BUILDING A BETTER COLLECTION TOUR

Invertebrate collection holdings at the Florida Museum of Natural History provide valuable insight into past invertebrate life, particularly that of the southeastern United States and circum-Caribbean, and serve as an asset to the scientific community. In addition to their great scientific value, they also hold potential for serving as an educational resource. For example, fossils that lack good locality data and other information essential in developing research are used for outreach events and teaching material. Here, we highlight the potential of collection tours for demonstrating both the importance of museums as well as their associated research collections.

As an introduction to the paleontological research holdings of the Invertebrate Paleontology Division, visitors are often shown throughout the various parts of the collection on a tour, led by a museum staff member. These “behind the scenes” looks at the work that staff members, faculty, students, and volunteers conduct on a daily basis are impressive to visitors; however, staffing and budget limit the extent to which these tours can be held. Museum collections also provide limited accessibility, as they are full of delicate specimens and lack space for even small lab classes. Despite these limitations, they are an invaluable resource that highlights to visitors the diversity and beauty of past life on Earth.

With this in consideration, a virtual collections tour is currently being developed for the invertebrate paleontology collection. Visitors “enter” the collection through a link on the collection website (https://www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/invertpaleo/) and from there, are able to explore aspects of the collection through text, images (of specimens, preparatory methods, and more), and short videos, which highlight unique features or techniques used in the collection. These resources developed for the virtual tour will hopefully provide greater access to the often mysterious world of museum collections.