Fossil cataloging

[Scottnokes2015]

Hi everyone, I am just starting out and I'm very particular about cataloging my finds. I have made Labels to stick on to p of the box the specimen is in which contains, ID #,date,were found,formation,member,series,age,gps coordinates.so I fill in the label for example for a Trilobite and all the data about it. What I was wondering if how do I catalog and label a plate that contains more than one fossil,ie, crinoid,Bryzoan,Trilobite and brachiopods.

Thanks

[ZiggieCie]

This is one inexpensive program many members use. Trilobase

http://www.trilobase.com/

I setup my own DB using MS access, a big job.

[Scottnokes2015]

Thank you,but when I have a plate containing many different fossils,what do I call the plate as I can't call it over a single fossil

[squali]

Multi fossil plates are sometimes referred to as hash plates. Maybe label as "hash- trilo Devonian" etc..

Call out the uniqueness of the hash plate? Just a suggestion. Not sure of a formal format.

[ZiggieCie]

I believe many would call them hash plates. I find a lot of them in the Marine fossil beds of Ohio and Ind. Combinations of shells, bryozoa, coral, crinoid stems etc. I usually will label them for the most important fossil on the plate and the others as associated fauna.

You are off to a good start labeling your finds. That is the most important part of fossil collecting, otherwise your finds are just interesting rocks.

Many people ask for help asking to ID a fossil they were given or inherited, and with no location info It is very hard to give a good ID.

[Ludwigia]

I do the same as Ziggy with the multiple plates. Choose the most important one and note the others as associated for your label. I also catalogue all of the fossils on the block separately and cross reference them in my data bank.

[CBOB]

Here's another question I was thinking about with labeling and cataloging fossil collections which I am amping up to start soon on my own collection. I have quite a few Mazon Creek fossils and lots of the same type of fossils. I have plenty of separate pieces of pectopteris or cyperites. Would I make a separate entry with its own personal number for each and every specimen or is it a common practice to use the same ID number for multiple specimens of the same origin, locale, species, even found on the same trip?

I also have found multiple specimens of the same brachiopod at a road cut. Same idea. All separate labels or use one label ID number for all?

Thanks!

[Auspex]

Ideally, each specimen should have its own identity, and its own recorded history.

[CBOB]

Ok thanks Auspex. I kind of thought that was the way to go. I got a lot of work ahead of me! Didn't want to hijack the thread if this is getting off topic.

[Fossil Claw]

I picked up trilobase a little while ago and scrapped my own excel based system. It is a great tool.

I like to print out the labels with photo on index cards. I keep the box of ID index cards near my display cases too make it easy to share information with visitors.

[erose]

I use what I call field code/numbers and then there are catalog numbers. The plate with multiple specimens would have a single field code/number and then I would designate the various different fossils with a letter code and each would have its own catalog number.

Example would be an Ordovician plate with a nice trilobite as well as a brachiopod and maybe a cephalopod. The chunk of rock is labeled (painted on) OOH673. The trilobite would be OOH673-A, brachiopod is OOH673-B and cephalopod OOH673-C. Each then has its own catalog number which is where the individual descriptions occur. Each of those refers to OOH673A, B or C.

As Ziggie suggests the first catalog entry would probably be the most significant fossil on the plate.

I also often give a single field code/number to multiple specimens when collected together. For some fossils there is scientific value in having multiples to show the variety of sizes or intraspecific variability. In the catalog these are written as something like KTX890 (x12) or such.

There are many ways to skin this cat and you just have to find the one that works for you. My system has been evolving over quite a number of years. I have abandoned a few methods and settled in to the one with a minor amount of coding and a relatively orderly sequence of numbers.

FYI, My field codes are the age/period and the state collected in. OOH is Ordovician of Ohio and KTX is the Cretaceous of Texas as examples.

[ZiggieCie]

I understand the problem of multiple similar Fossils as I can have hundreds of very common marine Fossils. (Ohio and Indiana Ord. to Mississippian marine fauna) What I do is to lable the best few examples with their own catalog numbers and then make a group entry for the remaining similar fossils and keep them together and so noted in your records.

Also Fossils like Brachiopods I will make separate entries for ones that have epifauna on them.

Also separate entries for examples that have unique features, boreholes from predatory snails, damage that has healed. I have some brachiopods that look like they have bite holes out of the edge of the shell and the obvious healing that has occurred. It gives you a special link with your fossil when you see that it had a major injury and not only survived, it healed the wound to it's shell and lived on.

Life is amazing.

[Ptychodus04]

I give eack specimen its own distinct catalog number. I number them sequentially regardless of identification. If i have a plate with multiple catalogable specimens I will mark the beginning and ending number on the box (ie. 10245-10255 for a single box with 10 specimens.

[ZiggieCie]

We will really confuse Scott; On plates with multiple specimens on it, my catalog program allows me to add to the prime number. Example; Z -1250. 01, Z -1250.02 .03 and so on. On the specimen I will have the prime number, Z-1250 and then the other fossils will get the .01 .02 etc.

I don't know if trilobase allows this but my MS Access will.

Here are a couple examples with early numbering tries.

Now I use a dash of B-72 for a base and write the number on the B-72 with a black india ink art pen and they are much neater now. Practice makes, not perfect but better.