Collection Management Practices Research Articles

The Use of Dress to Navigate Pregnancy and Postpartum in Ghana

The transition to motherhood often involves navigating multiple, often conflicting, identities, which calls for negotiations across various aspects of the self and identity. Apart from collective body management practices in Ghana, different ideals of maternal dress and appearance coexist in the context of globalization. Drawing insight from Goffman's dramaturgical theory, this study explores the role of dress in navigating pregnancy and motherhood and the significance of social interaction and the audience in the negotiations. Through interviews with 42 mothers in Ghana, we identify three primary forms of embodied performances: that of a traditional mother; a fashionable and modern mother; and a productive and professional worker. By focusing on the dynamics of power relations, as well as the strategies that underlie these performances, such as idealization, role distancing, covering, and passing, we obtain a nuanced understanding of maternal performance in the Global South, specifically Ghana.

Examination of the Effect of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) on Public Fund Management of Ekiti State, Nigeria

The extent to which Information and communication technology (ICT) has been effectively utilized in the management of public funds remains a subject of inquiry and exploration. This study sought to explore the influence of ICT on the management of public funds in public institutions located in Ekiti State, Nigeria. Specifically, the study examined the effects of data collection management (DCM), information security management (ISM), and digital communication infrastructure (DCI) on public funds management. To gather the necessary data, a survey research design was employed, and primary data was collected. The target respondents included government officials, financial officers, ICT professionals, and civil society representatives. To ensure the inclusion of individuals with expertise and knowledge in the subject matter, a purposive sampling technique was utilized to distribute questionnaires. A total of 425 questionnaires were distributed to various public institutions, resulting in 358 completed responses. The research instrument's reliability was assessed using the Cronbach Alpha test, which yielded an average score of 80%. Descriptive statistics and regression analysis were employed to analyze the collected data. The findings of the study revealed a significant positive effect between data collection management, information security management, and digital communication infrastructure with public funds management in public institutions. Consequently, the study concluded that ICT plays a vital role in enhancing the management of public funds in Ekiti State, Nigeria. Effective practices in data collection management, information security management, and digital communication infrastructure were found to positively influence public funds management. As a recommendation, the study suggests that public institutions in Ekiti State prioritize the enhancement of their data collection management practices to improve their fund management processes.

Struggles for recognitional justice through payments for ecosystem services contracts in Ecuador’s Andes

Programs based upon payments for ecosystem services may carry pervasive attitudes, ideas, and language that confront pre-existing institutional arrangements for land management and local concepts of socio-environmental relationships. Through an empirical case study of a water trust fund payments for ecosystem services model in the Ecuadorian Andes, this research examines contracts as an important component of conservation incentive projects that can reveal contention over the representation of human-environment relationships and environmental governance institutions. The study highlights how neoliberal visions of environmental management are challenged and reworked by communities in an effort to gain justice through recognition and visibility for pre-existing collective land management practices. While this analysis demonstrates how underlying neoliberal assumptions about socioenvironmental relationships may inform water trust fund conservation interventions, it also shows the role of local agency in co-constituting landscape management outcomes and underscore the unevenness of neoliberalism present in the various components of a payments for ecosystem services model operating at different sites and scales.

Rural Water Supply Systems in Nepal: Factors Affecting Equitable Access to Water

Issues of gender and social inclusion in the governance mechanism of rural water supply systems have been a major concern of users, policymakers, and practitioners in Nepal. Amid changing livelihood context due to migration, transition to a federal governance structure, and social hierarchies, communities face persistent inequities in access to safe water, while its supply continues to diminish. In this context, increasing competition for water has in many instances resulted in the fulfillment of water needs of some groups, while compromising the water needs of others.  In such instances, it is usually the poor and marginalized groups who are disproportionately affected. Moreover, understanding the factors affecting equitable access to an adequate supply of water now particularly after Nepal’s entry into the new federal governance system, and COVID-19 pandemic is paramount.
 Based on the learnings of 3-year research project that seeks to understand the role of gender and power dynamics in the functionality of community water systems, this paper will provide insights on collective water management practices. A mix of qualitative inquiries such as focus group discussions, in-depth interviews, social and institutional mapping, and observation were utilized to collect the data. This paper will present evidence from the project sites highlighting how community institutions are managing the supply and distribution of water particularly by discussing factors influencing equitable water supply.

