Carnegie Institute (Carnegie Museum of Natural History)

The Carnegie Museum of Natural History will devote one year to planning the reunification of its 134,000-item mammal collection. The project will entail a inventorying the 2,000-specimen large mammal skeleton collection, currently stored ten miles away from the main collection space; cross-referencing to skins stored in a separate fur vault; reconfiguring the space into which the skeleton collection will move; and benchmarking with other institutions that have made recent changes to their collections of oversize mammal skeletons and skulls with horns and antlers. Reunification will provide currently isolated specimens, many of which are threatened or endangered African species, with the appropriate storage environment, a high level of security, and easy access for museum collections staff as well as visiting researchers, university classes, and lay audiences. The museum will make data from the inventory and archival research as well as novel storage solutions available to the museum community through websites and formal publications.