Museum Survey Research Articles

Historical Distribution of Bluehead Shiner (Pteronotropis hubbsi)

We documented the historical distribution of Pteronotropis hubbsi (Bluehead Shiner) based on a survey of museum records. To compile historical records, we searched 6 online databases and contacted 28 individuals associated with natural history museums, state agencies, and public and private universities. Eleven individuals had records of Bluehead Shiner in their collections. Geographically, the records were from 5 states, which included a disjunct population in Illinois. In the core of the distribution (i.e., 4 states), all collections were in the Red River and 4 major tributary rivers to the Red River. The number of different localities within each of these waterways ranged from 1–17. These records spanned 57 y (1949–2006), with the majority (95%) of records from the 1970s to the 1990s. The number of specimens cataloged per locality ranged from 1 to 144 individuals. All major-tributary drainages had at least 1 collection with more than 25 individuals archived. We argue that this geographic analysis of the historical distribution of Bluehead Shiner illustrates a great need to launch a modern field effort to document the current status of Bluehead Shiner throughout the Red River drainage in Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Texas.

Fishes from the Tusubres River basin, Pacific coast, Costa Rica: checklist, identification key and photographic album

A checklist of the fishes of the Tusubres River basin, Pacific coast of Costa Rica, compiled from field and museum surveys is herein presented. A total of 54 species, representing 47 genera and 27 families, were recorded. Peripheral species were dominant (64.8%), followed by secondary freshwater fishes (20.4%); primary freshwater fishes accounted only for 14.8% of the total fish diversity. Eleotridae (6 spp.), Gobiidae (6 spp.), Poeciliidae (5 spp.) and Characidae (4 spp.) were the most diverse. Two species (Caranx sexfasciatus, Carangidae; and Opisthonema libertate, Clupeidae) were new records for Costa Rican freshwaters, and two species (Gymnotus maculosus, Gymnotidae; and Lebiasina boruca, Lebiasinidae) was found to have expanded ranges. An identification key and a complete photographic album of all fish species recorded in the basin are presented. The results of this investigation provide a framework for future studies on biogeography, ecology and conservation on fishes from this area.

Reproductive biology and distribution of Syngnathus temminckii and S. watermeyeri (Pisces: Syngnathidae) in southern Africa

The reproductive biology and distribution of two species of Syngnathus (S. temminckii and S. watermeyeri) were investigated using information from museum specimens, published data, survey data and samples collected during mouth-breaching events of temporarily open/closed estuaries over the period 1950–2011. Distribution records indicate that the two species are restricted to specific habitats and bioregions in southern Africa. Although S. temminckii has marine and estuarine populations, the species is most prevalent in warm and cool temperate estuarine systems. Syngnathus watermeyeri has limited dispersal capabilities owing to life-history characteristics and is completely dependent on shallow vegetated habitat in mesosaline estuarine systems in the warm temperate region, where it co-occurs with S. temminckii. The presence of breeding individuals and juveniles indicated that the spawning period of both species occurs in spring and summer, coinciding with warmer water temperatures and enhanced food resources, with reproductive activity of S. temminckii peaking in November. The estimated lengths (standard length) at 50% maturity of males and females of S. temminckii (129 and 120 mm respectively), were larger than those of S. watermeyeri (118 and 102 mm) and similar to those for other syngnathids. Although the observed sex ratios for S. temminckii (0.5:1.0, M:F) and S. watermeyeri (0.7:1.0), were biased towards females and similar to those observed among congeners, only S. temminckii was significantly different from the expected 1:1 ratio. The mean number of mature oocytes in the females (n = 379; 95% CI = 244–658) of S. temminckii was not significantly different from the mean number of eggs/embryos in the male brood pouch (n = 451; 95% CI = 270–486). The relationship between carrying capacity and size was linear and positively correlated, implying that fecundity, and hence reproductive efficiency, increases with the size of the individual. Comparative analyses indicated that these species have different life-history strategies and dispersal capabilities. However, they are both highly vulnerable as a result of anthropogenic threats to the unstable estuarine environment.

National Museums in Southeast Europe: (En)countering Balkanism?

