Post by erebia on Apr 15, 2022 10:25:00 GMT -8
Just received my alumni copy from the university and saw this article about the insect collection. The administration has decided that the term "collection" should be replaced with "library". I always thought that the term library typically referred to an organized accumulation of books, historical documents, photographs, maps, etc. I contacted a friend on the faculty of the Biology department and was told that the term "collection" doesn't sit well with many people when it is associated with once living organisms. Apparently there is a certain air of sophistication associated with the word library and this is one way of elevating the status of the collection.
Not long ago the same department got rid of a large collection of bird study skins, indicating that the collection had served its usefulness a long time ago and was archaic.
A prior university president suggested that all the pressed plant specimens in the herbarium, many of which were prepared more than 100 years ago, should be photographed and then discarded in order to free up space in the building. Fortunately the botanists talked him out of it.
Not long ago the same department got rid of a large collection of bird study skins, indicating that the collection had served its usefulness a long time ago and was archaic.
A prior university president suggested that all the pressed plant specimens in the herbarium, many of which were prepared more than 100 years ago, should be photographed and then discarded in order to free up space in the building. Fortunately the botanists talked him out of it.
