Computerization of the University of Michigan Museum of Zoology Mollusk Collection

在Diarmaid O 'Foighil博士的指导下，向密歇根大学提供了一笔赠款，用于部分支持动物学博物馆软体动物收藏的计算机化。该集合是一个重要的国家和国际资源，作为一个有影响力的研究参考，包括淡水生物学和保护，无脊椎动物学，医学和兽医动物学，古生物学等不同领域。由于缺乏可在线检索的数据库，目前对UMMZ-MC的科学利用受到阻碍。 实际上，这意味着对UMMZ-MC藏品感兴趣的生物学家/保护主义者经常不得不长时间亲自访问这些藏品，以获取他们所需的信息。这笔赠款将使UMMZ-MC人员能够将所有编目的地段（约251,000件）输入一个在线搜索数据库。 在此过程中，每个批次将重新安置在无酸环境中，进行枚举、分类更新和地理参考。 这项工作将对UMMZ-MC的研究效用产生变革性影响，并将极大地促进远程访问该集合的历史生物多样性数据。密歇根大学本科生和研究生策展助理将集中参与该项目。 这些学生将获得现代博物馆技能和工作实践的全面基础。 他们将接受专家培训，学习如何根据贝壳特征识别标本、分类学实践和命名以及管理和保管博物馆收藏品。 他们还将接受各种计算机科学技能的培训，包括数据管理、数据库设计、SQL服务器和在线数据库应用程序以及地理信息系统。 UMMZ-MC的计算机化将使其回到积极研究软体动物收藏的最前沿，将其潜在的历史生物多样性和地理数据的巨大存储释放给系统学家，生态学家和保护生物学家的热切观众，并刺激整体收集活动率的显着增加。 在线数据库也将向公众开放，其中越来越多的人对养护问题越来越感兴趣，他们逐渐意识到北美动物多样性的最大损失涉及淡水软体动物。 它将使UMMZ-MC最终与同行博物馆的姐妹收藏品联系起来，促进向在线多收藏搜索的过渡。 最后，该项目还将使UMMZ-MC加强其在系统生物学和博物馆科学方面的研究生和本科生培训中的突出作用，将实用数据库和一般策展技能的发展纳入重要水平。

A grant has been awarded to the University of Michigan, under the direction of Dr. Diarmaid O'Foighil, for partial support of the computerization of the Museum of Zoology Mollusk Collection (UMMZ-MC). This collection is a major national and international resource, serving as an influential research reference to diverse fields including freshwater biology and conservation, invertebrate zoology, medical and veterinary zoology, and paleontology. The present day scientific utilization of the UMMZ-MC is hindered by the absence of an online searchable database. In practical terms, this means that biologists/conservationists interested in UMMZ-MC holdings often have to physically visit the collection for extended periods to access the information they require. The grant will enable UMMZ-MC personnel to enter all of the catalogued lots (approximately 251,000) into an online searchable database. During this process, each lot will be re-housed in an acid-free environment, enumerated, taxonomically-updated and georeferenced. This work will have a transformative effect on the research utility of the UMMZ-MC and will greatly facilitate remote access to the collection's historical biodiversity data.University of Michigan undergraduate students and graduate student curatorial assistants will be centrally involved in this project. These students will receive a thorough grounding in modern museum skills and work practices. They will receive expert training in identifying specimens based on conchological features, in taxonomic practice and nomenclature, and in the management and care of museum collections. They will also be trained in a variety of computer science skills, including data management, database design, SQL server and online database applications, and geographic information systems. Computerization of the UMMZ-MC will return it to the forefront of active research mollusk collections, releasing its enormous store of latent historical biodiversity and biogeographical data to an eager audience of systematists, ecologists and conservation biologists, and spurring significant increases in overall collection activity rates. The online database will also be available to the general public, a growing fraction of whom are increasingly interested in conservation issues and who are gradually becoming aware that the greatest loss in North American animal diversity has involved freshwater mollusks. It will allow the UMMZ-MC to eventually link with sister collections in peer museums, facilitating the transition to online multiple-collection searches as they develop. Finally, this project will also enable the UMMZ-MC to strengthen its prominent role in training graduate and undergraduate students in systematic biology and museum science by incorporating significant levels of practical database and general curatorial skill development.