Collection Management Survey

[Ken Walker]

Dear colleagues,

        COLLECTION MANAGEMENT IN NATURAL SCIENCE COLLECTIONS

The Department of Natural Sciences in the Museum of Victoria is currently
reviewing its collection management resources and activities.  The Museum holds
in excess of 12 million specimens covering zoological and geological fields and
is responsible for research, caring for and developing the collections and
public information and education programs.  There are 15 curators and 11 support
staff (collection managers and other technical support personnel) plus a number
of grant funded research staff.  We are interested in hearing from other like
institutions on how they organise research, collection development/management/
conservation and public program functions and in particular the reporting
relationships between the curatorial and collection management staff.

If you can help us with information we would like to know:
1.      The size of the collection
2.      Number of curatorial and support staff associated with your natural
science collections that are dedicated to research, collection management,
a mixture of both etc. (an organisational chart would be helpful)
3.      How your institution caters for general public enquiries, such as
specimen identifications.
4.     Examples of duty statements for curatorial and collection management
staff.

If you can help with this request we would like to have any documentation by
31 July 1995.

Email address:  rfield at pioneer.mov.vic.gov.au

Fax: Australia (03) 9416 0475

Postal address:  Ross Field
                 Museum of Victoria
                 71 Victoria Crescent
                 ABBOTSFORD  VIC  3067
                 AUSTRALIA