One Size Does Not Fit All: Common Practices for Standards Collections and Management

There are numerous studies in the engineering literature about standards, though practical information on standards collection management in libraries is somewhat limited. This study builds upon previous studies but with both a broader scope and more granularity. The purpose is to fill gaps and add to the existing literature on standards collections and use. The workflow for collection development and management practices for standards, like other special resources, are according to each institution's preferences, clientele, campus culture, budget, and needs. To deepen the understanding of standards management in libraries, this study uses a larger sample size than previous studies found in the literature, through a survey of 336 academic libraries in the United States at institutions offering four or more Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) accredited engineering programs. The survey includes questions in areas that have not been studied before, such as institutional size, the highest degree offered, collecting intensity, and demand levels. Findings confirm some results of previous studies, but also show some new and unexpected findings.

Conserving Citrus Diversity: From Vavilov’s Early Explorations to Genebanks around the World

Citrus is among the most economically important fruit crops. Its vast species diversity and global production was observed by N.I. Vavilov during his international plant explorations from the early to mid-1900s. Currently, ex situ citrus collections located around the world conserve and protect citrus genetic resources, as revealed in a survey conducted in 2021. Responses were received from 43 collections in 27 countries, of which 35 provided data regarding collection composition, management practices, and security, as well as other information. The six largest citrus collections have between 1000 and 1735 accessions. The largest accession holdings are mandarins and sweet oranges, although all citrus fruit types are maintained: mandarin, sweet orange, lemon, pummelo, grapefruit, hybrids, lime, sour orange, citron, kumquat, papeda, finger lime, and crop wild relatives. Diseases pose significant threats to collections, though some collections are maintained in a clean-plant state as a result of intensive sanitation efforts. National and regional quarantine regulations often limit the export and import of citrus plants or propagative materials, thus limiting the availability of materials at an international level. Resources, both financial and human, are necessary to ensure the long-term safety and security of citrus collections on a global scale. Future efforts to develop citrus genebanking communities will provide opportunities for improved conservation, as well as collaborations and training.

A call to action: Standardizing white-tailed deer harvest data in the Midwestern United States and implications for quantitative analysis and disease management

Recreational hunting has been the dominant game management and conservation mechanism in the United States for the past century. However, there are numerous modern-day issues that reduce the viability and efficacy of hunting-based management, such as fewer hunters, overabundant wildlife populations, limited access, and emerging infectious diseases in wildlife. Quantifying the drivers of recreational harvest by hunters could inform potential management actions to address these issues, but this is seldom comprehensively accomplished because data collection practices limit some analytical applications (e.g., differing spatial scales of harvest regulations and harvest data). Additionally, managing large-scale issues, such as infectious diseases, requires collaborations across management agencies, which is challenging or impossible if data are not standardized. Here we discuss modern issues with the prevailing wildlife management framework in the United States from an analytical point of view with a case study of white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) in the Midwest. We have four aims: (1) describe the interrelated processes that comprise hunting and suggest improvements to current data collections systems, (2) summarize data collection systems employed by state wildlife management agencies in the Midwestern United States and discuss potential for large-scale data standardization, (3) assess how aims 1 and 2 influence managing infectious diseases in hunted wildlife, and (4) suggest actionable steps to help guide data collection standards and management practices. To achieve these goals, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources disseminated a questionnaire to state wildlife agencies (Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio, Wisconsin), and we report and compare their harvest management structures, data collection practices, and responses to chronic wasting disease. We hope our “call to action” encourages re-evaluation, coordination, and improvement of harvest and management data collection practices with the goal of improving the analytical potential of these data. A deeper understanding of the strengths and deficiencies of our current management systems in relation to harvest and management data collection methods could benefit the future development of comprehensive and collaborative management and research initiatives (e.g., adaptive management) for wildlife and their diseases.

