Collection Management

The Universtiy of Georgia Museum of Natural History is an important repository of objects, artifacts, and specimens relating to the natural history of Georgia and the Southeast.

Many separate collections constitute the Georgia Museum of Natural History:

• Archaeology Laboratory
• Department of Plant Biology Herbarium
• Collection of Arthropods
• Geology Collections - including the Allard Collection
• Herpetology Collection
• Ichthyology Collection
• Invertebrate Collections
• Mammalogy Collections
• Mycological Herbarium
• Ornithology Collections
• Zooarchaeology Laboratory

Each of these collections represents an irreplaceable storehouse of information and knowledge relating largely, though not exclusively, to Georgia and the Southeast. Each collection is professionally managed and curated by specialists in their respective areas. All the collections have regional significance and most have national if not international recognition within the scientific community.

On purely subjective basis comparing the range of types of collections, their size, the extent o f their research programs and the quality of management practices, collections affiliated with the Georgia Museum of Natural History rank among the important museums of natural history in the nation and certainly within the top museums of natural history in the southeastern United States. A recent survey among the nation's universities maintaining museums of natural history indicated that the Georgia Museum of Natural History collections rank 9th in terms of size.

The Museum's collections are broadly recognized in the scientific community as an important regional resource. Each year the Museum processes requests for information and loans of thousands of specimens to researchers throughout the world. It is visited by approximately 100 scientists who utilize the collections in their research.

But more than just a repository, the Museum is an archive of information and knowledge that goes beyond the actual specimens. The cumulative knowledge and expertise of the collections personnel, most of whom have national and international recognition, is an irreplaceable resource almost as valuable as the collections themselves.