Access to herbaria.

[Darren]

Can anyone give me some indication of the likelihood of an amateur being allowed access to herbaria? I'm thinking especially of publicly funded botanical gardens and the NHM.

I am becoming increasingly interested in a couple of genera and would dearly like to be able to assess herbarium specimens but don't know what response I'm likely to get to such requests. I guess I could cheat a bit by using my '.ac.uk' e-mail address but couldn't claim my own professional field (environmental chemistry) has anything to do with botany.

Does anyone out there have experience of this?

I know many herbaria have started scanning specimens and putting them on the web but this simply does not do it for me - plus the scans don't always help to understand some characters.

[Maggi Young]

An interesting question, Darren. 
I know that there is some anxiety about the possibility of putting plants under threat because of  location collection data on herbarium sheets.

This is what the RBGE Site says about Herbarium Access : from http://www.rbge.org.uk/science/herbarium/visitor-information

"Visitor information

We welcome visits to the Herbarium by colleagues from recognised scientific institutes, including their students with experience in handling specimens.

To arrange a visit please contact the Curator at:

Herbarium
Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh
20A Inverleith Row
Edinburgh EH3 5LR
Scotland, UK

Telephone: (+44) (0) 131 248 2992
Fax: (+44) (0) 131 248 2901

Or contact us via the enquiry form (select ‘Herbarium').
Opening hours

Daily opening hours for the Herbarium are:
Monday - Friday (excl. public holidays)
8.00am - 5.30pm

In the first instance, visitors should report to reception at 20A Inverleith Row (after 9.00am), from where they will be accompanied by a member of the Herbarium team.
Visitor policy

    Because of the fragile nature of the specimens and their historical importance, visitors are required to handle the specimens with extreme care. It is expected that all visitors will have prior experience in handling herbarium specimens. They must be kept flat and carried on boards to prevent damage.
    Any specimens studied need to be annotated using archival quality Determination / Fide slips, pens and glue. These can be supplied by Herbarium staff where necessary.
    Any incoming specimens will be frozen on the premises for at least five days before being allowed into the Herbarium. Please allow for this if you wish to study your own material.
    Specimens may be photographed for non-commercial use. Any published photographs must bear the statement ‘Published with kind permission of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh'.

Please note - If you plan to visit Edinburgh during August please book accommodation well in advance as the city is extremely busy that month because of the Edinburgh International Festival. "

[Darren]

Thanks Maggi - looks like a non-starter for the moment then. I clearly need to gain some experience before I can get some experience.... 

To be fair their reasoning is fine, and some courses based at botanic gardens and universities do give herbarium tuition to their students.

[alanelliott]

Can anyone give me some indication of the likelihood of an amateur being allowed access to herbaria? I'm thinking especially of publicly funded botanical gardens and the NHM.

I am becoming increasingly interested in a couple of genera and would dearly like to be able to assess herbarium specimens but don't know what response I'm likely to get to such requests. I guess I could cheat a bit by using my '.ac.uk' e-mail address but couldn't claim my own professional field (environmental chemistry) has anything to do with botany.

Does anyone out there have experience of this?

I know many herbaria have started scanning specimens and putting them on the web but this simply does not do it for me - plus the scans don't always help to understand some characters.

As I'm on the inside being based at RBGE, if you have a genuine question you want answered that requires access to specimens then you'd have a valid reason to be allowed in. We have "amateurs" and non-botanist academics who visit from time to time so its not without precedence . There are bits of paper work you have to sign to say you arent up to anything commercial.
Kew I'd say is likely to let you in for the same reason.
NHM I found more difficult to access, even coming from here, as there botany dept is tiny and staff time pushed.

There are many good herbaria for local plants or with historic collections like Liverpool for example that are run by local councils through their cultural dept so you should be able to get access to those relatively easily as well.

Out of interest what genera?

[Darren]

Several genera Alan. Predominantly South African monocots. My reasons are more to do with illustration than taxonomy.

Of course I'd really benefit from seeing the herbaria in South Africa itself but am not going to fund that personally. Interesting you should say the NHM is difficult to access. I had hoped to make an appointment to see the originals of some of Franz Bauer's paintings at NHM when I visit London in May but if the Library staff are equally pushed they might not be keen.


Thank you for your response re Edinburgh - that is really encouraging. I know an amateur expert on Androsace who lives nearby has looked at sheets in Edinburgh a few times but not recently and my experience is that over time most big organisations get increasingly corporate and stuffy about these things (my own workplace being one of them). In their defence - usually it is because of over-pushed staff suffering from the effects of cutbacks, or paranoia about H&S and possible liability.

[alanelliott]

Darren I am not up on that part of the world. If you have specifics you would want to look at I can check to see what we have before hand to save you a potential wasted journey.

Illustration is a perfectly valid reason. We have illustrators in frequently working on their own projects or botanical illustration or technical drawings for people (like me) who cant do it justice. Then there are the botanical illustration courses that run out of the garden and students do use the herbarium.

As an aside Franz Bauer interesting character only know of him because of the Robert Brown australian connection. Hadnt realised he was involved in SA botany too.

[Darren]

The Franz Bauer thing is not really related to my SA bulbs interest - the visit is for a different reason - I'm researching an essay. The more I look at his work in books the more the level of detail he achieved astounds me so I'd like to see some originals in the hope of getting a clue how he achieved this.

I'm not going to say much about it for now. Unlike my wife I don't have the courage to 'out' my (part-time) return to education on here just yet....