Ok, another question from the new guy.  I'm very interested in malacology as an academic subject, indeed, I'm looking to get a Masters degree in the topic.  As such, I'd really love to have a "serious" shell collection, perhaps even one worthy of donating to a museum someday (thats a REALLY long term goal, I know, but I'm only 23 so I've got some time...).  Whats the standard for keeping records of the collection?  I've read about numbering shells, entering them in computer databases, keeping handwritten records, whatever my shell books have to say on the topic.  But they all say sumthin differnt.  What kinds of information should you record?  Should pictures be included, or just descriptions, or anything like that at all?  What about shell numbering, is it worth marking up yer shells like that?

Also, out of curiousity, is it desirable to have multiple shells of a species?  For instance, for some reason I have three _Phyllonotus erythrostomus_ (pink mouthed murex).  I guess my grandma who got me started on collecting must have really liked them.  Is it good to keep all of em, or could I try trading one or two for sumthin else?  Whats the ideal number of shells of a species to have laying around?

I'm interested in hearing from as many people as feel like replying, I'm sure there's lots of differnt ideas on keeping official and non-official records.  Thanks for taking the time to read all the way through this, I know it was long!

~Stephen~