Abstract

The herbarium collections are sub-collections of the Finnish Museum of Natural History Luomus that manages national natural history collections, as referred to in the Universities Act. The general collections policy defines the overall principles and guidelines concerning the collections practices. The sub-collections policies specify its guidelines and instructions, considering the special nature of the sub-collections. The policy for the botanical and mycological herbarium collections guides the activities related to all botanical, mycological and phycological collections in herbaria, hence excluding digital collections, DNA and tissue samples as well as living collections, which have separate policies. The herbarium collections policy defines and outlines the purpose of the collections as is to accrue and preserve natural specimens representing biodiversity for research and university-level teaching. The policy defines the objectives and content of related activities, the division of responsibilities for the administration and care of the collections within the organisation, and the general principles and practices for the acquisition, preservation, availability and use of the collections.

Highlights

  • The collections policy of the Finnish Museum of Natural History (Luomus) is hierarchically structured

  • The implementation of the collections policy is the responsibility of the Vascular Plants Team, which administer the vascular plant and phycological collections, as well as of the Mycology and Bryology Team, which administer mycological and bryological collections and each employee and visiting researcher using the collections administered by Luomus

  • New specimen batches or private collections offered to and received by Luomus can be entered into Kotka CMS as separate metadata even before the potential accessioning of the specimens

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Summary

Status and implementation of the collections policy

The collections policy of the Finnish Museum of Natural History (Luomus) is hierarchically structured. The policy defines and outlines the purpose of the collections, the objectives and content of related activities, the division of responsibilities for the administration and care of the collections within the organisation, and the general principles and practices for the acquisition, preservation, availability and use of the collections. The collections promote knowledge of the world’s plant and fungal species, understanding of the evolution of species, and appreciation for biodiversity They are part of a global network of natural science collections, which constitutes a key resource for biodiversity research and is part of the infrastructure shared by the national and international research communities that has been built over centuries and must be preserved for future generations. The director of the Botany Unit has overall responsibility for the Luomus botanical and mycological collections, including preservation, acquisition, documentation and use. Practical responsibilities for the care of the collections and the supervision of work are agreed by each team, and this division of responsibilities is documented in the guidelines for the care of the collections

Principles for collection acquisitions
Receipt and accessioning of specimens
Collection management
Collection maintenance
Availability and use of collections
Deaccessioning of specimens
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