Climate Change, Climate Action and Cultural Heritage Collections in Australia

ABSTRACT The Australian Institute for the Conservation of Cultural Material has published a range of resources that promote environmentally aware collection care and management practices including climate-specific Environmental Guidelines, the Sustainable Collections wiki and the Climate Adaptation resource. The Climate Adaptation resource provides access to 180 maps illustrating potential future climate scenarios for Australia in 2030 and 2090, using the two Representative Concentration Pathways RCP4.5 and RCP8.5. These maps were produced as part of research undertaken in 2019–2020 by Pagliarino and Meredith and supplement those published in volume 41 (issue 1) of the AICCM Bulletin. The release of updated climate change projections in the Sixth Assessment Report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) – Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis – precipitated a review of the Climate Adaptation resource to confirm the continued veracity of the maps. This paper provides the results of that assessment, which confirmed the resource’s ongoing accuracy and currency. In addition, the paper includes discussion of the new IPCC future climate scenarios of Shared Socioeconomic Pathways, which supersede RCP, and a summary of the state of the climate in Australia with warming, humidity, fire, weather and sea level rise investigated in more detail.

Palynological evidence from a sub-alpine marsh of enhanced Little Ice Age snowpack in the Marrakech High Atlas, North Africa

The grazing lands of the High Atlas are vulnerable to climate change and the decline of traditional management practices. However, prior to the mid-20th century, there is little information to examine historical environmental change and resilience to past climate variability. Here, we present a new pollen, non-pollen palynomorph (NPP) and microcharcoal record from a sub-alpine marsh (pozzine) at Oukaïmeden, located in the Marrakech High Atlas, Morocco. The record reveals a history of grazing impacts with diverse non-arboreal pollen assemblages dominant throughout the record as well as recurrent shifts between wetter and drier conditions. A large suite of radiocarbon dates (n = 22) constrains the deposit to the last ~ 1,000 years although multiple reversed ages preclude development of a robust age-depth model for all intervals. Between relatively dry conditions during the Medieval period and in the 20th century, intervening wet conditions are observed, which we interpret as a locally enhanced snowpack during the Little Ice Age. Hydrological fluctuations evidenced by wetland pollen and NPPs are possibly associated with centennial-scale precipitation variability evidenced in regional speleothem records. The pollen record reveals an herbaceous grassland flora resilient against climatic fluctuations through the last millennium, possibly supported by sustainable collective management practices (agdal), with grazing indicators suggesting a flourishing pastoral economy. However, during the 20th century, floristic changes and increases in charcoal accumulation point to a decline in management practices, diversification of land-use (including afforestation) and intensification of human activity.

Tracking the Invisible: Collection Management and Conservation of Time-Based Art at Qagoma

Time-based art (TBA) in the Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art's (QAGOMA) Collection has expanded in conjunction with the development of the Asia Pacific Triennial (APT) exhibition series. A survey of TBA acquired following the 1st to 9th APT exhibitions collected data on the status of this group of works. Coinciding with the development of a cross-disciplinary TBA working group and the beginning of the Gallery's Digital Transformation Initiative (DTI), the survey findings have helped to inform how collection management practices for TBA at QAGOMA can be improved to meet the unique conservation needs of this group of works of art. Using information gathered, conservators dedicated to the preservation of TBA have been adapting traditional conservation processes and developing new approaches for the active management of TBA within the Collection. The survey is a small but enlightening step in the ongoing process of TBA conservation and collection management development at QAGOMA.

