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| Journal of Natural History Collections Management | |
|---|---|
| Title | Journal of Natural History Collections Management |
| Discipline | Natural history Museology, Collection management, Biodiversity |
| Abbreviation | J. Nat. Hist. Coll. Manag. |
| Publisher | Independent/Institutional publishers |
| History | 20th–21st century |
| Frequency | Quarterly/Semiannual |
| Openaccess | Hybrid/Subscription |
Journal of Natural History Collections Management is a peer-reviewed periodical concerned with the conservation, curation, documentation, and accessibility of specimens and archives in museums, herbaria, zoos, botanical gardens, and research institutions. It bridges applied practice and scholarship by addressing specimen preservation, digitization, legal and ethical frameworks, disaster planning, and public engagement across natural history organizations worldwide.
The journal traces conceptual roots to conservation movements associated with Natural History Museum, London, Smithsonian Institution, American Museum of Natural History, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and Field Museum of Natural History initiatives during the late 20th century. Influential early contributors and editorial advisors have included curators and administrators affiliated with British Museum, Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, California Academy of Sciences, Australian Museum, and Royal Ontario Museum. Milestones in its development parallel funding shifts from agencies such as the National Science Foundation (United States), the Arts and Humanities Research Council, and the European Research Council, as well as professional standards set by bodies like the International Council of Museums and the American Alliance of Museums. The journal has responded to international treaties and protocols including the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Nagoya Protocol, and the Bern Convention, reflecting evolving legal contexts for specimen exchange and repatriation.
The journal publishes original research, technical notes, case studies, and policy analyses relevant to curators, collection managers, conservators, registrars, and biodiversity informaticians at institutions such as Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, National Museum of Natural History (Smithsonian), Museum für Naturkunde, Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, and Shanghai Natural History Museum. Themes include specimen preparation tied to techniques developed at Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, imaging workflows influenced by standards at Harvard University Herbaria, database management informed by initiatives at Global Biodiversity Information Facility, and digitization projects akin to those at Biodiversity Heritage Library. The journal aims to synthesize best practices exemplified by projects at Kew Gardens, New York Botanical Garden, Museum of Paleontology, University of Michigan, and regional collections such as South African Museum, Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales (Spain), and Museu de Zoologia da Universidade de São Paulo.
Editorial boards frequently include staff from institutions like Natural History Museum, London, Smithsonian Institution Libraries, Field Museum, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Australian Museum Research Institute, Canadian Museum of Nature, and Tokyo National Museum. Editors-in-chief have historically been senior curators with affiliations to University of Oxford, Harvard University, University of Cambridge, University of California, Berkeley, and Yale University. Peer review procedures reflect standards promoted by Committee on Publication Ethics and publishing practices of houses such as Springer Nature, Taylor & Francis, Wiley-Blackwell, Elsevier, and SAGE Publications. Publication frequency varies from quarterly to annual special issues, with themed volumes co-organized alongside conferences like International Council of Museums General Conference, Society for the Preservation of Natural History Collections meetings, and workshops at Smithsonian Institution.
Abstracting and indexing services relevant to the journal include databases and indices that house literature from institutions such as Web of Science, Scopus, BIOSIS Previews, Google Scholar, and subject-specific aggregators that index material from BHL, Zenodo, Dryad, and repository networks associated with DataCite. National libraries and catalogs like the Library of Congress, British Library, National Diet Library (Japan), and Bibliothèque nationale de France also list serials and monographs produced by collection management communities.
Key contributions have described methodologies for long-term specimen storage inspired by practices at Natural History Museum, London and Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, protocols for digitization reflecting projects at Global Biodiversity Information Facility and Biodiversity Heritage Library, and case studies on repatriation echoing decisions involving Te Papa Tongarewa, Museo Nacional de Antropología (Mexico), National Museum of the American Indian. Influential pieces have addressed disaster response strategies parallel to work by National Museum of Brazil and salvage operations undertaken after events affecting Field Museum and Museum für Naturkunde. Technical innovations reported include imaging pipelines similar to those developed at Harvard University Herbaria, 3D scanning initiatives like projects at Smithsonian Institution, and database interoperability models comparable to efforts by Integrated Digitized Biocollections and Atlas of Living Australia.
The journal is cited by practitioners and scholars from institutions such as University of Copenhagen Natural History Museum, Museum of Comparative Zoology, Natural History Museum Vienna, National Museum of Sweden, and Royal Ontario Museum. Its recommendations have informed collection policies at Natural History Museum (Trondheim), influenced grant programs by National Endowment for the Humanities and Howard Hughes Medical Institute where collections underpin research, and contributed to curricular materials used at universities like Imperial College London, University College London, and University of Melbourne. Critical appraisal in professional forums and conference panels—featuring participants from Society for the Preservation of Natural History Collections, International Council of Museums, and Museum Association (UK)—has emphasized its role in standardizing curation practices.
Access modalities reflect models used by publishers such as Springer Nature, Wiley-Blackwell, and smaller institutional presses; readers access content via subscription, institutional license, or open-access options comparable to policies at PLoS, Frontiers Media, and eLife. Archives and back issues are often held in repositories including Biodiversity Heritage Library, national library catalogs like Library of Congress, and digital preservation services exemplified by CLOCKSS and Portico. Interlibrary loan networks and consortia such as OCLC facilitate broader availability for practitioners at regional centers such as Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa and specialized collections including Royal Botanic Garden Sydney.
Category:Natural history museums Category:Academic journals in museology