Review article

Is the scientific value of a biological collection measurable?

Marcelo Kovačić ; Natural History Museum Rijeka, Lorenzov prolaz 1, HR-51000, Croatia

Abstract

Natural science collections can be estimated for their scientific, cultural and financial values. How should the scientific value of a biological collection be assessed? That the specimens last and are in good condition is more necessary for any collection than any quantification of its value. The total number of specimens and the total number of species in biological collections do not tell us anything about the value of individual specimens in the collection and they are hardly comparable among collections of different taxa. The basic purpose of biological collections is to be a source of data for biological research. Therefore, the amount and quality of scientific publications based on specimens from a particular collection could be a good guide to the value of the collection in question, and, in most cases, a good indication of its total value.

Keywords

biological collection; value of collections; scientific publications

Hrčak ID:

38480

URI

https://hrcak.srce.hr/38480

Publication date:

30.6.2009.

Article data in other languages: croatian

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