The Paleobotany, Micropaleontology and Mineralogy Collection operates according to a series of policies and procedures that are regularly reviewed and revised. Some of these are museum-wide and some are specific to our Collection. Collection workers try to be the best collection stewards that we can be which includes following standards, and as appropriate, providing information on how we maintain the collection to show our commitment to past, current and future generations.
The policies, procedures and other documents on this page include information on various aspects of collection management for the fossils, minerals, rocks and meteorites that get categorized as macrofossils, microfossils (pollen, spores and aquatic microfauna), thin sections (“slides”, peels) and palynological preparations (reserves, residues and microscope slides) in our Collection. We use these documents to help train students, volunteers, and visitors who work in our Collection along with hands-on training. However, we tried to include enough information in the documents that others can understand them without the hands-on training.
All procedures, forms, logs, checklists, etc. presented are being shared to illustrate and document how our Collection does things, but all rights are reserved. We are more than happy to have you link to us, but whenever possible request that you let us know so we can document how they are being used.
(Quick Links: Data Related, Georeferencing Related, Imaging Related (macrofossils, microfossils, microscope slides/thin sections, photographic slides/negatives), supplies (imaging, cataloging) and forms/templates/log pages.
Collection Information & Data Related:
- Collection Information & Data Access/Sharing (revised 04/20/2020)
Photography/Scanning/Imaging Related:
How to photograph paleobotany fossils or macrofossils (plant fossils):
- Photographing Macrofossils (revised 09/19/2013)
- Specimen Orientation for Photography (revised 09/15/2013)
- Macrofossil Photo Cheat Sheet (revised 09/20/2013)
How to photograph microfossil slides (ostracods, etc.):
- Photographing Overall Microfossil Slides (revised 09/20/2013)
- Microfossil Slide Cheat Sheet (revised 09/20/2013)
How to image microscope slides and thin sections (pollen, spores, petrified wood, etc.):
- Scanning Overall Microscope Slides and Thin Sections (revised 09/20/2013)
- Microscope Slide Scan Template Numbering (revised 09/19/2013)
- Microscope Slide and Thin Section Cheat Sheet (revised 09/20/2013)
Forms/Templates/Log Pages:
- Microscope Slide Checklist (revised 09/19/2013)
- Microscope Slide Location and Scanning Form (revised 09/18/2013)
- Microscope Slide Log (revised 09/18/2013)
- Microscope Slide Scan Template (revised 09/18/2013)
- Photo Checklist (revised 09/18/2013)
- Photo Log (revised 09/18/2013)
Georeferencing Related:
- Georeferencing Localities Procedures (revised 04/20/2020)
Supplies:
- Photography Supplies (revised 09/19/2013)
- Scanning Supplies (revised 09/19/2013)
- Numbering Supplies
For further information or to report any typos or other concerns/corrections to the Paleobotany and Micropaleontology Collection Policies and Procedures, please contact the collection staff.
