Scattershooting a little here . . . Three comments 1) First on museums -- should include the Brazosport Museum of Natural History in Lake Jackson, SW of Houston, Texas which, while being broad in overall scope, was founded on a private shell collection. They advertise now that 13,000 shells are on public display in various halls. The website is amateurish, and poorly linked so it's easy to get lost, but you can get a feel for the situation here: http://bcfas.org/museum/Exhibits/Shells/MalacologyIndex.html 2) Ross Mayhew brought up an excellent point I have been screaming about for some time -- label changing/replacement. I'm sure I'm preaching to the choir here, but replacing labels just begs for errors. I have been hounding collectors and dealers to please, please, please leave original labels attached to specimens. Even if they feel they need to add one of their own (which I do myself), the old labels should remain attached. Some of my older, better specimens have four and five labels attached in what becomes, literally, a pedigree or paper trail of ownership. I consider it as important with my Nucella as with my Pleurotomaria. In addition to the problems noted by Ross, I'd point out the times that data is ADDED to the label, not out of malicious intent, but out of assumptions made by subsequent owners. Which brings up point three: 3) In response to Andy Rindsberg's note about tracing down further information, which has many merits, especially in cases of research where location can be critical, AND because it's just plain fun in the quest, some cautions have to be applied. It is obvious, I hope, that having "tracked down" an origin that this is not applied to the original tag as though the location was noted by the collector (another example for keeping ALL the tags). It is critical that any such "deductive" pinpointing of a location or date be so noted in unequivocal terms on any written material specifically ascribed to a specific specimen. The museum and zoogeographical world is replete with errors made from labelling assumptions -- among my specialty Holospira yucatanensis, which actually occurs only on a single limestone outcrop in Texas. No need to cite others, everyone here is familiar with them. I just beg that labelling ex post facto be so noted (and once again i think I'm preaching to the choir, Andy included, but i had to get it off my chest). sincerely, blue austin, texas _________________________________________________________________ Keep up with high-tech trends here at "Hook'd on Technology." http://special.msn.com/msnbc/hookedontech.armx