CSBR Natural History: Rehousing and inventory of fluid-preserved mollusks at the Academy of Natural Sciences

该项目将在费城自然科学院（ANSP）清点超过50,000个液体保存的软体动物样本。旧瓶盖的故障率越来越高，这对藏品构成了威胁，这将通过用档案材料制成的瓶盖代替瓶盖来解决。该馆收藏了来自140个国家的约150万件标本。1000多个标本中有20多万个标本，代表着濒危和灭绝的物种。大部分液体保存的标本除了适合解剖外，还适合DNA分析。确保这些材料被妥善归档，并且有关信息可以在网上获得，这有助于在全世界范围内对软体动物生物学和保护进行研究。该项目将培训四名来自德雷塞尔大学的本科生，学习软体动物系统学、分类学和策展技术。每个学生都将作为馆长助理在ANSP全职工作六个月，学习保护和保存技术。学生将获得软体动物多样性的介绍，并了解系统收藏对进化和保护生物学研究的价值。公众将在ANSP的年度会员之夜（2014年有1000多人参加）和费城贝壳展（每年吸引约1500名参观者）上了解该项目。该项目将在档案材料中重新安置来自ANSP的41,000个样本，并整合从其他机构收到的约9,500个样本。藏品中的许多瓶盖都是由胶木或钢制成的，这些材料现在已经不适合保存液体。当盖子失效时，标本会变干，降低它们的科学价值；所有非档案盖子将被替换为档案盖子。罐子将从直接放在架子上移到铝托盘上，这样就可以通过扫描整个托盘来检查液位，而不是一次拿起一个罐子。在DNA技术出现之前，人们认为从液体保存的藏品中借来的样本在被解剖时会被破坏，所以ANSP要求提供类似的材料作为交换。然而，通常不记录当一个样品已被分解为破坏性取样。此外，在某些情况下，除了干货之外，还有一批酒没有记录在目录中。因此，每个样本将根据其数据库记录进行验证，从而产生保存液体的收集物的当前清单。将在数据库中添加一个模块，以记录样品在重新安置时的状况和所采取的任何行动。该项目产生的所有数据将与iDigBio （https://www.idigbio.org/）共享，确保研究人员和教育工作者可以访问。数据将通过ANSP网站（http://clade.ansp.org/malacology/collections/）和其他门户网站在线提供。

This project will inventory more than 50,000 samples of fluid-preserved mollusks at the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia (ANSP). The collection is threatened by the increasing failure rate of old jar lids, which will be addressed by replacing the lids with ones made of archival materials. The collection contains about 1.5 million specimens from 140 countries. Endangered and extinct species are represented in more than 1,000 samples containing more than 200,000 specimens. Much of the fluid-preserved collection is appropriate for DNA analysis, in addition to being suitable for dissections. Ensuring that this material is properly archived and that information about is available online supports research on molluscan biology and conservation throughout the world. The project will train four undergraduate students from Drexel University in molluscan systematics, taxonomy, and curatorial techniques. Each student will work full-time for six months as a curatorial assistant at ANSP, learning conservation and preservation techniques. Students will receive an introduction to molluscan diversity and learn about the value of systematic collections for research in evolutionary and conservation biology. The general public will be introduced to the project at the annual Members' Night at ANSP, which was attended by more than 1,000 people in 2014, and at the annual Philadelphia Shell Show, which attracts about 1,500 visitors.The project will rehouse in archival materials 41,000 samples from ANSP and integrate about 9,500 samples received from other institutions. Many of the jar lids in the collection are made of bakelite or steel, materials now known not to be archival for fluid preservation. When lids fail, the specimens dry out, reducing their scientific value; all non-archival lids will be replaced with archival ones. Jars will be moved from standing directly on shelves into aluminum trays, so that fluid levels can be checked by scanning entire trays rather than picking up one jar at a time. Before the advent of DNA technology, it was assumed that samples sent on loan from the fluid-preserved collection would be destroyed when they were dissected, so ANSP asked for similar material in exchange. However, it was not usually recorded when a sample had been deaccessioned for destructive sampling. Also, in some cases, the presence of an alcohol lot in addition to a dry lot was not recorded in the catalogue. Each sample will therefore be verified against its database record, yielding a current inventory of the fluid-preserved collection. A module will be added to the database to record the condition of the sample at the time of rehousing and any action taken. All data resulting from this project will be shared with iDigBio (https://www.idigbio.org/), ensuring accessibility to researchers and educators. Data will be made available online through the ANSP website (http://clade.ansp.org/malacology/collections/) and other portals.