Labels in alcohol

[Sven O Kullander]

Dear all:

We have used laser printed labels for the NRM fish and herps alcohol (and
other
types of preparation) collection since we got hold of our first laser-printer
in the mid/late 80s. Laser printed labels are still fine now, more than 10
years later, but the design has been improved in more recent outputs.

Laser printed labels are excellent for the clear display of information about
the contents of the jar and they are fast and easy to produce. We have used a
number of laser printers over the years, and currently use HP 6P, HP 5P, and
NEC 62P printers to produce the labels. We use Swedish-made archive quality
cotton/linen paper, 80 g, which comes in DIN A4 sheets and is quite
inexpensive. The printed labels are sprayed twice with fixative coating
(LetraFix fixative, but any cheaper equivalent product may work). Specimens
(and labels) are preserved in 75% pure ethanol in solution with distilled
water, without any additives.

The text floats off under two conditions: with fat fish, like eels (Anguilla),
and in contact with some plastics like the plastic bags used when packing
specimens for loans. For loans we thus produce dot matrix labels to go with
the
specimens (Panasonic KXP24, standard ink ribbon).

So far no information got lost because of the use of laser printed labels.
This
covers more than 30 000 jars of mostly fish, but also some herps, birds and
mammals. However, it should be pointed out that the nice display labels are
for
the convenience of locating jars and evaluating the contents in the first
place. Rapid location and quick access to information about the contents of
the
jar are two very important aspects of collection management, and speed up the
work of visiting researchers considerably. The laser printed display labels
may, however, be less suitable for other purposes.  Labels for field use, used
during sorting, or for exhibition purposes could be completely different.


Sven O Kullander
Senior Curator, Ichthyology
Swedish Museum of Natural History
http://www.nrm.se/ve/pisces/welcome.shtml.en