An Introduction to the Botanical Type Specimen Register

14 SMITHSONIAN CONTRIBUTIONS TO BOTANY
Smithsonian well in advance of initiating a project
so that a compatible way of compiling data can be
devised before the first record is collected. At pres-
ent the Type Register staff has its hands full with
the internal Smithsonian file but will do its best
to cooperate with other potential contributors to
set up procedures for submitting data. The most
efficient way of collaborating under present cir-
cumstances is to submit the records on the standard
data form (Figure 2) to the Smithsonian for proc-
essing, but with adequate planning it will be possi-
ble for another institution to convert its own data
into machine-readable form in-house before submit-
ting the data to the Smithsonian and thereby to save
time and effort in the overall process, at least where
large herbaria are concerned. Complete records,
i.e., with all essential data present, submitted by
other institutions are placed in the queue and proc-
essed in due course as time permits. Incomplete
records, particularly those without proper biblio-
graphic citations, are set aside in an inactive file
where, for lack of staff to complete them, they may
remain indefinitely. Potential contributors should
keep in mind, therefore, that any effort that falls
short of providing complete records risks becoming
a wasted effort.
A collaborating institution should always work
from the current catalog in the Type Register, if
one exists, of the genus or other taxonomic group
concerned. The Carex: Catalog, for example, pro-
vides a checklist of taxa already registered which
can be used as a tool by any herbarium wishing to
search its own collections for type specimens of this
genus. Working catalogs for other registered groups
can be provided at cost by the Smithsonian as they
are needed. The purpose of this procedure is to
reduce unnecessary effort on the part of both the
compiler and the editor. In the system, all speci-
mens pertaining to a given taxon are registered un-
der a single entry, and thus there is one unit record
per taxon. It is the editor’s responsibility to pre-
vent duplications of the same taxa in the first place
and in the second place to discover and delete the
occasional duplication that inevitably creeps into a
file of the size and complexity of the Type Register.
Individual compilers can do much to assist the
editor in preventing duplications, however, by
keeping themselves informed, through working
catalogs, of the current status of the file, and by
using procedures that minimize the chances of sub-
mitting duplicate information for taxa already re-
corded.
The procedural details will differ from institu-
tion to institution, but these general guidelines
should be followed, unless other special arrange-
ments have been made beforehand:
(1) All new records-taxa new to the file-should
be submitted on the standard data collection form
(Figure 1) and according to the technical data spec-
ifications used by the Smithsonian. Be sure that
the original name and not a later combination is
being used.
(2) All additions to existing records-supple-
mentary publication or collection data, and collec-
tions or specimens new to the file-should be
submitted as annotations to the appropriate records
in a copy of the working catalog; or, if they are
submitted on standard data forms or in a separate
typewritten listing, each addition should be prop-
erly referenced to the record in the file to which
it belongs. Care should be taken to distinguish
between specimens that belong to a collection al-
ready registered in the file and specimens that
introduce a new collection but to an already regis-
tered taxon. Both constitute additions but on dif-
ferent levels. The latter situation arises frequently
when syntypes are involved, but slight discrepan-
cies in collection data can easily be overlooked by
the compiler, leading him to the conclusion that
the former situation obtains. If the collection data
recorded in the Register are not identical or at least
reconcilable with the collection data of the speci-
men in hand, then the discrepancy should be re-
solved appropriately or the specimen excluded. In
annotating the catalog, it is important to be sure
that the additions are clearly associated with the
proper collection where two or more collections
are registered.
(3) All proposed changes to existing information
in the file should be submitted with documentation
as annotations to the appropriate records in a copy
of the working catalog; or, if they are submitted
on standard data forms or in a separate typewritten
listing, each addition should be properly referenced
to the record in the file to which it pertains. With-
out documentation, proposed changes raise more
questions than they answer and complicate the
work of the editor.
The most common errors, experience has shown,
are mistaking (1) a later combination for an ongi-