[meteorite-list] Labeling specimens

From: Galactic Stone & Ironworks <meteoritemike_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Fri, 26 Feb 2010 14:29:24 -0500
Message-ID: <e51421551002261129v7a97a73ej27fc201d9b70d88_at_mail.gmail.com>

Hi Gary, Martin, and List,

Just a thought about storage and labelling -

I keep the majority of my collection inside a wood mineral cabinet
that has many shallow drawers, and each drawer has a series of
moveable compartments which I have lined with batting similar to what
you see in Riker boxes. Each drawer has it's own rechargeable
dessicant cartridge inside the humidity is ideally kept down to about
30-35%, which is about half of my usual Florida ambient humidity. The
smaller micro specimens are kept in labelled gemjars in a seperate
drawer. Larger pieces have a wood compartment and I keep the original
dealer label and my own label inside the compartment and under the
batting. I do not put a label on the specimen itself. I keep large
amounts of crumbs, fragments and part slices in glass apothecary jars
or small glass vials. I also use Riker boxes, gemjars, and membrane
boxes. All of which fit neatly into drawers in the wood cabinet.
Larger specimens are kept on easels or magnetic stands inside clear
acrylic "ballqubes" to keep the dust. I use Roman's metal labels and
custom make lookalike labels for the falls/finds he doesn't have
labels for. Each individual gem jar, membrane box and glass vials are
labelled with an adhesive label, but not the specimens themselves.
Specimens in Riker boxes have the original dealer label under the
batting and one of Romans labels facing outwards through the glass.

I highly recommend a wooden collection cabinet for main storage - it
looks good, it's permanent, it's sturdy, and it keeps specimens away
from casual eyes/hands, but they are at ready access if you need them.

Best regards,

MikeG


On 2/26/10, Gary Fujihara <fujmon at mac.com> wrote:
> Aloha Martin, Ted, list,
>
> I have a modest collection of fresh fall individuals that i have been
> keeping in labeled ziploc bags. Which is fine when stored away in my
> collection vault. This strategy has worked for me while my collection was
> under 50 locations. But now that it has grown considerably, and since I now
> loan them to my institute for exhibits and displays, there is the
> opportunity for, and risk of having them mixed up and mislabeled (slices are
> not a problem since they remain in labeled membraneboxes or display boxes).
> Especially since I narrow my collection pieces to 20-60g complete
> individuals - many of which resemble each other, although I do pride myself
> in recognizing all of them by sight.
>
> However, just recently during an inventory, I noticed that my cataloged
> weights did not jive with a specimen, and discovered that a Pultusk and Oum
> Dreyga were accidentally switched (most probably from collecting them after
> an outreach event exhibit). D'oh!
>
> I try to keep meticulous records of my pieces, but oversights and accidents
> can occur. I am considering adopting a numbering strategy, but have
> concerns as well about what type of paint or pigment to use. Or perhaps if
> a small affixed numbered label would be a better solution - but then what
> type of adhesive should be employed?
>
> So are there any collectors on the list that do number or label their
> specimen? And if so, what strategy do they employ?
>
> gary
>
> On Feb 26, 2010, at 8:48 AM, martin goff wrote:
>
>> Hi Ted,
>>
>>
>> Funnily enough, i asked Dr. David Green exactly the same question. The
>> labels on the Manchester specimens were particularly small and neat. I
>> am at the point with my collection where i feel the need to number the
>> individual specimens. I have smaller specimens labelled on the boxes
>> themselves but the individual stones of a similar size can look very
>> much alike and i am considering numbering them on the specimen itself.
>> Then if by whatever means they were mixed up or the display cabinet
>> were knocked then i would be able to match them up again.
>>
>> The labels were printed using carbon ink on archival acid free paper
>> in very small type (i think he said size 3 or 4) then attached using
>> archival glue. I didn't ask any further on the exact type of glue
>> apart from that he mentioned that it was totally reversible. Even if
>> it is reversible i worry that the glue would permeate the specimen
>> somehow?
>>
>> I am still very much in 2 minds about this but the thought of having
>> my collection mixed up fills me with dread!
>>
>> What are peoples thoughts on labelling specimens?
>>
>> Cheers
>>
>> Martin
>>
>>
>>
>> From: ted brattstrom <volcanoted at yahoo.com>
>>> To: Meteorite List <meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com>
>>> Date: Thu, 25 Feb 2010 17:18:52 -0800 (PST)
>>> Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] Manchester Museum (UK) Visit, Article and
>>> Images
>>> Very nice presentation...
>>>
>>>
>>> And it sparked a question:
>>>
>>> Museums / collectors "glue" labels onto their rocks (or used to) - What
>>> glue is used? and what are the ramifications for alteration to the rock.
>>> (thinking back to the discussion of putties for holding meteorites a week
>>> or so ago.)
>>>
>>> Likewise, for the paint and ink method... a> what was traditionally used?
>>> and b> effect on the rock. (which should be obvious once the paint is
>>> indicated :-) )
>>>
>>> Thanks!
>>>
>>> ted
>> ______________________________________________
>> Visit the Archives at
>> http://www.meteoritecentral.com/mailing-list-archives.html
>> Meteorite-list mailing list
>> Meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com
>> http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
>
> Gary Fujihara
> Big Kahuna Meteorites (IMCA#1693)
> 105 Puhili Place, Hilo, Hawai'i 96720
> http://bigkahuna-meteorites.com/
> http://shop.ebay.com/fujmon/m.html
> (808) 640-9161
>
>
>
>
>
> ______________________________________________
> Visit the Archives at
> http://www.meteoritecentral.com/mailing-list-archives.html
> Meteorite-list mailing list
> Meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com
> http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
>

-- 
------------------------------------------------------------
Mike Gilmer - Galactic Stone & Ironworks Meteorites
http://www.galactic-stone.com
http://www.facebook.com/galacticstone
------------------------------------------------------------

Received on Fri 26 Feb 2010 02:29:24 PM PST