A Statistical Analysis of Patrons’ In-Library Information Consumption Behaviors of Print Materials

Patrons’ information consumption behaviors of print materials are influenced by their content and tangible characteristics. This quantitative study incorporates several content-based factors widely adopted in collection management practices as well as two physical dimension–related factors, including book size and number of pages, and applies a series of regression analyses to evaluate the relative impact of these factors on patrons’ checkout versus in-library use decisions. The results suggest that shelf time and book size exhibit consistent and significant impact on patrons’ use of print materials. These findings can shed further light on collection management practices and policies in academic libraries striving to provide patrons more user-centered collections and space.

Regimes of value in museum practices: A networked biography of the MacGregor field collection from British New Guinea

ABSTRACT Between 1888 and 1898 Sir William MacGregor, first Administrator of British New Guinea, orchestrated the collection of over 15,000 cultural objects. Using Appadurai's notion of ‘things-in-motion’, we trace the networked biography of the MacGregor collection through ‘regimes of value’ as it moved from the territory to museums in Australia and Britain and then repatriated to Papua New Guinea. We show how collection management practices in these institutions were shaped by attitudes about anthropology as an emerging discipline, British New Guinea, and Sir William himself. The social history of the MacGregor collections highlights the multifaceted roles that ethnographic collections have played in sustaining cultural values, strengthening personal ties, re-enforcing self-identity and supporting nation building.

Extracellular enzyme and microbial activity in MSW landfills with different gas collection and leachate management practices

The performance of simulated municipal solid waste (MSW) landfills with two different biogas collection practices – (1) upward and upward-downward biogas flow collection (LT-TB) in sequence and (2) simultaneous upward-downward biogas flow collection (LTB) from the beginning of the anaerobic degradation process – was investigated in terms of landfill gas and leachate, enzyme activity, and microbial community structure associated with MSW compression and leachate recirculation. The cumulative methane volume in LTB was 1.5 times higher than that in LT-TB. With MSW compression and leachate recirculation, amylase and lipase activity were enhanced in LTB. In LT-TB, the activities gradually decreased after reaching a peak with compression. The two biogas collection strategies influenced the community structure and activity of bacteria and archaea. The upward and downward gas collection flow with waste compression and leachate recirculation improved the environment for enriching bacterial phyla Firmicutes, Proteobacteria, and Synergistetes and genus Methanosarcina in Archaea.

The Economic Challenges of Dealing with Citrus Greening: The Case of Florida

Abstract While pest management decisions are made at the farm level, a distinctive characteristic of the pest management of invasive species is its public-good nature. Here, we examine the challenges that a vector-disease pathosystem such as Diaphorina citri Kuwayama (Hemiptera: Liviidae)—citrus greening, creates for the adoption of prevention and collective management practices from an economic perspective. Those economic challenges originate from the choices and behavior of individual growers, which can impact not only their own payoff but also the choices, behavior and payoffs of other growers; influencing, for example, the spread of the disease, the vector population dynamics, and the adoption of proposed scientific solutions. While for most people the economics of invasive species is limited to calculating damage or control costs, economics is more than that. Economics can provide insights on the interactions between human behavior and natural processes, enabling a better understanding of the rationale of individual growers’ choices, which are key for the design and implementation of effective public policies to deal with invasive pests and diseases.

A Cross-Institutional Study of eBook Demand-Driven Acquisition (DDA) Use and Efficacy of Eight Large Academic Libraries

This study is the first of its kind to analyze and compare demand-driven acquisition (DDA) ebook programs on a large scale by using eight academic libraries. The purpose is to understand which factors contribute to successful collection management practices and sustainability. Study findings also offer insight into weeding practices and suggest that ebooks removed from the discovery pool too soon may impact service to library users. Furthermore, findings based on formula analysis show that return on investment (ROI) for serviceable content is better achieved through a sustained straight DDA model without short-term loans.

