Introduction to Scientific Collections and Museum Databases
What is a museum?
There are many definitions of museums. One thing that all museums share is that they make a “unique
contribution to the public by collecting, preserving, and interpreting the things of this world.” Publicly
funded museums and private museums accredited by the American Association of Museums all follow
stringent ethical codes.
The definition above is from the American Association of Museums (AAM). Additional information and the
complete code ethics from the AAM is available at the following website: http://www.aam-
us.org/museumresources/ethics/coe.cfm
The International Council Museums (ICOM) defines a museum as:
A non-profitmaking, permanent institution in the service of society and of its
development, and open to the public, which acquires, conserves, researches,
communicates and exhibits, for purposes of study, education and enjoyment,
material evidence of people and their environment.
The ICOM website is: http://icom.museum/
The public face of a museum is usually the only part with which people are familiar. However, there is
another part of most museums—the space where the collections are stored. For an art museum, this is
where paintings are restored, where rare artworks are given a rest from damaging light. In a natural
history museum, there are specimens that never go on display, specimens housed primarily for
research. Natural history museums house scientific collections.
Depending on the focus of a particular collection, a scientific collection may include specimens of rocks, fossil
plants or animals, pressed and dried plants, preserved (usually dried) vertebrate skins and bones,
invertebrates stored in liquid preservative solution, etc. Some archeology collections are included in scientific
collections; others are housed in cultural collections, such as art and history museums.
The Kansas State University Herbarium
The Kansas State University (KSU) Herbarium is a scientific collection. Like many museums, the
mission of The KSU Herbarium includes conducting research on collections, and communicating
the results of that research.
Unlike many museums, the KSU Herbarium does not have space for exhibits. If you were to visit the
Herbarium, you would not see preserved plants “behind glass” with interpretive information. Most of
the visitors to the Herbarium are scientists who study the specimens or use the collections data in their
research. The Herbarium is open to the public by appointment.
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What is an herbarium?
Herbaria are scientific collections that
care for dried and preserved plant
specimens. Most specimens are pressed
flat and attached to acid free, cotton
paper. This paper is designed to last a
long time without turning yellow or
becoming brittle. Specimens are stored
in steel cases that protect them from
light, and insects. Each specimen is
associated with a great deal of
information. Some of this information
comes from the plant, and important
data are also contained on the label
prepared by the collector.
The collector records information in the field including where the plant was collected, what habitat it
was found in, the date the plant was collected, and sometimes observations about the scent or color of
the flower, and notes about the soil, geology, or what other plants were growing at that site. The
collector usually keeps track of each plant collection with a unique number. This information is
included on a label that is attached to the sheet with the plant. The plant along with the label data make
the herbarium specimen.
Primary scientific data (and how you can find it)
Today you will learn how to access the same collections data that scientists use. The KSU Herbarium
has a website with a searchable database. The data from the labels of the specimens in the collection
are available at this site. This website is available to you at any time and you can use it to learn about
the plants that grow in your town, county, throughout your state and beyond.
Instructions for working with plant collections databases
You are going to search the database by date, county, and species name. Follow the step by step
instruction guide (the Tutorial) to learn how to access herbarium data. Use the space below on this
worksheet to record your answers as you complete each search in the tutorial.
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Name:
Search the database by year
1. How many collections were made during the year that is one hundred years before you were born?
__________________________________________________________________________________
2. How many collections were made one hundred years ago on the date of your birth? _____________
Search the database by county
3. How many collections were made in the county where you live? ____________________________
Search the database by species name
4. What is the genus name of the state flower? _____________________________________________
5. Which county has the most collections of the state flower? _________________________________
6. Which county has the least? _________________________________________________________
Design your own query
Now, think of a question and design a query to answer that question. You can query by any fields in
the database that you choose. The only requirement is that you use at least two fields.
7) Write down your question (what you are trying to find).
8) Write down your query (what fields you searched on in the database).
9) Record your results: e.g. number of records, whether or not you got back the data you expected
based upon your question, etc.
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