herbarium specimen valuation

[Nicholas S. Lander]

Here in Australia we have a national agreed schedule of costs of preparing
and loding a herbarium specimen. It goes for each specimen as follows:

        Collection                      $14
        Identification          $13
        Databasing                      $ 5
        Preparation                     $16
        Annual maintenance      $ 4

        TOTAL   per specimen  AUD $52

Useful background can be found in the following publication:

Armstrong, J.A. (1992). The funding base for Australia's biological
collections. 'Australian Biologist' 5(1): 80-88.

Nicholas Lander
Western Australian Herbarium (PERTH)

-----Original Message-----
From: Taxacom Discussion List [mailto:TAXACOM at USOBI.ORG]On Behalf Of
Alexander Krings
Sent: Wednesday, May 23, 2001 5:08 AM
To: TAXACOM at USOBI.ORG
Subject: herbarium specimen valuation


Dear all,

I am posting the following inquiry on behalf of a colleague who is preparing
an article on herbaria for a state park newsletter.  Not having had
experience with the purchase/sale of herbarium specimens myself, I wonder if
some folks on this list may be able to provide her with more detailed
thoughts/comments based on their own experiences.  Thank you in advance for
any assistance you may be able to provide.  Her note follows...


"One of the items I wanted to mention in my article for the state park
newsletter was the monetary value of an herbarium specimen.  Although my
perspective is that each specimen is priceless, that doesn't necessarily
mean anything to some of the state park personnel. Establishing an
herbarium as an asset with some dollar value may present a more
understandable starting point than its intrinsic educational or
scientific value.

I know that some herbaria have been sold, but don't have access to what
the value was per sheet. Do you know what some private herbaria have
sold for? What is the cost for a mounting sheet?  an estimate of the
cost for labor to collect, press, mount and accession a collection?

Thanks,
--
Jame Amoroso, Botanist
North Carolina Natural Heritage Program
Division of Parks and Recreation
Department of Environment and Natural Resources
1615 MSC, Raleigh, North Carolina 27699-1615
919/715-8700; jame.amoroso at ncmail.net
http://www.ncsparks.net/nhp/"

____________________________
Alexander Krings
Curator and Plant Taxonomist
Herbarium (NCSC), Department of Botany
Campus Box 7612
North Carolina State University
Raleigh, NC 27695-7612

alexander_krings at ncsu.edu
919.515.2700
919.515.3436 (fax)