Traditional Ecological Knowledge Used in Forest Restoration Benefits Natural and Cultural Resources: The Intersection between Pandora Moths, Jeffrey Pine, People, and Fire

Collaborative efforts between indigenous peoples and government land managers are gaining recognition as important elements of forest restoration. Unique land allocations, such as the Research Natural Area (RNA) system of the US Forest Service, necessitate novel approaches to achieve desired outcomes among stakeholders. We describe a Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) framework that integrates efforts among resource managers, tribal representatives, scientists, and a tribal youth intern program to conduct ecological restoration in a Jeffrey pine (Pinus jeffreyi) forest ecosystem of the western United States with a history of frequent fires. Reintroduction of TEK-based practices provided some moderation of fire effects during an unplanned wildfire event, benefiting both ecological conditions and a traditional Paiute Indian food source, piagi, the larvae of the Pandora moth (Coloradia pandora). Tribal youth learned about traditional food collection and land management practices, and federal managers discovered that TEK helped achieve ecological restoration goals. Our collaborative framework increased confidence in the mutual benefits of western science- and TEK-based forest management practices, creating a foundation for long-term partnership in ecosystem restoration.

Practical Tools for Collection Managers: Label designer, annotation tools and a QR code reader

Kotka is a collection management system (CMS) developed by the Finnish Museum of Natural History (Luomus) and used by all major institutes with natural history collections in Finland. It is one of the primary data sources of the Finnish Biodiversity Information Facility through which the data managed in Kotka is distributed (species.fi). Kotka is designed to allow flexible development of new tools to support collection management practices. This paper describes some of the tools included in Kotka. Label designer Printed labels have traditionally been used to store and display data about specimens. In modern collection informatics their role in connecting specimens to electronic data and in collection and data curation is emphasised. Requirements for the labels are changing rapidly and different types of specimens have completely different label designs. To give the collection managers an option to design suitable labels to meet their needs, we have created a WYSIWYG (What You See is What You Get) label designer (Fig. 1). It allows users to pick desired data fields and arrange them on the label, adjust styles and sizes, and generate HTTP-URI identifiers with QR Codes (Quick Response Codes). The label designer can be used with a modern web browser or as a standalone desktop application, on both Windows and Mac. It is open source and can be integrated with other applications by using it as an Angular module or as an custom element to any site. The label designer serves both scientific natural history collection managers and amateurs managing private collections. At Luomus the tool is used both in the Kotka CMS and in the Notebook system for species occurrence records. Annotations As collections are increasingly used and managed digitally, the traditional means of quality control and data improvement are no longer sufficient. We have developed tools which allow e.g. external researchers and citizen experts to review specimen data online at species.fi (species.fi), and annotate the data by evaluating its quality, propose and/or change species identifications and include comments. The annotations are delivered to collection managers who can then use them to update and improve the specimen data at the primary data source. QR Code reader Modern specimen labels often include specimen identifiers such as QR Codes or barcodes. To improve collection management efficiency, we have made a QR Code reader application, which allows collection managers to read these codes and display specimen data quickly on a handheld device (e.g. mobile phone) or a desktop computer with a web camera. The application is open source and can be configured to connect to any system utilizing HTTP-URI identifiers.

