How do you guys catalogue?

Various fossil related discussions.
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JohnB
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How do you guys catalogue?

Bericht door JohnB » 17 aug 2015, 00:56

As I'm fairly new to cataloging I wonder how you guys do it.

At the moment I'm putting small circular (5mm) stickers on my rocks which I've found is ok for fossils that have a little bit of flat surface. It's more of a problem with very small fossils or ones that are irregular in shape. I've seen fossils from old collections that have a painted white spot with writing on. Is this the protocol? I guess the paint must be removable/reversible so will acrylic paint be ok? At the moment I'm just giving each fossil a number. Do you guys add anything else?

The software, well it's an app for my iPhone and iPad, I'm using is a database called Mystuff2pro which give me lots of category options but it's a big leaning curve to use. I can back up to other iOS devices, Dropbox, CSV file, PDF, Excel spreadsheet and Open Document Spreadsheet. Thankfully I've worked it out. At the moment I've set Age, Period, Genus, Species, Common name, ID number, Location and Notes as well as add photographs. It's very easy to search using any of the attributes. Is anything else advisable?

Thank you!

John



 
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KoenJ
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Re: How do you guys catalogue?

Bericht door KoenJ » 17 aug 2015, 10:32

Hi John,

All my fossils are given a unique number which refers to the same number in a database. I used to have a handwritten database on paper, but I'm turning it into an excel-file. Quite a job, but worthwhile in the end in my opinion.

For marking the fossils, I use either typex-fluid and a black fineliner pen, or only the fineliner pen. Both can be removed with alcohol or aceton, so they're reversible. If I don't want to write on the fossil, for instance when there's no matrix and there's no other hidden spot to write on, I simply put a small piece of paper in the grip seal bag (most of my fossils are stored in grip seal bags).

Regards,
Koen


Groeten,
Koen

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Carboon
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Re: How do you guys catalogue?

Bericht door Carboon » 18 aug 2015, 10:38

Afbeelding

Afbeelding

Hi John,

Having inherited a few collections from deceased collectors, I learned the hard way that documentation is paramount. Cards only work if they are carefully kept with the fossil, something that cannot be guaranteed if anyone but the collector boxed up the collection. The problem is that some types of information cannot be retrieved. When it comes to specific locality information, for example, lost is really lost. For this reason, I consider marking the fossils themselves essential (see code on top photo). I do this using paint pens, employing a code involving my initials and a simple counting number (after a couple years of pondering on the best format, I decided that any numbering would be better than stalling longer. I'm still happy with that decision). The numbers are present on the fossil itself, as well as on the accompanying data sheet, and used as primary key in my specimen catalogue (MS Access). As a double check, I also have photographs of the specimens in the catalogue (see bottom photo). The only downside of this method is that it is time-consuming and that, as a result, I am always behind with my administration.

Hope this helps,

Tim

P.S. This TFF thread may be interesting for you: http://www.thefossilforum.com/index.php ... r-fossils/


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