Written by and for persons curating, preparing or managing natural history collections, this handbook intends to make existing knowledge easily available and transferable. It gathers specific actions relevant for the conservation of natural history objects, the coordinated digitisation of associated data and the development of a modern digital infrastructure. This handbook should facilitate the long-term utilisation of Swiss natural history collections data for science and society.

Swiss natural history museums, botanical gardens, universities and other institutions for higher education collectively maintain collections with over 60 million specimens of animals, fungi, plants, rocks and fossils. To speed up, harmonise and better coordinate their digitisation, the SwissCollNet initiative was established by the Swiss Academy of Sciences and the Swiss collection-holding institutions.

This handbook is one of SwissCollNet’s first achievement to advance the exchange of knowledge on object and data management among Swiss collections. It contains instructions to modernise natural history collections of preserved biological materials and geological samples developed by experts and collections managers from across Swiss collection-holding institutions.

ISSN (print) 2297-8275
DOI: doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.4316839