Natural Science Collections Alliance
Our members are part of an international community of museums, botanical gardens, herbariums, universities and other institutions that house natural science collections and utilize them in research, exhibitions, academic and informal science education, and outreach activities.
A new report by the Inspector General (IG) for the Department of the Interior calls for the prioritization of management of museum collections within the department. The report, which outlines major management and performance challenges facing Interior, reflects “what the Office of Inspector General considers significant impediments to the Department’s efforts to promote economy, efficiency, […]
The National Science Foundation (NSF) Directorate for Biological Sciences has launched a Wiki to facilitate collaboration on proposals for the Advancing Digitization of Biological Collections solicitation. The website is a social network that will enable researchers to communicate about collaborative proposals. According to NSF, researchers, collection managers and others will be able to briefly describe […]
Marsha L. Semmel, Acting Director, IMLS (Institute for Museum and Library Services), has announced the release of “Connecting to Collections: A Report to the Nation.â€Â According to an IMLS release, “the 2005 IMLS-supported Heritage Health Index provided a comprehensive look at the state of collections held in libraries, museums, archives, scientific organizations and historical societies. […]
The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) has directed all federal agencies to plan for the management of their scientific collections. A memo issued by OSTP Director John Holdren on October 6 outlines the implementation of several recommendations made by the Interagency Working Group on Scientific Collections in their 2009 report. Within […]
A new blog has been created to assist the biological collections community to discuss and share ideas about the National Science Foundation’s solicitation for “Advancing Digitization of Biological Collections (ADBC).” The blog aims to “encourage the community to begin to communicate openly about the ADBC solicitation including questions, ideas, intentions, and other related issues.” The […]
AIM-UP! (Advancing the Integration of Museums into Undergraduate Programs) is a recently funded NSF Research Coordination Network focused on new ways of incorporating the extensive archives and cyberinfrastructure of natural history museums into undergraduate education. There are five primary themes: Complex Biotic Associations Across Space and Time, Geographic Variation, Evolutionary Dynamics of Genomes, Biotic Response […]
Investing in basic research, improving science education, and supporting graduate fellowships — these are central elements for a vibrant scientific workforce. However, many programs supported by the National Science Foundation, the Department of Energy Office of Science, and other federal agencies are at risk because of the pending expiration of the America COMPETES Act. First […]
NSCA would like to thank all those who took the time to fill out the survey on collections and the economy. The survey is now closed. A report outlining survey results is forthcoming and will be posted to the NSCA website.
The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) has announced that it has entered into a contract with the White Oak Institute and the American Association of Museums (AAM) to develop standard data definitions in collaboration with the museum field. This work is part of the agency’s museum data collection project, Museums Count. “We are […]
New research published in the Journal of Ecology demonstrates one of the many values of natural history collections. Researchers in the United Kingdom have shown that preserved plant specimens can be used in place of field observations to determine the impacts of climate change on phenology. The team compared specimens of early spider orchids (Ophrys […]