Loan Guidelines

UC Davis Center for Plant Diversity Policy on Guidelines for Herbarium Loans

DAV-AHUC Botany Department Herbarium (DAV) and Agronomy Department Herbarium (AHUC) 

We greatly appreciate the effort of researchers in examining our specimens. We ask, however, that these
guidelines be followed so that specimens will retain their usefulness to further research.

LOAN CONDITIONS

1. Loans are made to botanical institutions or departments engaged in taxonomic research and postgraduate
   instruction, not to individual researchers. Ordinarily loans are made only to an established herbarium
   recognized in Index Herbariorum.
2. An emailed loan request should be sent to the herbarium Curator, Alison Colwell at
   [email protected].
3. A loan request should state 1) the name(s) of the researchers on whose behalf the request is made, 2) the
   basic reason for the request, 3) a list of all species requested, including synonyms, in alphabetical order
   and 4) the geographical range of the investigation, if applicable.
4. Upon receipt of the loan shipment, please verify the number and condition of items sent. Sign, date and
   return a copy of the shipping notice to the Collections Manager, Teri Barry, or acknowledge by email
   [email protected], noting any discrepancies.
5. Loans are made for a period of two years, except for type specimens, which should be returned within
   six months. If there is a need to retain the material for a longer period, a request for an extension should
   be made to the Curator by email [email protected].
6. We reserve the right to request the return of our materials at any time.

PROCEDURES, STORAGE AND RETURN OF LOANED SPECIMENS

1.  Herbarium specimens should be stored in sealed cases and kept free of insect and fungus infestation.
2. Herbarium sheets must not be bent, folded, or laid face down.
3. Loans may be transferred to another institution only after permission is obtained in writing or by email
   from all institutions involved.
4. We appreciate full returns of borrowed material but can accommodate partial returns, especially when
   the majority of the specimens have been studied and annotated.
5. Before shipping any specimens to DAV from outside the US, please contact us by email:
   [email protected] This is essential to ensure we are meeting new import regulations.

ANNOTATIONS

1. Before being returned, each herbarium sheet should be legibly annotated by the investigator with
   typescript, permanent ink, or indelible lead pencil (NOT ballpoint pen). Annotations should be on
   archival paper (not contact adhesive labels) and should bear the accepted name of the taxon, the name of
   the investigator, his or her institution name, institutional acronym, and the date of annotation. When
   possible, annotations should be glued to the specimen sheet above or near the original label to facilitate
   filing and future study. Annotations on type specimens should clearly indicate the kind of type,
   basionym, author, and citation, as well as the accepted current name.
2. Specimens that cannot be positively named, or those belonging to groups not under study, should be
   annotated to the extent possible. Where a sheet is found to contain two or more taxa, each element of
   the mixture should be clearly indicated with a separate annotation slip.
3. No existing labels or annotations should be removed, obscured, or altered in any way.
4. Amplification of herbarium labels with data from sheets from other herbaria will be appreciated,
   especially where locality, date, collector, or collector’s number are absent.

REMOVAL OF MATERIAL

1.  No portion of the specimen on an herbarium sheet may be removed without the prior approval of the
   Collections Manager or Curator of the herbarium. Any loose parts should be placed in the packet.
2. Written authorization must be obtained prior to removal of any material for destructive sampling, SEM
   or anatomical study. This includes material for DNA extraction, pollen, spores, leaves, wood or any
   other structure. Please see our “Guidelines for Destructive Sampling,” available on our website.
3. Contact information:
   USPS mailing address:
   Alison Colwell, Curator/ Teri Barry, Collections Manager
   UC Davis Center for Plant Diversity
   Department of Plant Sciences MS#7
   One Shields Ave.
   Davis CA 95616-8780
   Email: [email protected] or [email protected]
   Phone: (530) 752-1091
   Fax: (530) 754-4974
   Website: http://herbarium.ucdavis.edu/

PUBLICATIONS

The UC Davis Center for Plant Diversity houses two historically independent collections: the Agronomy
Department Herbarium (AHUC) and the Botany Department Herbarium (DAV). These collections are
interfiled. Each specimen retains its original accession number. Please cite the appropriate herbarium
acronym in any published specimen listings. We would appreciate receiving any reprints of studies
based on our collections. These reprints will become part of our permanent botanical reprint collection.

We thank Jim Solomon for permission to use MO’s loan regulations as a guide.