Mass Inventory

This project began in Fall 2007. The main idea is to update and expand the inventory of the collection held in PRC33. Increasing the speed with which our material can be made accessible for research and education.

An earlier inventory done in 1976 by Chris Durden (at that time curator of geology and entymology) provided an analog listing of about 7500 drawers at the level of geological age and formation. That study gave a broad view of the contents of the repository and provided a means, albeit very slowly, to analyze the coverage of the collections.

The collection, however, has moved physical location, and expanded considerably since that survey was completed. The survey did not provide details of which specimens were in those drawers so there was no way to connect the growing information database with the actual, physical specimen. Since 1999 we have been slowly inventorying the contents of the drawers and digitally pairing catalog details with specimens, with the help of an intermediary aid, the GIS map.

The Mass Inventory seeks help from volunteers who come one evening each week, ideally, and are methodically tackling this inventory task, starting in the East cage of PRC33. The project is now tackling the final NW cage of PRC33.

Do you want to become involved with NPL as a volunteer? Contact: Lisa Boucher