Labling Collections

[kauffy]

WOW!!

looks like you have an amazing collection! :lol:

those ammonites are huge!

[Guest Cris]

Now that is one niiice looking collection, Gary! I'd love to be able to get a setup like that for labling and displaying my stuff.

[Northern Sharks]

Awesome showcases Gary. I see some Meg teeth in the first photo. Any chance for a closer look, they're kind of a passion of mine

[Gatorman]

Nice Setup :Thumbs-up:

[Gary]

Thanks again for the compliments, it is the result of nearly 40 years collecting.

the collection started off in a wooden box, then progressed to some tool cabinets, then a small display cabinet in my bedroom. I then saved up from money from my saturday job and bought a shed, then a few years later a second larger shed. I then left home and bought a house and put the collection in one of the bedrooms and finally we now have a large house with a basement dedicated to the collection.

I still have the original wooden box containing my first collection!!

[Silvershark]

VERY nice looking collection Gary! :Thumbs-up:

I don't collect fossils myself so all the ones I do buy are on display but I do need to get all the labels done for them!

[geofossil]

Gary: GGGreat stuff!

as for: "I started off in a wooden box..."

wooden box = Sheer luxury.

I collected my first fossil walking along the railway tracks in Germany eating a pastry. I used the paper bag the pastry came in to store my fossil. Then we had a school trip to France and I collected a few small fossils and brought them home and added them to my pastry bag. When I moved back to Canada, my pastry bag came with me. No idea why I didn't transfer them to a shoe box or 'whatever'. Then again. I was a teen and not subject to rational action.

[BonemanX3]

A recent topic talked about labling your finds, keeping notes, etc, so as not to forget where they were collected.... I wanted to ask the members how they label their finds, what kinds of notes they keep.... Do you photograph the fossil or write a number on a label and stick it to it? I think it'd be interesting to hear about the different methods you guys have... I don't thiink this topic has been addressed on the forum, yet... Not since we lost the posts on the forum crash a while back..

Alright first follow this link to see an instructable I made on how to Create a label for fossils, here's the link to that: http://www.instructables.com/id/How_to_mak...r_your_Fossils/

Now if you want to see an example. here's one of my computer files for a specific fossil I've found112108_CBSPC_NYMSCP.doc

[Fat Boy]

For the shark tooth hunters out there, do you all mark each tooth with india ink or label it? I can't get past altering something that's been preserved for millions of years. I think that it personally looks better to me if the tooth is clean. I feel as if I were to mark it up, I'd ruin it. Weird, I know. Now, I do think that I need a better system of labeling and storing my fossils, but I think that I can do it without marking up the fossils themselves.

Now, most of my teeth and related beach fossils are unconsolidated or found just lying in the surf, so although I can pinpoint the formation that's about as close as I can get. I can't identify the zones for sure unless I find some matrix with identifying associated fossils (and I do have a handful of those). Most of my collecting is done in a few locations too where the formations are well known. In fact, I have my fossils separated by formation in boxes, but individual sharks teeth in a species perhaps, are unlabeled and grouped together. My plan is to make labels for the groups of fossils of the same species, not necessarily for each one, and enter those in my PC catalogue.

Am I alone in feeling this way?

[Guest solius symbiosus]

As noted by Auspex elsewhere, if a fossil isn't properly labeled, it is nothing more than a pretty rock. It's significance will be forever lost.

The problem with stick on labels is that they fall off; if kept in a box, and the box labeled, they can be misplaced with other rocks/fossils. I would recommend to all to have some type of cataloging system, mark that system on the stone, and keep good notes.

[Fat Boy]

Yeah, I see your point. My system would be OK right now, but if two boxes spilled at the same time mixing formations, etc., then I'd be in trouble. The fact that my boxes are labeled won't help much. Who cares if my box came from the Yorktown formation if the fossils are laying out all over the floor mixed with my Calvert stuff? It would all be worthless then anyway. Since I'm looking for better storage methods it would be an opportune time for me to start labeling each specimen.

Here's another question. Bretton Kent's book says to not store fossils in wood or paper containers because the acidity would damage the fossils. What do you all think? Plastic boxes only? Or is paper OK. It's certainly much cheaper.

I like the idea of photographing each one too.

[Guest solius symbiosus]

I would think that it would depend on the fossil as to damage. I've seen fossils that were stored in wooden cabinets for 150 years, and they were ok.

[Bill]

Apparently oak is the worst followed by pine, (I think this applies mostly to calcite fossils/minerals). Just look in any museum though, there are plenty of fossils/minerals in wooden cabinets/drawers, and even enclosed in boxes.

[bone digger]

Hey Bmore how long does it take you to label all those teeth lol!

[Auspex]

...Here's another question. Bretton Kent's book says to not store fossils in wood or paper containers because the acidity would damage the fossils. What do you all think? Plastic boxes only? Or is paper OK. It's certainly much cheaper.

I like the idea of photographing each one too.

You could look into low-acid archival storage boxes; still cheaper than wood.

As for photos, prints are ephemeral, and digital photo storage will only last as long as the retrieval technology; if you diligently keep transferring to the latest media (with backups), the images might approach immortality (but still, 50 years after you're gone, so too will be the images). Photos are a great convenience, but shouldn't be relied on for posterity. Write everything down.

[crinus]

You could look into low-acid archival storage boxes; still cheaper than wood.

As for photos, prints are ephemeral, and digital photo storage will only last as long as the retrieval technology; if you diligently keep transferring to the latest media (with backups), the images might approach immortality (but still, 50 years after you're gone, so too will be the images). Photos are a great convenience, but shouldn't be relied on for posterity. Write everything down.

I am glad to see that I am not the only one that has thought of this. Right now every bit of information about my specimens is in a Access database. 100% electronic. Yes, I can update things as technology changes, but you are right about what happens in 50, 100 years. Will anyone be able to retrieve the information. My collection is destined for a university collection. If they don't immediately transfer all the data to what ever system they have and keep that updated it could all get lost. All museums and collection manager have different priorites. If they are not interested at the time of the donation it could be years before anyone does anything, if ever. I guess I should print a copy of everything out on archival paper.

[Fat Boy]

You could look into low-acid archival storage boxes; still cheaper than wood.

As for photos, prints are ephemeral, and digital photo storage will only last as long as the retrieval technology; if you diligently keep transferring to the latest media (with backups), the images might approach immortality (but still, 50 years after you're gone, so too will be the images). Photos are a great convenience, but shouldn't be relied on for posterity. Write everything down.

Technology can leave you behind. My solution with that is to print everything out, digital photos once and put them in a binder. I plan on doing the same thing with my catalogue, print it out and put it in a binder, then all I have to do is print the latest page and file it periodically. If I have to write it down by hand then I won't do it simply because I hate to write by hand, it's too much like work than fun to me, and I'm friggin lazy preferring to use the extra time doing other things, like finding more fossils! That said, I might start taking a notebook with me in the field for some note taking, but would transfer the notes to my catalogue later. I wish that I had an easier way to label the zillions of teeth that I have, but I guess I just need to go back and take my time and do it right. At least I can watch TV while doing it and who knows, I might discover something over again that I didn't notice before. Actually reviewing the fossils from time to time is just as fun as looking for them sometimes.