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.
On 20 August 2014, the American Institute of Biological Sciences (AIBS), NSC Alliance, and Society for Preservation of Natural History Collections (SPNHC) announced the launch of a new national initiative to build a research and end-user community dedicated to developing a Network Integrated Biocollections Alliance (NIBA). The project is an outgrowth of recent scientific meetings […]
The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) is accepting nominations for the National Medal for Museum and Library Services. The award recognizes museums and libraries that have made extraordinary contributions to their communities. All types of nonprofit libraries and museums are eligible to receive the award. Anyone is free to make nominations, and self-nominations […]
This fall, the Heritage Health Information (HHI) 2014 survey will launch to assess the state of the nation’s collections held by archives, libraries, historical societies, museums, scientific research collections, and archaeological repositories. The results of the survey will be used to recommend next steps in collections preservation. The Natural Science Collections Alliance is serving as […]
Flora of North America News has announced that a new installment of the Flora of North America North of Mexico series will be published this month. Oxford University Press will be offering a 20 percent discount on Flora of North America, Volume 28: Bryophyta, Part 2 at www.oup.com with PROMO CODE 33009. The new volume […]
A piece of amber collected 50 years ago has yielded a species that was previously unknown to science. A new species of cricket from 20 million years ago was preserved in the amber. As reported by the Washington Post, the amber was collected in the 1950’s and sat in a lab at the Illinois Natural […]
A group of 70 scientific organizations have expressed concerns with a bill pending in the U.S. Senate that would further restrict the ability of federal employees to attend conferences. NSC Alliance was one of the signatories. In a letter sent to members of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, the organizations stated, “The […]
A new Data Management Interest Group is being formed by iDigBio. The initial meeting of the new group will be held online on 7 August 2014 from 1:00 to 2:00 pm EDT. The group will discuss issues surrounding shared data and is seeking ideas from the community on this important initiative. Registration is not required. […]
A hackathon will be held later this year to improve digitization of biological collections. The event is organized by iDigBio and Zooniverse’s Notes from Nature Project. The goal of the hackathon is to build interoperability among projects thus further enabling public participation in biocollections digitization in useful and exciting ways. The event will occur from […]
The White House released a memorandum on July 18, 2014 detailing budget priorities for science and technology in the fiscal year (FY) 2016 federal budget, which agencies are now developing. The annual memo from the Office of Management and Budget and Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) directs departments and agencies to prioritize certain […]
Several recent incidents involving collections of dangerous pathogens have put safety protocols at government labs at the center of the public’s attention. Recently, 300 vials containing materials infected with infectious diseases were discovered in a storage room at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The vials, which had been there for decades, included six vials […]