Specimen Case Expansion of University of Alaska Museum Bird Collection

阿拉斯加不仅仅是北美的另一个地缘政治单位。 从动物区系上看，包括鸟类在内，地球上没有其他类似的地区。 它拥有多样化的新世界和旧世界鸟类，以及独特的柏林鸟类。 从历史上看，其他博物馆在记录这一非凡地区的鸟类多样性方面发挥了重要作用，但在世纪后期，这些活动几乎完全由阿拉斯加大学博物馆（UAM）进行。 在可预见的未来，这一增长率将持续或超过，并可能将UAM列为北美收藏增长最快的10-12所机构之一。 如果计算保存下来的物体，而不是个人，那么增长率会更大。 今天添加的绝大多数标本都是以皮肤、部分骨骼、组织样本和胃内容物的形式准备的--每个个体有五个单独的部分。 收藏品完全计算机化，编目过程涉及将获得的每个标本直接输入计算机数据库。 目前，标本的保存量超过了案件的可用空间。 骨骼收集和一些较少使用的皮肤材料目前被储存在纸板箱顶部的情况下，在鸟类范围。 由于没有可用的收藏扩展空间的情况下，不是所有的控股可以放置在分类顺序。 这些问题中没有一个是可以接受的一个积极的系统学收集，所有这些都可以缓解与新的情况。 该项目将支持购买新机箱，预计可满足未来3-5年的需求。

Alaska is not simply another geopolitical unit in North America. Faunistically, including birds, there is no other region of its type on the planet. It hosts a diverse New World and old World avifauna, as well as a uniquely Beringian avifauna. Historically, other museums have been important in documenting the avian diversity of this remarkable region, but in the late twentieth century these activities have been conducted almost exclusively by the University of Alaska Museum (UAM).In 1997 the UAM bird collection grew by 1,000 specimens, or by 14%. This growth rate will be sustained or exceeded for the foreseeable future, and probably ranks UAM among the top 10-12 institutions in North America in collections growth. If one counts objects preserved, rather than individuals, then the growth rate is larger. The great majority of specimens being added today are prepared as skins, partial skeletons, tissue samples, and stomach contents - five separate pieces for each individual. The collection is fully computerized, and the cataloguing process involves entering each specimen acquired directly into the computer database. At present specimen holdings exceed the space available in cases. The skeleton collection and some of the lesser-used skin material are currently being stored in cardboard boxes on top of cases in the bird range. Because there is no available collection expansion space in cases, not all of holdings can be placed in taxonomic order. None of these problems is acceptable for an active systematics collection, and all of them can be alleviated with new cases. This project will support the purchase of new cases, which are anticipated to satisfy needs for the next 3-5 years.