What Is The Best Way To Label A Fossil?

[Foshunter]

I was wondering what is a safe way to label a fossil, on the specimen itself, that can be removed if needed and won't damage the fossil? I had thought of liquid paper then mark info. with a pin. Any thoughts or other ideas, sticky labels over time just fall off.----Tom

[Auspex]

Liquid paper is prone to flaking off. A dab of white paint, with India ink lettering is widely used, but the removability will depend on the paint and the substrate.

[RichW9090]

You should label it in such a place as it will never need to be removed, for the whole idea is to make the labeling permanent.

[sixgill pete]

You should label it in such a place as it will never need to be removed, for the whole idea is to make the labeling permanent.

I agree completely with Rich on this. If the fossil is of size large enough to label on itself and/ or is not going to be displayed in a way a label can be attached to a cabinet or a type of mount, I find an out of the way, non-display side place and write it on with a permanent extra fine tip sharpie.

[Foshunter]

Thanks all for the input-----Tom

[jpc]

Avoid both Liquid Parae (it wil flake off over the years) and fine Sharpie (it will eventually fade). Go with White Acrylic paint... Titanium White, available at any art supply place and a .05 size Pigma Pen, available at better art supplyplaces. The paint is stable, the pen is lightfast. Write gently with the pen as too much pressure will ruin it very quickly. With the help of a magnifying lamp you can actually write quite small.

If you want to make it removable, put down a layer of Butvar or Vinac then put your paint strip, then write on it, then put another layer of the Butvar/vinac. Some museums do it this last way... I do it without the butvar/vinac both at work and at home.

And have fun. A collection is so much nicer, with all those little numbers on it.

[Missourian]

I can't bring myself to mark on my fossils, so my 'system' has been a combination of memory and measurements & descriptions in a spreadsheet. I'm currently in the process of photographing all my specimens. I'll eventually link the photos with detailed taxonomic, stratigraphic and locality info (if I can still remember ).

[RichW9090]

That's exactly why we don't rely on memory. Remember, without data, your fossil is, for all practical purposes, worthless. You might as well collect pretty pieces of glass.

[KansasFossilHunter]

I hate to write on fossils and use cards instead- with all the info kept with the fossil.

[Missourian]

That's exactly why we don't rely on memory. Remember, without data, your fossil is, for all practical purposes, worthless. You might as well collect pretty pieces of glass.

Right. That's why I also have descriptions, measurements and photos.

[Fruitbat]

I mark ALL of my fossils using my trusty Rapidograph pen with permanent ink. Cards get mis-placed and hard drives crash but a label written directly on the fossil isn't likely to go anywhere unless it is with the specimen.

-Joe

[Down under fossil hunter]

I use cards as well for all of my fossils but I also have a separate reference book with more details of the specific provenance.

Also going to do a soft copy when I get around to it.

[KansasFossilHunter]

Just make sure it doesn't end up like this poor Hesperornis jaw... made me go "uggggg, Why?"

[Fruitbat]

KansasFossilHunter...

Most of my specimens look like that (although I try to pick a less obvious location). With a label like that, one thing you can be SURE of is that it will STAY with the fossil! It may not be as aesthetically pleasing but it is the most effective way to permanently label a fossil so that it retains some of its scientific value.

-Joe

[jpc]

Just make sure it doesn't end up like this poor Hesperornis jaw... made me go "uggggg, Why?"

FHSM VP-2503C.jpg

Disagree...I think a specimen number makes a fossil look even cooler. maybe that's cuz I can see immediately that it has some sort of info to go with it. Long live the specimen number. Remember, folks, memory is useless after you get hit by a bus.

[Boneman007]

I have all of my specimens segregated by formation and if possible level within the formation (ie Sciponoceras gracile zone of the Britton formation). Once Im dead and gone, shouldnt this be enough result in the specimens being able to be used by the institutions I plan on giving them to?

Undescribed specimens go to institutions as soon as I can get them there, but known fossils I keep in the collection or until they are used for a thesis or the like. I just want to make sure that they are more than just "pretty pieces of glass" - (Thanks for waking me up with that phrase Rich!).

Edited March 26, 2013 by Boneman007

[MarleysGh0st]

I have all of my specimens segregated by formation and if possible level within the formation (ie Sciponoceras gracile zone of the Britton formation). Once Im dead and gone, shouldnt this be enough result in the specimens being able to be used by the institutions I plan on giving them to?

No.

Well, theoretically, it might be enough, if all of that clear and careful and obvious segregation of specimens was preserved through all the logistics required to transfer the collection from your house to the recipient institution.

But we're presuming this is happening when you're no longer around.

And your widow or kids or whoever else is acting as executor for your estate just wants all these rocks out of the house. They're only a small, insignificant part of the entire estate settling picture, after all. Maybe they pack the collection up themselves, maybe they ask someone from the institution to come to the house to do it. During that process, if a specimen happens to end up in a different box than the one it was originally sorted into, and if there isn't a specimen number on it that can be matched up to a specimen label or to a detailed collection inventory, how is that lost information ever going to be recovered?

[jpc]

No.

Well, theoretically, it might be enough, if all of that clear and careful and obvious segregation of specimens was preserved through all the logistics required to transfer the collection from your house to the recipient institution.

But we're presuming this is happening when you're no longer around.

And your widow or kids or whoever else is acting as executor for your estate just wants all these rocks out of the house. They're only a small, insignificant part of the entire estate settling picture, after all. Maybe they pack the collection up themselves, maybe they ask someone from the institution to come to the house to do it. During that process, if a specimen happens to end up in a different box than the one it was originally sorted into, and if there isn't a specimen number on it that can be matched up to a specimen label or to a detailed collection inventory, how is that lost information ever going to be recovered?

I totally agree with MarleysGhost here. And I say this as a museum person who has actually been to peoples' houses to collect their donations. Sometimes we are rushed to put everything in a box and whisk it away... a recipe for sorting disaster. But it does happen. And if the spouse or kids pack the boxes... your plans have just flown out the window. Go specimen number.... Yay!!!

I also just noticed that one of my earlier posts advised not to use Liquid Parae. Wow.. that is one heckuva typo for Paper. Do not use Liquid Paper.

Edited March 27, 2013 by jpc

[Missourian]

I also just noticed that one of my earlier posts advised not to use Liquid Parae. Wow.. that is one heckuva typop for Paper. Do noy use Liquid Paper.

[Auspex]

A cautionary tale:

Bob Ernst carefully numbered all the avian specimens he collected at Sharktooth Hill, and when he loaned this collection to the Buena Vista Museum, they applied their own labeling code to them as well. So far, so good.

In the wake of his unfortunate passing, and the collection's removal from the museum, Bob's written documentation (and most of the Museum's as well) were lost. There are over a hundred wonderful bird fossils, each with two sets of specimen codes written on them, and almost no accompanying documentation.

Even the best laid plans can fall prey to circumstances: take nothing for granted!

[Down under fossil hunter]

Ok just spent over 10 hours yesterday cataloguing my specimens on the computer and only got the theropod teeth done, very happy with the information and provenance I have put together but boy I spent a lot of time looking for scraps of paper in dust covered boxes all around the house.

It was a bit of a wake up call for me as I have gotten a bit lazy recently and had been thinking "I am sure I won't forget the location, formation etc of that fossil".

Part of my inspiration was so that my wife and kids who know little about the collection now know what everything is worth, where it came from, when I acquired it and from who as well as a description of the fossil.

Now I just have to attach photos to it!