Kotka - A national multi-purpose collection management system

Many natural history museums share a common problem: a multitude of legacy collection management systems (CMS) and the difficulty of finding a new system to replace them. Kotka is a CMS created by the Finnish Museum of Natural History (Luomus) to solve this problem. Its development started in late 2011 and was put into operational use in 2012. Kotka was first built to replace dozens of in-house systems previously used at Luomus, but eventually grew into a national system, which is now used by 10 institutions in Finland. Kotka currently holds c. 1.7 million specimens from zoological, botanical, paleontological, microbial and botanic garden collections, as well as data from genomic resource collections. Kotka is designed to fit the needs of different types of collections and can be further adapted when new needs arise. Kotka differs in many ways from traditional CMS's. It applies simple and pragmatic approaches. This has helped it to grow into a widely used system despite limited development resources – on average less than one full-time equivalent developer (FTE). The aim of Kotka is to improve collection management efficiency by providing practical tools. It emphasizes the quantity of digitized specimens over completeness of the data. It also harmonizes collection management practices by bringing all types of collections under one system. Kotka stores data mostly in a denormalized free text format using a triplestore and a simple hierarchical data model (Fig. 1). This allows greater flexibility of use and faster development compared to a normalized relational database. New data fields and structures can easily be added as needs arise. Kotka does some data validation, but quality control is seen as a continuous process and is mostly done after the data has been recorded into the system. The data model is loosely based on the ABCD (Access to Biological Collection Data) standard, but has been adapted to support practical needs. Kotka is a web application and data can be entered, edited, searched and exported through a browser-based user interface. However, most users prefer to enter new data in customizable MS-Excel templates, which support the hierarchical data model, and upload these to Kotka. Batch updates can also be done using Excel. Kotka stores all revisions of the data to avoid any data loss due to technical or human error. Kotka also supports designing and printing specimen labels, annotations by external users, as well as handling accessions, loan transactions, and the Nagoya protocol. Taxonomy management is done using a separate system provided by the Finnish Biodiversity Information Facility (FinBIF). This decoupling also allows entering specimen data before the taxonomy is updated, which speeds up specimen digitization. Every specimen is given a persistent unique HTTP-URI identifier (CETAF stable identifiers). Specimen data is accessible through the FinBIF portal at species.fi, and will later be shared to GBIF according to agreements with data holders. Kotka is continuously developed and adapted to new requirements in close collaboration with curators and technical collection staff, using agile software development methods. It is available as open source, but is tightly integrated with other FinBIF infrastructure, and currently only offered as an online service (Software as a Service) hosted by FinBIF.

Sounds of Home: A Survey of Local Music Collection Management Practices in Canadian Libraries

This paper describes the findings of a national survey of local music collection managers in Canadian libraries in 2018. The survey aims to capture a snapshot of local music collection management practices by identifying areas where collection managers make use of specialized skills and competencies and where practices may be improved. An online questionnaire was sent to local music collection managers in Canadian libraries and consisted of 20 questions that addressed demographics, collection scope, collection development, promotion, access, and preservation.The results show that local music collections are diverse in scope and include a wide range of formats. Many include archival materials or are described or organized using archival principles. Collection managers use a range of strategies to build and develop local music collections, including working with community members and donors to identify, select, and purchase collection materials. Collections are used most frequently by community members and researchers to conduct scholarly or historical research. Outreach and promotion are areas where collection managers are using diverse strategies, including community engagement, event hosting, and online marketing, to build awareness of collections. Physical and digital preservation practices are being implemented by most participants, and online access to collections is often available through additional collection description or digitization.Collection managers may face challenges due to the unique nature of local music collections. Strategies for collection management, collection development, outreach, or promotion may fall outside traditional professional skill sets or competencies. Areas for development include donor relations, community engagement, and archival collection management.

What is the Object? Identifying and describing time-based artworks

A time-based art (TBA) project team was established at the Art Gallery of New South Wales to undertake research and development, to address significant gaps in collection management practice, which had not kept pace with developments in art practice. This paper describes one key area of work undertaken by the TBA project team: the development of a cataloguing system to identify and describe time-based artworks. The history of the AGNSW TBA collection and collection management practices at AGNSW and other museums were reviewed to assist in identifying the range of practical and theoretical issues that were impacting the decision-making associated with the cataloguing of time-based artworks. Using the information gained from these sources and tested on artwork case studies, a new cataloguing system was developed in consultation with relevant staff. The new cataloguing system, which has been in use since early 2017, has underpinned the broader project, which has encompassed changes across a wide range of collection management practices necessary to facilitate the preservation and display of time-based artworks.  Moreover, this system has reset institutional understanding of these works by ensuring that the cataloguing accurately represents the conceptual, physical, digital, electronic and variable elements of TBA works.