The collapse of sclerotic and dysfunctional one-party regimes in central and eastern Europe, associated with the end of the USSR, and in parts of the Balkans, with the death of President Tito of Yugoslavia in 1980, was followed by violence and war, which brought the region to the world’s attention. These events, and inevitably the historical causes, were and still are interpreted to an international audience, largely through a global media, over which Balkan countries have limited influence. Todorova (Slavic Review 53(2):453–452, 1994, 2009, 1997) identified a trend or convention in these interpretations which was largely negative, which she called ‘Balkanism’, and which was at least partly constructed ‘from the outside’ (1994, p. 445). She argued that our knowledge of the Balkans is mediated through a distorting lens: we see it as a dark ‘other’. By contrast, national museums funded by national governments would seem to offer a channel through which the states in the region might be able to tell their own stories, in their own way. This survey of national museums attempts to map these stories against specific aspects of Balkanism. Are they complicit in its construction, or do they run counter to or align with it? It is argued that the key elements of these displays counter some aspects of Balkanism but align with it or reinforce it in other ways.

The distribution and host range of Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis in New Zealand, 1930–2010

Chytridiomycosis caused by the fungal invasive pathogen Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd) was first detected in 1999 in Christchurch, New Zealand, in the Australian introduced frog species Litoria raniformis. It was detected in wild native frogs in the critically endangered Leiopelma archeyi in 2001 on the Coromandel Peninsula and has been suggested as responsible for a mass decline (88%) in that population between 1994 and 2002. We report the current distribution, host species and prevalence, where known, of Bd in New Zealand, which is essential for conservation management of New Zealand native frogs (Leiopelma spp.). The data set is structured so that it can be readily added to the Australian Bd database for further analyses. Our data included all regions in New Zealand and six offshore islands at 135 sites with 704 records from 23 contributors spanning collection dates 1930–2010. We report 54 positive sites from 132 positive individuals. We also detail negative findings, but declaring an area free from disease should consider the sensitivity of the test used and numbers of individuals tested. The data also included a comprehensive museum survey testing 152 individuals from five species (20 L. archeyi, 50 L. hochstetteri, 15 L. aurea, 40 L. ewingii, and 27 L. raniformis) from 1930–1999 using histology and Bd‐specific immunohistochemistry. All museum specimens were negative, so the 1999 positive result is still the earliest record. In the L. archeyi Coromandel Ranges population, the period prevalence of Bd from 2006 to 2010 was relatively stable at 16%, but the number of animals tested remains low (up to N = 19) due to the now depleted population numbers. The period prevalence of Bd in the L. archeyi Whareorino population has remained both consistent and low (6%) between 2005 and 2010. In L. hochstetteri, L. hamiltoni, and L. pakeka all sampling for Bd has been negative. Positive Bd results have been found in all three Litoria spp., but Bd has not been found in the six offshore areas tested. Most data have been previously unpublished and represent the first confirmed reports of Bd in many regions and species in New Zealand.

.Museum: a survey of museums registered in the only cultural top-level domain

This article presents findings from a sample survey of museums that own a .museum top-level domain in the USA. The .museum domain was created in 2001, and the majority of museums who registered one in the beginning still own the address, though do not use it actively. Findings from the survey suggest that .org is the primary web domain that respondents prefer because it signals to potential donors their nonprofit status. Investment in web domains that have name recognition and established presence in local communities are also a draw for respondents, and an interrelated series of factors have deterred US museums from adopting a .museum domain, including difficult barriers of entry, no economic advantage, and lack of knowledge about the domain.

Collection History and Comparison of the Interactions of the Goldspotted Oak Borer,Agrilus auroguttatusSchaeffer (Coleoptera: Buprestidae), with Host Oaks in Southern California and Southeastern Arizona, U.S.A.

