HERBARIUM INFORMATION BAZAAR at SPNHC Workshop

[Deborah Q. Lewis]

     HELP WANTED:  Your ideas, tips, techniques on any and all
     aspects of plant collecting and collections, in the form of
     a poster, display and/or demonstration.  Your participation
     is desired to make the "Herbarium Information Bazaar" a
     success.

The Society for the Preservation of Natural History Collections
(SPNHC) will be holding its annual meeting in Toronto, 2-6 June
1995.  A workshop entitled "Managing the Modern Herbarium" will
be held on Monday and Tuesday, 5-6 June.  More details about the
meeting and workshop can be found below.

On Monday evening, an informal "Herbarium Information Bazaar"
will provide an opportunity for interaction among workshop
participants and speakers.  The conservators and consultants who
will be participating in the day's session on Herbarium
Conservation will be on hand with demonstration materials, and to
answer questions about papers, adhesives, plastic products, pest
control, inks, humidity control, or renovation and design.
Suppliers will also be there to discuss and display archival
and other herbarium products.

FOR THIS EVENING TO BE A SUCCESS WE ALSO NEED YOU to actively
participate in the bazaar by: sharing your ideas and techniques
in a display, poster or video, or by demonstrating your special
herbarium or field approach on-the- spot (and let the rest of us
give a try, too)!

To prompt your thinking about what you may have to
offer, consider:
- field work: collecting, drying specimens
- specimen preparation
- non-vascular plant concerns
- packing and shipping
- pest control
- new products (truly new or new applications for old or non-
traditional)
- database formats or label generation

Don't assume that "everybody already knows that..."; it's almost
certain that we don't all "know that..."!  The intent of the
evening is to be able to explore the alternatives.

When you've come up with some ideas, inform us of your intentions
(by March 31 please) by providing the information at the end of
this notice.  We would love to hear from you and may be able to
help you with suggestions on how to present your ideas.

We want the evening to be fun as well as informative. There will
be lots of space for the "Bazaar" so we hope that you will attend
and participate!  Bring your questions and your answers!
***************************
Preliminary information being requested:

Brief statement (description) of topic you'd like to contribute.

Format: Demo    Display    Poster    Video    Not Sure

Will be attending and can set-up/present in person?  Yes  No

Supplies or other needs for presentation?

For video: tape format?   VHS   VHS-C   Hi-8

Prefer to be contacted by (postal/e-mail address or phone/FAX
number):

Please forward this information to:
Deb Lewis
Department of Botany
Iowa State University
Ames, IA   50011-1020 (USA)
E-mail:  dlewis at iastate.edu
Phone:  [1] 515-294-9499
FAX:  [1] 515-294-1337
****************************
Additional information about the SPNHC Annual Meeting

SPNHC '95 - "Preserving the Record of Nature through Countless
Ages"

The 10th annual meeting of the Society for the Preservation of
Natural History Collections (SPNHC) will be hosted by the Royal
Ontario Museum, Toronto, Ontario, Canada 2-6 June 1995.  Everyone
is encouraged to submit papers and posters on natural history
collection management issues for consideration.  Meeting
activities include oral and poster presentations, vendor
displays, committee meeetings, a business meeting and the
following social events - an icebreaker reception and a dinner-
dance.

WORKSHOP - Managing the Modern Herbarium
The SPNHC Education and Training Committee in conjunction with
the ROM Department of Botany is offering its first discipline-
specific workshop, June 5-6.  This program is intended for
herbarium managers and curators, researchers, and all others
interested in the preservation, care, maintenance and use of
collections of plants and fungi.  The objective is to provide a
working knowledge of the most recent developments in preventive
conservation and environmental control to address issues
pertaining to modern usage and documentation of herbarium
specimens.  Many topics to be presented here are applicable to
all systematic collections.

Monday:  Preventive Conservation in the Herbarium
Case studies, panel presentations and discussion will be among
the formats used to explore preventive conservation in the modern
herbarium.  Conservators, consultants and curators will join
forces to provide an understanding of, and to identify practical
and inexpensive solutions to herbarium conservation concerns.
Among the topics to be covered:  conservation standards; building
design and environment; viable options for integrated pest
management control; choices of papers, adhesives, inks and
plastic products; and a review of available resources on
preventive conservation and collections care.

Monday evening:  Herbarium Information Bazaar (see information
above)

Tuesday:  Contemporary Issues Facing Herbaria
Bar Coding:  Standards for Systematic Collections.  The results
of a survey conducted for the Taxonomic Databases Working Group
on the use of bar codes in systematic collections will be
presented.  Recommendations for bar-coding specifications,
interpretation and standardization will be made.  Can we achieve
a unique code for each specimen, or specimen part, in every
systematic collection in the world?

Destructive Sampling and Molecular Systematics:  Are we moving
toward a consensus?  Discussion will focus on the issues related
to the expanding role of destructive sampling of herbarium
specimens:  what is the current state of technologies;
establishing guidelines for sampling, for documentation, and
optimal retention of data; how can molecular systematics and
herbaria mutually benefit from new roles for preserved specimens;
how can we best address issues of DNA storage and availability?

For an information packet about the meeting and workshop,
including registration forms, contact:

SPNHC '95 Conference
Royal Ontario Museum
100 Queens Park
Toronto, Ontario
CANADA M5S 2C6

Inquiries:
Janet Waddington, SPNHC'95 Committee Chair
(phone: 416-586-5593; FAX: 416-586-5863; email: janetw at rom.on.ca)

---------------------------------------------------
Deborah Q. Lewis                     E-mail:  dlewis at iastate.edu
Curator of the Ada Hayden Herbarium (ISC)
Department of Botany                 Phone:  [1] 515-294-9499
341A Bessey Hall
Iowa State University                FAX:  [1] 515-294-1337
Ames, IA   50011-1020 (USA)

ÿÿ    HERBARIUM INFORMATION BAZAAR at SPNHC Workshop                          Fr