Data Label Etiquette

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Siratus formosus (Sowerby II, 1841) [Muricidae] Cuba, 76.5mm

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by Richard L. Goldberg

 

A slide presentation I presented at a Conchologists of America convention and at shell clubs dealt with the topic of data labels. In the talk I refer to the term "Data Label Etiquette."

 

By this I mean, what is the most important information to include on a data label of a shell that you have self-collected. Certainly, the more verified information your record makes the specimen more scientifically important. Old collection data labels were notoriously lacking in detail; often only the country name (I presented much more on this aspect). By the 1960's and 1970's data detail came into its own and was demanded by serious collectors. This just scratches the surface of the history of data labeling shell collections.

 

The data label and specimen illustrated here is from the collection of John Finlay. It illustrates one of those early efforts to have as much data available with a self-collected shell. John C. Finlay (1912 - ****) was a noted and advanced American conchologist with a specialty in Western Atlantic marine mollusks. He worked for the DuPont company and lived and extensively collected in Cuba between the 1930's until the Castro regime takeover in 1959. In fact, his shell collection had to be smuggled out of Cuba during that chaotic period (pers. comm. and another story).

 

John knew the importance of data and appropriately recording it. His main collection of about 5000 lots of mostly self-collected shells is in the Delaware Museum of Natural History along with thousands of specimens that he exchanged with other collectors around the world over the years. This particular specimen passed through two collections: that of Henry Monroe and later his niece Isabelle Cosby of Alexandria, Virginia. But what about the etiquette of the data label?

First and foremost, it was a form label pre-printed on high quality paper and has withstood the test of time without degrading or discoloring. Often old labels were written on paper with high acid content. So many labels of that era and earlier have crumbled or rotted making the data unreadable.

 

The species name with an identification to the best of one’s ability is important, yet will more than likely change, as did this

specimen (Murex antillarum is now Siratus articulatus). The old name is a snapshot of taxonomy/nomenclature for the species at the time it was collected.

Of course, locality and habitat data and method of collecting -- it goes without saying. Today, easy, and accurate access to GPS locality is becoming essential. Include as much data as you have, but don’t embellish that data.

 

Why a personalized pre-printed label? Simply, a term called “provenance” (the place of origin or earliest known history of something). The fact that this specimen was collected by and from the collection of “John Finlay” tells a story far beyond what is written on the label, especially since John was such a fixture in molluscan circles during his conchological tenure.

 

Future owners of a shell “should never write on the original label” including name revisions but create a new label that will begin a new legacy for the specimen with your name. That is not to say that the current owner of a specimen cannot write additional information or updates on their own label; that is your information and does not ruin the integrity of your label. Update only your label, if necessary.

 

What Finlay’s label lacks is a designation of specimen size in millimeters down to a 1/10 of a mm. If the label becomes separated from the specimen, it helps verify that the two belong to each other. The catalog number is from the third owner, Cosby, who kept a catalog of her collection. Not seen in the photo is an inked number “1701” written on the inner lip of the shell. It also confirms the label and shell are connected. Unfortunately, both H. Monroe and I. Cosby did not generate their own legacy data labels and preferred to just keep Finlay’s original label with the shell. Cosby’s catalog did record the provenance, the only record of its passing through collections.

 

I covered so much more in my talk, but these points are probably the most important aspects of data labels that I presented.

 

**** : John Finlay has passed away, but no firm date of death seems to be available.

 

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