An invasive population of the goldspotted oak borer, Agrilus auroguttatus Schaeffer (Coleoptera: Buprestidae), is colonizing and killing three species of oaks in San Diego Co., California. However, the interactions of A. auroguttatus with oaks in its native range in southeastern Arizona have not been recorded. We present a complete inventory of the North and Central American collection records of A. auroguttatus and Agrilus coxalis Waterhouse from the literature and from a survey of the holdings of 27 museum and personal collections. We also discuss the relationship between this collection history and the behavior of A. auroguttatus as an intracontinental invasive species. Surveys of native populations of A. auroguttatus in oak forest stands from four mountain ranges in southeastern Arizona revealed injury patterns on Emory oak, Quercus emoryi Torrey, and silverleaf oak, Quercus hypoleucoides A. Camus, similar to those observed on other “red” oaks in California. No damage was observed on “white” oaks in Arizona, and observed only rarely on a white oak, Quercus engelmannii Greene, in California. In Arizona, adult emergence was confirmed from bark removed from Q. emoryi, representing the first developmental record of A. auroguttatus from a native host. Late instars of Agrilus sp. were also recovered from Q. hypoleucoides, but they were not reared to the adult stage for species identification. Nonetheless, our observations of damage and the presence of larvae in the same configuration and location in the outer bark as we would expect for A. auroguttatus suggest that Q. hypoleucoides is also likely a host. Two hymenopteran parasitoids, Calosota elongata Gibson (Eupelmidae) and Atanycolus simplex Cresson (Braconidae), and two likely coleopteran predators (Trogossitidae and Elateridae) emerged from, or were collected in southeastern Arizona from, Q. emoryi bark infested with A. auroguttatus. Based on the museum survey results, the morphological similarity of individuals from the California and Arizona populations, the spatial dynamics of the pattern of infestation in California, the geographic isolation of hosts in California from native populations of the beetle, and the proximity of San Diego Co. to southeastern Arizona, we hypothesize that A. auroguttatus was introduced to California from Arizona or less likely from the Mexican states of Baja California, Chihuahua, or Sonora, and that the introduction most likely occurred on oak firewood. Further, we hypothesize that the oak mortality in southern California is occurring from this intracontinental invasive species because the beetle is filling a vacant niche by colonizing and developing in non-coevolved trees with low host resistance in the absence of a diverse and coevolved insect natural enemy complex.

“Why Would Anyone Want to Draw on the Wall?”

In spring of 1970, Jewish Museum opened Using Walls, first museum survey to explore phenomenon of artworks drawn directly on wall. Included were Sol LeWitt, Robert Ryman, Lawrence Weiner, Richard Tuttle, Daniel Buren, and myself. At opening of exhibition, happened to overhear a young painter say, I still don't get it, why would anyone want to draw on Although we might smile at his question after everything that has happened in art over last forty years, idea of an ephemeral artwork was anathema to every belief system then current. But real question was, and still is, this: led these artists to take radical step of abandoning traditional supports and begin working directly on wall? From late 1950s through mid-1960s, status of object lay at center of most advanced artistic debates. From Robert Rauschenberg and Jasper Johns to Frank Stella and Donald Judd, major questions circled around issue of objecthood. Was a work of art primarily an object even if it was, in Judd's terms, a specific object? Or was what you see is you see, in Stella's reductivist dictum, all there was to a work of art? To some of us, too much was missing from these formulations. They represented a kind of solipsism, a withdrawal from world that left art with no possible means of affecting philosophical, social, or political conditions. How could a work of art destabilize status quo from within such a limited aesthetic framework? Merely asking this question created a rupture in discourse. Art split wide open, and ever since that gap has only widened. One direction argument took went something like this: would happen if objects were eliminated completely? What would be left? Ideas? But equation art-as-idea was equally hollow. It not only eliminated visual from visual art, it reduced remained to experiential emptiness of a tautology. The argument as saw it (and from this point on am speaking only for myself) went in another direction. Thickness, the obstinate chunkiness of third dimension, is makes objects objects. If thickness of world can-

A Study of Cultural Facilities Utilization Based on Questionnaire -A Case Study of Gymnasiums, Museums and Galleries in Beijing

According to the result of a questionnaire survey of gymnasiums, museums and galleries’ utilization in Beijing, a few suggestions are given to the future cultural facilities construction based on the analysis of the overall characteristics of cultural consumption and behavioral preference of different groups. The results show obvious socio-differentiation between groups of people, therefore more attention is called for to diversity as well as special groups of women and senior people in cultural facility utilization.

