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The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
- collections databasing at the
Australian Museum
Dr Penny Berents – Head of Natural Science Collections
2011 Global EMu Users Meeting, 11 -14th Oct
Australian Museum Collections
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• 11 different collection databases
• 7 servers
• 10 in Texpress
• 1 in Dataease
• varied data standards and formats
Collection databases - 2000
• >18 million specimens
• estimate 3.9 million Catalogue records
• currently 1.67 million Catalogue records
Collection databases - 2011
• 100% = Mammals, Birds, Reptiles, Fish,
Marine Invertebrates, Arachnology
• 30% = Entomology, Malacology
• 13% = Mineralogy, Palaeontology
Collection databases - 2011
1. Data access
2. Efficient collection management
3. Collection development
Opportunities
OZCAM records
Collection RecordsAustralian Museum 895,113Museum Victoria 519,351CSIRO 210,040Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery 41,717Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery 10,534Museum and Gallery of Northern Territory 192,310
South Australian Museum 164,385Western Australian Museum 262,123Queensland Museum 26,589OZCAM TOTAL 2,322,091
1. Data access
2. Efficient collection management
3. Collection development
Opportunities
1997 - 2003
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1. Data access
2. Efficient collection management
3. Collection development
Opportunities
Geographic gaps
Distribution of records
Australian Alps
Inland NSW
1. Data capture
2. Auditors
3. Internal tensions
Challenges
1. Data capture
2. Auditors
3. Internal tensions
Challenges
1. Data capture
2. Auditors
3. Internal tensions
Challenges
Acknowledgments
• Dr Sandy Ingleby - Collection Manager, Mammalogy
• Mark McGrouther – Collection Manager, Ichthyology
• Collection Informatics Unit – Paul Flemons, Dr Mick Ashcroft
