Computerization of the University of Michigan Museum of Zoology Mollusk Collection

在Diarmaid O'Foighil博士的指导下，密歇根大学获得了一笔赠款，用于部分支持动物学软体动物收藏博物馆（UMMZ-MC）的计算机化。这是一个重要的国内和国际资源，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。目前对UMMZ-MC的科学利用受到缺乏在线可搜索数据库的阻碍。实际上，这意味着对UMMZ-MC馆藏感兴趣的生物学家/自然资源保护主义者通常必须长时间亲自访问馆藏以获取他们需要的信息。该赠款将使UMMZ-MC工作人员能够将所有已编目的批次（大约251,000）输入在线可搜索数据库。在这个过程中，每个批次将被重新安置在一个无酸的环境中，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，并将极大地促进对收集的历史生物多样性数据的远程访问。密歇根大学的本科生和研究生策展助理将集中参与这个项目。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，根据心理特征识别标本，进行分类和命名，以及管理和照顾博物馆藏品。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以及地理信息系统。UMMZ-MC的计算机化将使它回到软体动物研究收集的前沿，将其巨大的潜在历史生物多样性和生物地理数据释放给系统学家、生态学家和保护生物学家的热切读者，并促进总体收集活动率的显著提高。这个在线数据库也将向公众开放，越来越多的公众对保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。它将允许UMMZ-MC最终与同行博物馆的姐妹馆藏联系起来，促进向在线多馆藏搜索的过渡。最后，这个项目也将使UMMZ-MC加强其在培养系统生物学和博物馆科学的研究生和本科生方面的突出作用，通过整合显著水平的实用数据库和一般策展技能发展。

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.