Essere e voler essere nella percezione del pubblico : un'indagine sulla mostra Dürer e l'Italia alle Scuderie del Quirinale

To be and willing to be in public perception: a survey on and exhibition at the Scuderie del Quirinale - In 2007, the Centro di Didattica Museale was appointed by Pierreci with surveying the visitors of the Durer and Italy exhibition which took place from March 10 to June 10 of the same year at the Scuderie del Quirinale. The survey was a pilot study based on the administration of questionnaires asking both usual questions and control questions on the comprehension of the exhibition. In spite of some contradictions on a cognitive level, the very high percentage of answers indicating satisfaction demonstrates that with the questionnaire - the commonest tool for museum surveys - only general trends can be detected because it lacks the necessary flexibility for a deep and real understanding of museum visitors. Keywords Questionnaire, museum survey, temporary exhibition, pilot study.

Notes on the Occurrence of Nemosoma attenuatum Van Dyke, 1915 (Coleoptera: Trogossitidae), in California with a Literature Review and Museum Survey of Nemosoma spp

The bark gnawing beetle, Nemosoma attenuatum Van Dyke (Coleoptera: Trogossitidae), has been previously described as an associate of twig beetles in the genus Pityophthorus Eichhoff (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) and other bark beetles. Presented here are post hoc observations on the seasonal occurrence of N. attenuatum, collected and identified as part of an ecological study of Pityophthorus species inhabiting native Monterey pines and their potential role as vectors of a fungal pathogen Fusarium circinatum. Adult N. attenuatum were recovered from flight traps between May 2001 and July 2003. Additionally, adult and larval N. attenuatum were discovered in cut P. radiata branches suspended in canopies of P. radiata in native stands. The highest flight trap counts were recorded during May 2001, suggesting a mass emergence. The highest numbers of N. attenuatum were observed from branches suspended between January to March. Two N. attenuatum larvae were discovered within the galleries of Pityophthorus setosus, although neither was observed feeding on any Pityophthorus spp. Neither eggs nor pupae were discovered during the course of this study. Also included are a literature review and the results of a museum survey of five major North American insect collections for Nemosoma species from North America.

MUSEUM SPECIMENS AND PHYLOGENIES ELUCIDATE ECOLOGY'S ROLE IN COEVOLUTIONARY ASSOCIATIONS BETWEEN MITES AND THEIR BEE HOSTS

Coevolutionary associations between hosts and symbionts (or parasites) are often reflected in correlated patterns of divergence as a consequence of limitations on dispersal and establishment on new hosts. Here we show that a phylogenetic correlation is observed between chaetodactylid mites and their hosts, the long-tongued bees; however, this association manifests itself in an atypical fashion. Recently derived mites tend to be associated with basal bee lineages, and vice versa, ruling out a process of cospeciation, and the existence of mites on multiple hosts also suggests ample opportunity for host shifts. An extensive survey of museum collections reveals a pattern of infrequent host shifts at a higher taxonomic level, and yet, frequent shifts at a lower level, which suggests that ecological constraints structure the coevolutionary history of the mites and bees. Certain bee traits, particularly aspects of their nesting behavior, provide a highly predictive framework for the observed pattern of host use, with 82.1% of taxa correctly classified. Thus, the museum survey and phylogenetic analyses provide a unique window into the central role ecology plays in this coevolutionary association. This role is apparent from two different perspectives--as (a) a constraining force evident in the historical processes underlying the significant correlation between the mite and bee phylogenies, as well as (b) by the highly nonrandom composition of bee taxa that serve as hosts to chaetodactylid mites.

The amphibian chytrid fungus along an altitudinal transect before the first reported declines in Costa Rica

Amphibian populations have declined and disappeared in protected and apparently undisturbed areas around the world, especially in montane areas of the tropics. The amphibian chytrid fungus, Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis has been implicated in many of these declines. In Costa Rica most declines occurred in the highlands. We examined an amphibian collection made in Braulio Carrillo National Park in 1986 for the amphibian chytrid fungus B. dendrobatidis, prior to the well documented amphibian declines in Monteverde, along an altitudinal transect from 100 to 2600 m elev. Skin from the pelvic patch of 202 specimens corresponding to 30 species was examined histologically to determine whether the disease was present in the highlands of the park before amphibian populations declined. For comparison, in 2002 we collected and examined 18 specimens of seven species of Eleutherodactylus and Craugastor from two other lowland Caribbean sites. The chytrid fungus was present in almost all altitudes in 1986, including lower areas. The pathogen was also found in both species that later declined and in species that did not do so. We detected chytrid fungus on amphibians collected at almost all altitudes in 1986, including those sampled at 280 m. B. dendrobatidis was abundant in frogs collected in the 2002 survey, and seems to be endemic in most of Costa Rica. More retrospective museum surveys are needed in order to determine whether it can be found in the area before 1986.

