Here it is again with the errors corrected.  Too rushed this morning.

Marlo

-----Original Message-----
From: Conchologists List [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of
marlo
Sent: Saturday, December 17, 2005 7:35 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Cataloging and Identification

Hello Mark,

I keep a complete data slip with each shell.  Then there's a master list
ordered phylogenetically (column 2) maintained in EXCEL so it's easy to
rearrange when genus assignments change.  Column 1 is a number assigned as
follows:  First one or two alpha characters are the initials of the author
of a reference document in my library that identifies/pictures the species.
Then comes numeric characters that reflect the number assigned by the author
or the page in the document.  Columns 3 - n can be for whatever data you
wish (location collected, person from whom you got the shell, price you
paid, storage location, etc.  In addition, for self-collected shells I keep
a notebook with collecting data by location (with maps) and date that
describes habitats and all the species collected.  I like using a hard copy
for this data so I can take it along on field trips.

This system works pretty well.  Quick to find a species on the inventory
list, a ready reference to identification support when working with them,
and reference (locale) to more extensive data for self-collected.  The
combination of data on the master list, notebook of collecting data and
reference data all at my workstation makes it easy to review everything
about a shell without actually getting it out to look at - but then, I guess
that can defeat the whole point.

Marlo

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