly emerging field of conservation of natural history collections. The student will participate in both the conservation and imaging of the nest collection. The collection has already served as the basis for a significant number of scientific publications, including some of general interest to evolutionary biology. It has also served in an educational role, in the form of demonstrations at lectures and tours given to members, students, journalists, and other parties. The best practices document will serve the growing field of natural science conservators as well as collections managers worldwide through its accessibility via the Internet. The imaging that will be accomplished under this project will have a direct benefit to scientific researchers who will be able to study the images without having to visit the Museum and will act to preserve the collection by reducing the level of handling it currently endures, but it will also have indirect benefits as well.

在James Carpenter博士和Lisa Kronthal博士的指导下，美国自然历史博物馆获得了一笔赠款，用于根据现代保护技术，部分支持世界上最大的社会黄蜂巢（黄蜂科）收藏之一的管理，并为收藏的数码摄影提供互联网接入。该系列将被重新安置在新的橱柜中，并建造适当的支撑。这种保护将为未来的研究人员保存一个独特的资源，因为如果没有适当的保护，这些收藏将继续恶化，信息将丢失。该项目还将通过允许电子访问来改善收集的可用性。这个项目代表了一种独特的合作：科学家和专业的保护人员从未在马蜂窝收集上合作过。我们将编制一份处理这类标本的“最佳做法”文件，并将在AMNH自然科学保护网站上公布，这是如何妥善处理这类标本的第一个资源。该文件将提供有关巢的构造和组成的一般信息，以及它们对外部环境和博物馆环境中发现的力量的反应的信息。有关处理、长期储存和重新安置的说明和参数将使用补充图表提出。我们将展示这些藏品中的例子图片，进一步说明安置和建筑支持的具体步骤。还将为新生的自然历史藏品保护领域的一名实习生提供学生培训。该学生将参与巢收集的保护和成像。该收藏已经成为大量科学出版物的基础，包括一些对进化生物学普遍感兴趣的出版物。它还发挥了教育作用，以演讲和巡回演出的形式向会员、学生、记者和其他党派进行展示。最佳实践文件将通过互联网提供给日益壮大的自然科学保护领域以及世界各地的馆藏管理人员。在这个项目下完成的成像将给科学研究人员带来直接的好处，他们将不必去博物馆就能研究这些图像，并通过减少目前所承受的处理水平来保护这些藏品，但它也将带来间接的好处。