Thread subject: Diptera.info :: Pinning flies and wasps and some curious questions.

Posted by ChrisR on 11-09-2007 20:50
#67

Freezing need not lead to specimens becoming damp - as I understand it, the museums seal the boxes in plastic bags before freezing. Freezing is used by the 2 largest collections in the UK (NHM & OUM) so it must work.

A standardised date format on a paper label really isn't important, unless you want to invent a scanner that will read data labels ;) Human brains are complex enough to work out any date system as long as it conforms to one of the many standards - it's just computers that have difficulty. Of course, a standard date format such as yyyy-mm-dd hh:mm:ss is great for computer systems :)

Any nationaly recognised grid-reference system is fine - computer GIS systems are sophisticated to convert between any known standard and on the paper card the only important things are that is should be easily recognised to anyone looking at the label; provide enough accuracy to refind/map the location and doesn't take up too much space.

I stopped using what they called Vapona a long time ago so I wasn't sure if it was still available - sounds like I got out at the right moment ;)