Guidelines for marine biological reference collections
Hureau, J.-C.; Rice, A.L. (1983). Guidelines for marine biological reference collections. UNESCO Reports in Marine Science = Rapports de l'Unesco sur les sciences de la mer, 22. UNESCO: Paris. 48 pp.
Part of: UNESCO Reports in Marine Science = Rapports de l'Unesco sur les sciences de la mer. UNESCO: Paris. ISSN 0253-0112; e-ISSN 0257-6589
The objective of UNESCO and the authors of this volume has been to furnish practical advice on the appropriation, conservation and documentation of a marine biological reference collection, in response to the needs expressed by the Mediterranean Arab countries. A reference collection is here defined as a working museum containing a series of specimens with which biologists are to compare their own material. The manual first reviews the principal methods for the collection of marine biological samples from the plankton, nekton and benthos. Next, advice and recommendations are provided on the treatment of the samples immediately aaafter their collection and subsequently in this collection centre, covering the topics of sorting, fixation and preservation, and labelling. The authors particularly emphasize the documentation which must accompany each sample throughout its existence. This is of prime importance, for without complete documentation a sample has no scientific value. The last section of the manual touches on the problems of ethics and of the security of access to the collections by potential users. Finally, the annexes provide the reader with very prractical information: bibliographic references, a suggested classification scheme for the collections, addresses of suppliers of materials and equipment, examples of labels, and schema explaining the principles of an adequate documentation system.
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