Department of Invertebrate Zoology
NOTICE OF LOAN AND SHIPPING SERVICE INTERRUPTION
January 1 – December 31, 2008
Department of Invertebrate Zoology
Smithsonian Institution
National Museum of Natural History
The National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, is in the process of moving its entire fluid collections to a new off-site collection storage facility called the Museum Support Center (MSC), Maryland, about 8 miles away from the downtown Washington DC Natural History Building. The first stages for relocating the invertebrate collections have started, and all staff in the Department of Invertebrate Zoology are involved in this complex move.
This is to inform you that the entire invertebrate collections of both fluid and dry specimens will be closed for loans from January 1 to December 31, 2008. Until December 31, 2007, we will attempt to process incoming critical loan requests when staff are available, and if the requested collections are accessible.
If you are planning a visit to the Museum during 2008, please make sure to contact your sponsor to obtain the latest information on appropriate dates in order to ensure availability of specimens that you may need to examine. Portions of the fluid collections will not be accessible at times, and there may be no staff to assist visitors to the dry collections.
We thank you in advance for your understanding, and apologize for the inconvenience that the interruption of our loan program may cause. We will re-open our loan program as soon as possible, and do our best to provide collection access to visitors during the move. We will continue to process incoming types and other critical specimens needed for completing manuscripts.
As a result of the move we will finally be able to correct some long standing collection arrangement problems for improved access, and will be able to decompress the collections to provide internal growth space. The new storage facility offers state-of the-art environmental controls and life safety systems providing much-improved storage for the collections. The new facility will also offer well equipped labs for visiting scientists. We take this opportunity to extend an invitation for you to visit us at the Museum Support Center after we complete the move of the fluid collections.
Many thanks for your continued interest in our collections.
Dr. Rafael Lemaitre, Chair, Department of Invertebrate Zoology, Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of Natural History, P.O. BOX 37012, Washington, DC 20013-7012, USA; e-mail: lemaitrer@si.edu
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