Mark,

there are MANY methods to catalog your collection. I started collecting
when I was around 5, and didnt really catalog until I was around 17 or
so.....back then I wrote down the latin name, size in mm, where it was
found ( region wise, and also I put down where I got it from " dealer,
found, etc"  and that was basically it, each shell having it's own index
card.  Well, several thousand index cards later, i found it to be too much
of a hassle keeping thousands of note cards and started using a regular
note book, devoting say 5-6 lines of a page to each specimen.  After
endless notebooks, I found all that to be too much of a hassle too, mind
you I was still young!

The last 7-8 years, I have scaled down my collections on a MASSIVE level,
selling off roughly 12 to 13 thousand specimens and collecting solely
Conus.

With my cones, I keep all the labels that come with purchased shells.
Shells that i find I make my own labels to keep under the shell in my
cabinet(s) .   I take a picture of each shell and keep it on a disc, with
the label for the shell placed next to the shell in the picture.  I also
record all info I can find, like time of day, where found, what conditions
the specimen was found in,  sunny or cloudy, size in mm, latin name, depth
of water if any, substate, I make very detailed notes. I still keep
notebooks for my cones, and I also do computer cataloging as well.
Eventually I will have a website with my collection displayed on it.

Personally I do not mark my specimens with a numerical number. I know a lot
of folks do on the inside of the lip.  Since my Conus collection is so
specialized I tend to have a photographic memory of every single shell I
have in it ( over 1600 now ) , and if someone picked one out of my cabinet
I could tell you all it's info without having to look it up in my notebooks
probably 98% of the time.

Right now I am hoping to find a supplier for clear plastic boxes with foam
or some sort of soft bottom that I can start placing my cones inside
of......they are in large glass cabinets right now ( which is NOT displayed
in any sort of light, has soft fluorescent lights inside them tho which
rarely get turned on) and I am hoping to move them into closed displays of
drawer filled dresser-like cabinets, like what you would see in a museum.

-LT-


> [Original Message]
> From: Mark Stanley <[log in to unmask]>
> To: <[log in to unmask]>
> Date: 12/16/2005 7:13:39 AM
> Subject: Cataloging
>
> I am fairly new to shell collecting and have enjoyed listening in to the
> list.
>
> While my collection is quite small, but growing, I understand now is the
> time to start cataloging.  Is there a standard way to catalogue?  Do I
start
> with number one and assign a number to each shell as I aquire them, or
> should I use a alphanumeric system where a letter of the alphabet is
> assigned to each family plus a number to identify each shell in that
family?
>
> Should the number be attached to the shell itself or to it's box?
Otherwise
> the paper label could be separated from the shell and the information
lost.
>
> What does everyone else do?  Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
>
> Mark Stanley
>
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