Cataloguing shells

[et]

I am currently creating tags for shells in a museum collection and am not sure what I should have on each tag to go into a plastic bag with each shell. What info should be on the tag, in what order and on what line on the tag......

When I looked this up at the Smithsonian I got too much info.  These will  be small -probably 1" high and 2 " long.
Thank you.  Would love to find a template for this.  Next I have to do the entomology collection.

[paul monfils]

The most important piece of information is the locality where the specimen was collected, in as much detail as possible.  Just "Philippines" or "northern Australia" is better than nothing, but not much better.  Something like "Balabac, Palawan, Philippines, in sand under dead coral slab, 15 feet deep in reef lagoon, April 1998" is much better.  Locality data is much more important than the species identification. The ID can be supplied later by anyone knowledgeable about such matters.  The locality, unless recorded at the time of collection and carefully preserved by subsequent workers, is lost forever, and with it much of the scientific value of the specimen.  However, if your labels are that small, it might be best to simply note the species name and a catalogue number, and to record the locality and other information in a written catalog or data base, under the same catalog number.

[et]

Paul,
Thank you for your reply. I wish our shells had that needed data , however provenence is sorely lacking on many.  A number of these shells are already numbered in ink and I assume that is just the number given to them by the collector. Is there an actual data base with number for every species - or do people just use either their own system or Abbott's numbers? Unfortunately many of our shells were donated in bags with no info. On the other hand I have a number of boxes that are clearly identified with collection data, but no collector's name. And, of course, lots of boxes of shell "stuff".

Is there anywhere you could recommend where I might find dividers to use for our large wooden (I know...bad...) drawers, so I can establish columns and rows to divide by genera and species. We have some white plastic divided trays which work out very well - but no one knows who bought them or where they came from...so I cannot easily order more.  We do plan to switch everything into metal drawers/cabinets...but that does take $$$ and  we are a small local museum .
Thank you,
Elizabeth

[dave r]

Hi Elisabeth, I worked at a museum that had the same problem as yours; many shells but no data. Nothing you can do there but put the name and distribution on the label as I did. I also had many shells with just a number inked on them. These were from a collection where the number corresponded to an entry in a book which was not with the collection. This was common practice several years ago but these days it is shunned because the log book and he collection inevitably become separated.
You will probably have the same with the Entomology collection. This is my other love and I curated the entire insect collection at the museum also. I had the same problems with just a number on a piece of paper pinned under the insect.
Regarding entomological collections the same goes as for shells; as much information as possible. This is usually written on a small piece of paper and pinned underneath the insect on the same pin it is on. If you need any more information let me know.
Dave

[et]

Hi Paul,
Thank you for the reply. Does anyone use the Abbott numbers for their collections? I want to use a number that will correlate with a genus species, not just dream up a numbering scheme that  goes with the collection, based on various things such as accession date, etc.

What museum collection did you work on? I am working at the Cape Cod Museum of Natural History.
et

[dave r]

et, I have never heard of anyone using the Abbott system of numbers here in England or anywhere else. As both myself and Paul have stressed it is a bad idea to use numbers anyway, far better to put a label with the specimen with full data when known. That way the labels and the specimens can never get separated as would a journal containing the numbers.
Oh, and I worked for Maidstone Museum in Kent, England where I was Honorary Curator of Mollusca and Insecta.

[et]

Thanks, I don't intend to put any numbers on the shells themselves.
Does anyone know of a computer program for printing out collection labels?
Thank you,
et

[dave r]

Don't use numbers period, bad move! 
As to computer programmes, I just use excel. Sometimes I use word but make up a template I can copy and paste.