General
Use
* Keep folders
horizontal when removing them from shelves. Use stepstools to read labels
of folders overhead; avoid the temptation to bend the folders down to read
what's in them.Carry folders right-side-up. Do not turn on edge, on end,
or upside-down. Place a folder on a table or other flat surface before opening
it.
* Keep herbarium
sheets specimen-side-up at all times. Do not turn them upside-down, or flip
them like pages in a book. Specimens in NORTHWEST folders are in no particular
order; there are folders for each species or subspecies. Specimens in unmarked
folders (from the rest of theworld) are in alphabetical order by species (e.g.
Boerhaavia f - q). Take care that they are in order when you return the folder
to the shelf.
* Do not place
anything (books, elbows, sweaters, or -shudder- pop cans) on top of the specimens.
* Keep specimens
in neat stacks, no more than 1 foot high. Avoid "shuffling". Dried plant
material is brittle and will shear off at the slightest provocation.
* Handle the
specimens gently. If fragments do break off, and you are certain which sheet
the fragments are from, please place them in the small packet attached to
the sheet. If you need one and there is no packet on the sheet, please bring
the specimen to the attention of the Collections Manager.
* Do not write
on the sheets (see below for annotations) and do not write on anything on
top of the sheets.
* Some of the
specimens are labeled POISONED, or sometimes there is staining on the paper
around the plant material. This is a remnant of former methods of fumigation,
which involved the use of toxic chemicals, including mercuric chloride. We
have been assured by the Department of Environmental Health & Safety that
these chemicals are not volatilizing to an extent that would make the air
here hazardous to breathe. However, traces of chemicals may adhere to your
hands, so wash up after handling specimens, especially before eating or using
the facilities.
* Do not remove
any material from the herbarium sheets, including from the fragment packets,
without permission from the Curator or the Collections Manager.
Annotations
* Make annotations
on provided labels with permanent ink (not ballpoint). If you are annotating
many specimens, you may paper clip one label as a sample to a folder of specimens
and leave the folder on the table. We will print and attach labels to all
the specimens in the folder. Old folders are available in the packaging room
(room 30) and on the bookshelf in room 22.
* Annotation
labels, Pigma (permanent) pens, and glue bottles are available from the Collections
Manager, and in the tool drawers in rooms 22 and 26. Rulers, forceps, needles,
watch glasses, Pohl's solution (a wetting agent), and fragment packets are
also available.