GUIDELINES FOR THE CURATION OF GEOLOGICAL MATERIALS

can be said to serve these purposes well, they cannot be described as necessary
for every museum. Such labels have included:
m Type and figured labels
m Named collection labels
m colour-coded labels
1.3.5. The uses of marks and labels
1.3.5.1. Content
The primary use of any specimen label is clear; viz the immediate availability of
associated data in summary form. As specimens pass from the field through
collectors, dealers and museums, so labels and marks accumlate and in so doing
become in themselves valuable sources of information. Indeed, they may provide
the only surviving source of information for cataloguing purposes. Retrieval may
be made in two ways, direct transcription of written information and inference of
data from some characteristic of an old label or mark. It is very important that in
either of these two processes the curator first makes it quite clear that in the
production of a new document or label, transcription of an old label or mark has
occurred (also recording when and by whom) and secondly that where new
information is inferred its status is indicated by being enclosed in square brackets
[ ] and its origin indicated. In both cases the sources of such information should
always be preserved. In the past, too much reliance has been placed on
information which, when original evidence is consulted, turns out to be based on
erroneous subjectivity or interpretation. A user must be made aware of which
elements in a record he can have confidence in and why.
The following paragraphs touch upon some of the ways in which old or historic
labels may yield more information than might be apparent at first glance.
The label can be used to provide information relating to the circumstances in
which a specimen was collected, for example, the availability of an exposure, the
period of interest in a particular type of fossil, the activity of the collector, etc.
The style and terminology of the label will reflect contemporary trends in the
history of taxonomic or stratigraphic nomenclature and may be conditioned by
the stage of development of scientific knowledge, all of which can indicate a
general date for the label (though not necessarily for the specimen!).
1.3.5.2. Handwriting
In some instances it is possible to identify the handwriting on a label or mark and
thereby establish aspects relating to the collection, curation, identification, or
other history of the specimen. Photocopies of handwriting samples can usefully
be collated into a file, thus providing a ready source of comparison. Cleevely
(1982a,b) discusses the methods and techniques.
1.3.5.3. Distinctive, or personal labels
The use of a particular printed or decorative label or marks by certain collectors
leads to instant recognition of their material, even though there is no other
evidence as to the provenance of the material - see Cleevely (1982a), Cleevely &