Disaster management

The article is based on a review, commissioned by the East Midlands Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (EMMLAC), of the East Midlands Museums Service (EmmS) Regional Emergencies and Disaster Squad (REDS). Research methods used included: literature and Internet review, review of REDS documentation, interviews with REDS personnel, questionnaire survey of museums, archives and libraries in the East Midlands, and select follow-up interviews. The article highlights aspects of the findings of the review, considers the transferability of the REDS model to other domains, suggests lessons that can be learned by others in the sector, and makes recommendations for further collaboration between libraries, archives and museums and others with regard to the development of disaster management in the sector.

Volunteering in libraries, museums and archives

Volunteering is very much in vogue as far as government is concerned; volunteering strengthens society through participation, whilst helping to extend and deliver services and enhance the lives of volunteers in numerous ways. This chapter of Cultural Trends offers an overview of volunteering before looking at the involvement of volunteers in museums, libraries and archives. Many volunteer‐involving organisations are examining carefully the way in which they recruit and support volunteers, as the environment in which volunteers are recruited becomes more competitive. At the same time, organisations can sometimes lose sight of why they involve volunteers. This chapter reports on a survey of museums and libraries conducted for Resource: the Council for Museums, Archives and Libraries, identifying the added value of involving volunteers and the institutional structures in place to support them. A survey was conducted in which 1,500 questionnaires were sent out ‐ with 500 each going to libraries, museums and archives. It finds that volunteers are a key element in extending the services that museums and libraries can offer. It also finds that practices in involving volunteers vary widely. Volunteers are more likely to be found in libraries than museums or archives and women are more likely to be involved than men. Very few of the organisations returning the questionnaires have somebody whose job is to manage or coordinate volunteers; perhaps unsurprisingly most are to be found in museums. Where organisations do not involve volunteers, issues of time management were most often cited, although a minority argued against involving volunteers per se. The chapter concludes that although many organisations value highly the involvement of volunteers, there is more that can be done to support volunteering in libraries, museums and archives.

Mammals Of the Grand Staircase–Escalante National Monument: A Literature and Museum Survey

Abstract This is the first treatment of the mammals of the Grand Staircase–Escalante National Monument (GSENM). GSENM was established in 1996 as a 1.7-million-acre (680,000-ha) federal land reserve under the jurisdiction of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). To successfully manage this new monument, the BLM is presently developing a management action plan. To provide information for the proper management of mammal species of the area, we have reviewed background literature for each mammal potentially found within the Monument boundaries. We propose that a core area, surrounded by a buffer matrix, be used in GSENM and surrounding public lands to preserve ecological processes in their natural state. One hundred thirteen mammalian species are categorized as follows: 82 contemporary species, 21 species questionably present, 4 introduced species reportedly in the Monument, and 6 historical species. Altogether, potentially 107 mammalian species exist there currently. Of 82 contemporary species, 11 are listed ...

Conservation Assessment Survey of Australian Museums: A Technical Note

This technical note is a compilation of the results from a national conservation assessment survey undertaken in 1999-2000. The results provide an insight into the status of preventive conservation and museum buildings in Australia.

