Collections Management

Barnum Brown and assistants working on Hoplitosaurus fragments, August, 1933. 
Hugh Smith Rice/© AMNH

This is intended as a central resource on collection management for anyone who has an interest in fossil collections—museum and lab professionals, amateur collectors, or school and university students.

If you are responsible for a fossil collection in an institution, have a private collection, are considering a career in paleontology, or are just interested in what museums do with all those fossils, we have detailed information on a variety of collections topics.

Article Acquiring You may have wondered how museums acquire their collections, and how you might start a fossil collection of your own. Article Storing Your Fossils Though they've survived for up to billions of years, fossils are vulnerable to damage and must be stored properly.  Article Tracking It is important that both the specimens and their associated information are well organized and easily accessible. Article Collections Use The Paleontology collections are generally open to bona fide researchers who are affiliated with a recognized academic institution. Article Case Study A Collections Management case study. Article Resources Find links to important resources, bibliographies, and more.

Head back to the main Paleontology Division page.

These Collection Management resources were originally developed in 2007 with the support of the National Science Foundation (NSF).

National Science Foundation logo is of an illustration of planet earth with a gold border and text that reads NSF.