RCN: Building a National Community of Natural History Collections

密歇根州立大学在拉里·A·普雷瑟博士的指导下获得了一笔赠款，以建立美国自然历史收藏界的研究协调网络。目前，自然历史收藏界缺乏统一的声音，社区内有必要并希望纠正这种情况。这个项目将提供一个有效的场所，将自然历史收藏的努力结合起来，寻找这一声音，并确定21世纪的收藏目标。首席调查员来自不同的机构，在分类和技能方面具有广泛的背景。三个基础广泛的生物组织将与私营部门合作：AIBS、自然科学收藏联盟和自然历史收藏保护协会。私人投资机构建议通过建立一个指导委员会来克服收藏界的支离破碎的状态，该委员会将在区域协调委员会的过程中扩大规模和成员多样性。计划的活动包括强大的网络存在、研讨会和座谈会以及学生实习。这些工具将加强研究，并帮助自然历史收藏管理员和用户设想自然历史收藏在下个世纪需要成为什么样子。指导委员会将以少数群体服务机构的藏品参与为目标，一个特别的小型藏品讲习班将接触到可纳入网络和数据库收藏计划的许多较小的藏品。其他研讨会将使传统收藏界以外的人更了解这些收藏品的信息，包括土地管理人员和非分类学科的研究人员。一个教育和外联讲习班将以K-12教育工作者和其他可能利用藏品的人为目标。

A grant has been awarded to Michigan State University under the direction of Dr. Larry A. Prather to establish a Research Coordination network among the natural history collection in the U.S. Currently the community of natural history collections lacks a unified voice, and there is a need and a desire within the community to rectify the situation. This project will provide an effective venue to coalesce the efforts of natural history collections to find that voice and determine the goals for collections in the 21st century. The Principal Investigators are from a variety of institutions and have a broad background in terms of taxonomy and skills. Three broad-based biological organizations will work with the PIs: AIBS; the Natural Science Collections Alliance; and the Society for the Preservation of Natural History Collections. The PIs propose to overcome the fractured state of the collections community by establishing a Steering Committee that will grow in size and diversity of membership over the course of the RCN. Activities planned include a strong web presence, workshops and symposia, and student internships. These tools will enhance research and help natural history collection stewards and users to envision what natural history collections need to become in the next century. The Steering Committee will target participation by collections at minority-serving institutions, and a special Small Collections Workshop will reach out to the numerous smaller collections that can be included in plans to network and database collections. Additional workshops will make information about the collections better known to those outside the traditional collections community, including land managers and researchers in nontaxonomic disciplines. An Education and Outreach Workshop will target K-12 educators and others who can potentially utilize collections.