Beekeeper Posted November 4, 2013 Share Posted November 4, 2013 Is there a format or template for properly documenting a find? I want to be as thorough as possible on my current project. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted November 4, 2013 Share Posted November 4, 2013 Is it a vertebrate specimen? "There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about." - Ashleigh Ellwood Brilliant “Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” - Thomas Henry Huxley >Paleontology is an evolving science. >May your wonders never cease! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beekeeper Posted November 4, 2013 Author Share Posted November 4, 2013 Is it a vertebrate specimen? Yes, It's most likely an early holocene bison. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted November 4, 2013 Share Posted November 4, 2013 Map the relative locations and orientation of the bones (a string grid will help greatly), and photo-document as you expose them. Any non-bone items found in association should be noted and collected too (preserve the context). If possible, prepare a stratigraphy chart. There are many other considerations which will be situationally dependent, but these are the biggies. Member RichW9090 can no doubt add much to this topic. "There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about." - Ashleigh Ellwood Brilliant “Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” - Thomas Henry Huxley >Paleontology is an evolving science. >May your wonders never cease! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZiggieCie Posted November 5, 2013 Share Posted November 5, 2013 Here is a link to a catalog form used by a Museum to keep the information on a specimen. I spent over a month to put together a data-base on MS Access to keep track of my fossils. This way each fossil has a record of all of the facts concerning it. I used the form below as the model for my data base. I never did a data-base before, but it came out very good for my use, good luck. http://collections.paleo.amnh.org/assets/blank_catalog_card.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichW9090 Posted November 6, 2013 Share Posted November 6, 2013 All the advice so far is good. The more you record, the better. I have had the occassion to try to relocate a site I found 40 or more years ago, before we had GPS, and I can tell you that a dot on a topo map doesn't necessarily get you there. Sketches and detailed written descriptions - they take time to do right, but they are absolutely critical. Today the location part is easy, with a GPS. But the written notes still have to be done the old fashioned way. Rich The plural of "anecdote" is not "evidence". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ridgehiker Posted November 6, 2013 Share Posted November 6, 2013 Location, location, location. Agree with Rich.... GPS is such an advancement. Then take a photo of the area. Institutions are full of specimens with nebulous locations. In fact this is the majority of natural history specimens...fossils, insects, plants, shells, etc. '5 miles up the first tributary just past third bridge'. Yikes! In the meantime the road was moved, a creek has dried up, etc. The only constants with a fossil is where it was found and when it was found and who found it. The taxonomy, formation, etc. can all change. It's good to have these but can't over emphasize location. If you are trading for or purchasing a fossil then try and get all the info at that time. Fossils get passed along and you will end up some generic info such as 'hadrosaur tooth, Cretaceous, Montana' . Nothing wrong with this as a collectible but the specimen has no scientific value. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZiggieCie Posted November 7, 2013 Share Posted November 7, 2013 Just an FYI: With Google Earth you can pinpoint your exact point that you found your fossil, and in the bottom right corner it will have your GPS coordinates and altitude that you can copy to your notes. This way your fossil has a home and a history. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XZY Posted November 11, 2013 Share Posted November 11, 2013 (edited) Wondering what kind of numbering system for cataloging that collectors are using out there....? D. Edited November 11, 2013 by XZY Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wrangellian Posted November 12, 2013 Share Posted November 12, 2013 Mine is pretty simple, I came up with a 1- or 2-letter code for the site (eg. Tz for Mt. Tzuhalem) followed by, 1, 2, 3, etc. in order of discovery. These are entered into a notebook with pertinent info (exact location plus anything else useful) written after it. If there are two halves, then one is labelled 'a', the other 'b', or + and - if they are obviously a pos and neg. Of course the notebook contains a key for the localities, incl. GPS coordinates. I haven't seen the need yet to get any more complicated than this. I haven't started to catalogue my bought/traded fossils (could be more bother than it's worth if I decide to divest myself of any of them..) so a label containing all the data is kept with each one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarleysGh0st Posted November 12, 2013 Share Posted November 12, 2013 Wondering what kind of numbering system for cataloging that collectors are using out there....? D. I use sequential numbers, preceded by my initials, e.g. MG0001 (not my real initials there, as you can guess). The initials are important, if you think you'll ever donate some of your fossils to a museum. I volunteer in the Collections department at PRI, which has received specimens from a number of other collections over the years. If a specimen hasn't been given a new PRI number, it can be confusing to sort out the many different numbering systems, if a specimen should accidentally be separated from its label, for instance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XZY Posted November 12, 2013 Share Posted November 12, 2013 Thank you Wrangellian and MarleysGhOst. I am going to catalog my fossils this winter. ( I do have notes on each one, however, they are not labelled.) It had something much more complex in mind, but it seems that simpler is better - which is great ! Thanks. D. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wrangellian Posted November 13, 2013 Share Posted November 13, 2013 (edited) I use sequential numbers, preceded by my initials, e.g. MG0001 (not my real initials there, as you can guess). The initials are important, if you think you'll ever donate some of your fossils to a museum. I volunteer in the Collections department at PRI, which has received specimens from a number of other collections over the years. If a specimen hasn't been given a new PRI number, it can be confusing to sort out the many different numbering systems, if a specimen should accidentally be separated from its label, for instance. Would a museum not automatically give it a new number according to its own system? I would imagine every different donor would have a different system and I could see that being confusing unless they gave everything a new number as soon as it was accessioned. Edited November 13, 2013 by Wrangellian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarleysGh0st Posted November 14, 2013 Share Posted November 14, 2013 Would a museum not automatically give it a new number according to its own system? I would imagine every different donor would have a different system and I could see that being confusing unless they gave everything a new number as soon as it was accessioned. That would be ideal, but the resources aren't always available. If a professor with a first-class collection offers it to you (because his own university will have no interest in it, once he retires or dies) do you accept the offer or do you decline it until you can obtain a grant to curate it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichW9090 Posted November 14, 2013 Share Posted November 14, 2013 One of the keys to getting your collection where it needs to go after your demise, is to get to know the recipient museum now - get to know the people, let them get to know you so they know something about how the collection was gathered, and that the information is there and trustworthy. I can tell you that receiving a substatial collection out of the blue from a collector they've never heard of is not something which would excite most researchers. Getting a well documented collection, from someone they know and have interacted with is much more likely to be of interest. Rich The plural of "anecdote" is not "evidence". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wrangellian Posted November 14, 2013 Share Posted November 14, 2013 That would be ideal, but the resources aren't always available. If a professor with a first-class collection offers it to you (because his own university will have no interest in it, once he retires or dies) do you accept the offer or do you decline it until you can obtain a grant to curate it? True, but would you not keep that collection separate until such grant is obtained? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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