Net Art’s Broadening Niche

Art in Technological Times San Francisco Museum of Modem Art San Francisco, California March 3-July 8, Connections: Virtual Embrace Art Center College of Design Pasadena, California May 5-June 30, Austin Museum of Art Austin, Texas July 20-September 18, Atlanta College of Art Atlanta, Georgia October 11-November 25, Whitney Museum of American Art New York, New York March 22-June 10, Six or seven years ago, Net art emerged as the latest embodiment, or more accurately, the disembodiment, of a conceptual art practice that successfully circumvented the art market by eliminating the physicality of an art object. It was believed that Net-based projects living on the Web could not be valued, displayed or sold by the creators or disseminators of good taste (gallerists and curators) as they saw fit. Net artists often engaged in activist antics and hacker schemes by connecting directly with their audiences, effectively sidestepping the need to display and exhibit their work in an institutional setting. Web surfers disseminated and popularized the existence of these projects in a word of mouth fashion, a highly effective method of distribution now termed pull technology by on-line marketers. Net art has become appropriated into the institutional setting much more quickly than its pioneering practitioners could ever have imagined. confluence of recent high-profile museum shows featuring Net-based art such as San Francisco Museum of Modem Art's (SFMOMA) 010101: Art in Technological Times, the Whitney Museum of American Art's Data Dynamics and Telematic Connections: Virtual Embrace, curated by the Walker Art Center's Steve Dietz, are giving everyone involved a reason to stop and take measure of this medium's transformation. One might question whether Net artists who had initially operated outside of the institutional realm are now willing to have their work situated within the museum context. Does context ultimately impact the work's content and the artists' motivations for creating the work? Has the institutionalization of this novel medium forsaken its alternative stance? Has Net art finally been subjugated to the same market forces that it once rebelled against? Several Net artists and Net professionals working in the digital realm offered their opinions regarding such questions at the recent Digital Independence 2001 conference held at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in January. Artists such as Natalie Jeremienko and Ben Benjamin and communications technologies specialists such as Andrew Blau, founder of the non-profit Flanerie Works, spoke about qualities unique to digital, Net-based media, suggesting that its relationship to its audience different, that it global, and that artists receive immediate feedback from their viewers. They discussed ad hoc distribution models and how a social network of interpretation could add meaning to the content of a work. Blau shared findings of trends that emerged from social research on the Internet, showing how communities or networks such as Napster enable the free sharing of sites and resources, successfully disseminating tastes and trends The question artists should be asking themselves, said Blau, is how to situate themselves and their work effectively within these communities on-line. In regard to methods of display, the overarching consensus was that museums and galleries still have not found a way to properly host Net-based work. Well-versed in the experience, both Benjamin and Jeremienko have had their work included in high-profile museum surveys. Benjamin's interlinked collection of HTML graphics titled Superbad was included in the Whitney Biennial last year and Jeremienko's Net-based BangBang Network featured in Telematic Connections: Virtual Embrace, a touring exhibition inaugurated at the San Francisco Art Institute last February. …

NAGPRA: Effective Repatriation Programs and Cultural Change in Museums

ABSTRACTA survey of museums in the United States sought to identify evidence of broad impact on the organisational culture and practices of museums in their relatioships with indiginous peoples as a result of the passage of the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act 1990 (NAGPRA).NAGPRA establishes a process for the repatriation of human remains and other specified items held in museum collections to Native Americans who can prove they are lineal descendants or members of tribes which are culturally affiliated with identified items covered by the legislation.Effective repatriation programs are characterised by:* a genuine belief in the primary rights of indigenous people in the management of their cultural material presently held in museum collections;* a commitment to greater collaboration between the museum and indigenous people in the management of scientific research and public programs pertaining to items of indigenous cultural heritage;* practices which are indicative of an organisational culture which acts in ways which go beyond the minimum requirements of the legislation.Our research shows that museums are engaging in consultation with indigenous people in the management of collections of indigenous cultural heritage, and that this engagement is influencing conservation strategies. Museums espouse goals which promote external consultation, the involvement of indigenous people in their activities, respect for the cultural goals of indigenous people and a commitment to increasing public awareness of indigenous cultural heritage and social issues. However, only in the areas where NAGPRA has mandated it should happen—collections of human remains and secret/sacred material—is there evidence of communication and consultation, commitment of resources and sharing of authority with indigenous people consistent with the outcomes intended under NAGPRA.

The Relationship Among Funding Sources for Art and History Museums

AbstractThe decline and possible elimination of federal support of the arts in the United States is likely to have a major impact on museum finances. Using data from the 1989 Survey of Museums, we analyze the interactions among major categories of museum funding. The results indicate a strong, positive stimulus of federal funding on private contributions, with some possible displacement of state and local government contributions. The opportunity to generate funds from private sources shows some promise to offset the loss of funds from government sources.