Imaging Procedures: Vertebrate Paleontology Collections

In order to scan an object at a facility outside of AMNH, follow these steps: 

• Email to request permission to scan Division of Paleontology specimens from the relevant Curator-in-Charge. 
• Review and sign the User Agreement. Museum Research Associates must also sign the user agreement. Please read the terms and conditions carefully. 
• Contact the Vertebrate Paleontology scanning staff and include the following in your email: 
  
  • Loan approval and/or scanning approval
  • Signed user agreements from each person who will have access to the data. 
  • Include details of your scanning project e.g. scanning date, list of AMNH specimens to be scanned and the relevant elements
• Fill out the Vertebrate Paleontology CT scan form at least two weeks in advance of your scanning date once the VP scanning staff has responded. The loan will not be shipped until the online form has been completed and approved. 
• Loans will be shipped in their CT mounts and should not be unpacked before scanning.

In exceptional cases, arrangements can sometimes be made to CT scan an object in the MIF Laboratory at the AMNH, at the discretion of the Curatorial staff. To make a request, email the Curator-in-Charge, following the instructions listed above. If approved, all of the subsequent procedures above must be followed, accordingly.

In order to scan an object outside the AMNH, follow these steps and record your progress using  this checklist. 

• Email the relevant Curator-in-charge, requesting permission for a loan to scan Division of Paleontology specimens. In your email, include:
  
  • Your intent to scan the specimens
  • Scanning methods/technology
  • List the specimens requested in the body of the email, not as an attachment. Please be specific about the specimens you have chosen; due to the amount of time we require to prepare specimens for loan, we expect you to choose which specimens to scan in advance of your loan request. Please list the catalog number, taxon and element. 
• Review and sign the  User Agreement once you've received approval from the Curator-in-Charge.  If you require more space to list all the specimens, write "see attached" in the relevant fields and attach the list to the user agreement as a single pdf.
• Once your loan and request to scan specimens have been approved, contact the Vertebrate Paleontology (VP) scanning staff and include the following your email: 
  
  • Loan and scanning approval 
  • Signed user agreements from each person who will have access to the data. 
  • Details of the specimens you wish to scan e.g. relevant elements, catalog numbers, taxa.
• Once the VP scanning staff has reviewed and approved your request, fill out the Vertebrate Paleontology CT scan form at least two weeks in advance of your scanning date. 

In order to scan an object at the AMNH, indicate your intentions in your visit request, by following the instructions here. If approved, all of the subsequent procedures listed above must be followed, accordingly.

All specimens sent out on loan are assigned AMNH catalog numbers. If you are scanning a specimen at AMNH and it has a field number (e.g. PB-458) or a Frick number (e.g. CLAR-45-7896), but does not have an AMNH catalog number, please contact a staff member prior to scanning, for assignment of a catalog number. No specimens will be loaned for external scanning without prior assignment of a catalog number.

Using an example number of "12345": 

Fossil Amphibians, Reptiles and Birds: AMNH FARB 12345
Fossil Fish: AMNH FF 12345
Fossil Mammals:

• If the specimen was part of the Frick collection: AMNH F:AM 12345
• If the specimen was not part of the Frick collection: AMNH FM 67890

Fossil Plants: AMNH FP 12345

Please contact a staff member if you have any questions.

Prior to scanning a specimen, if scanning has been approved by the pertinent Curator-in-Charge, you will be required to complete, sign, and return the user agreement, including “Terms and Conditions for Scans of AMNH Specimens”, via email to VP scanning staff. Please read the user agreement carefully.

User Agreement - 3D Scans VP

When publishing results from your research, you must cite attribution to AMNH and cite AMNH catalog numbers, according to the guidelines above and in the Terms and Conditions for AMNH Specimen Scans.

Publication of scans and related data from AMNH's Paleontology specimens is expressly permitted only in peer-reviewed academic publications that allow AMNH to retain copyright of those data.

We only permit using Morphosource.org as an online repository for hosting scans of AMNH specimens. When using Morphosource.org, select “AMNH Vert Paleo” as the specimen’s organization. Do not modify information in the ownership and permissions section as they have already been set according to AMNH requirements. Creative Commons licensing is not allowed for AMNH specimens, unless separately agreed upon by the Museum in advance and in writing. All AMNH VP scans should be saved with the following settings in the Ownership and Permissions section:

Publication status: Restricted Download or Private (Open Download is prohibited for AMNH VP scans)
Download reviewer: [email protected]
IP holder: American Museum of Natural History
Copyright statement: In Copyright
License: none (i.e., leave blank)
MorphoSource agreement type: Standard
Permits commercial use: Commercial use not permitted
Permits 3D use: 3D printing prohibited
Required archival of published derivatives: On MorphoSource only
Funding attribution: data contributors are free to acknowledge appropriate grants
Publisher: NA
Cite as: NA
 

Transfer of both the raw data and pre-processed data (e.g. tiff, jpeg, dicom files) to AMNH must take place no later than one year from the scanning date, as detailed in the “Terms and Conditions for Scans of AMNH Specimens”.

For AMNH specimens borrowed and scanned at an external institution, the Museum will not use those scans and accompanying data, except for internal/archival use, for a period of three years from the scanning date unless otherwise agreed upon with the borrower. However, AMNH (or other AMNH-approved entities) is in no way limited or restricted from creating their own scans from the same specimens in that time period.

There is no embargo on AMNH’s use of any scans or data created from a Museum specimen at the MIF scanning facility at the American Museum of Natural History. 

Use of images of AMNH specimens is for scientific research only. Images may not be used for commercial purposes without advanced written consent from AMNH. Please contact the Curator-in-Charge if you wish to publish images for commercial use.