Care and Conservation of Specimens
-
We have a duty to provide a safe and secure environment for all of our collections. To protect our herbarium specimens from loss or damage, we have specifically designed storage and strict specimen handling guidelines. The condition of the collection is monitored, and repairs to specimens are carried out to appropriate conservation standards.
The sections below include information on
- agents of deterioration
- safe storage environment
- specimen handling
- mounting materials
- condition surveying
- repair techniques
Agents of deterioration
Over time, herbarium specimens may become damaged due to:
- a major disaster such as fire or flood,
- insect damage.
- poor storage environment
- careless handling
- breakdown of the materials used to prepare them
-
Useful Links & Documens
RBGE Collections Care: Preparation and care of herbarium specimens
RBGE Protection and repair of herbarium specimens staff guidelines
RBGE Use of folders to protect herbarium specimens staff guidelines
RBGE Herbarium: Packing Specimens for Loan (video)
Care and Storage of specimens posters: Poor Storage, Good Storage
ICON Care and Conservation of Botanical Specimens
SPNHC How to pack herbarium specimens
Government of Canada - Agents of Deterioration
ICON (Institute of Conservation)NatSca (Natural Sciences Collections Association)
SPNHC (Society for the Preservation of Natural History Collections)
For alternative formats of RBGE Herbarium documents please contact us at herbarium@rbge.org.uk, or at RBGE Herbarium, 20a Inverleith Row, Edinburgh, EH3 5LR.
Examples of damaged Herbarium specimens
Safe storage environment
The herbarium collections are housed in a secure, purpose-built building. We monitor the temperature and humidity of the storage environment, aiming for a stable 20 degrees temperature and 50% relative humidity (extreme fluctuations in temperature or humidity can damage the fragile plant material).
Metal storage cabinets with rubber door seals protect the specimens from light, dust and insects.
Repair Techniques
The techniques and materials we use to repair specimens have been developed with the help and advice of professional conservators.
Repairs or annotations to specimens, particularly if they are types or important historical collections, should interfere with the specimen as little as possible.
A simple but effective solution for fragile or damaged specimens is to use a large capsule with a sheet of mounting board inside it to protect and support the specimen.
For further information see our factsheet.
Some repaired herbarium specimens
Specimen Handling
We have these posters in the Herbarium to remind staff and visitors how to handle specimens so as to minimise damage. Click on the images to enlarge.
The video shows how to pack herbarium specimens for sending out to other institutions on loan:
Mounting Materials
If the materials used to prepare Herbarium specimens are not of archival quality, they may deteriorate over time. For further information see section 2 of RBGE Collections Care: Preparation and Care of Herbarium Specimens (link in the sidebar)
Condition surveying
Older specimens in the collection may have been stored previously in less suitable places or suffered damaged from careless handling.
In order to identify the types of damage to specimens in our collection, we carried out a condition survey during imaging and databasing of mounted herbarium specimens.
This allowed us to prioritize specimens for repair, and estimate the cost in terms of staff time and materials. Click on the image to enlarge.
