The 'Dutch approach', or how to achieve a second life for abandoned geological collections

Abstract

The 'life-cycle' of geological collections from Dutch universities is described against the background of developments in education and research. The shift from the field to the laboratory in both education and research, combined with massive reorganisations, led to many orphaned collections, totalling some two million objects. Sponsored by the government, the five oldest Dutch universities engaged in a collaborative action to tackle this problem with the aim to improve the overall quality and accessibility of the collections, as well as to intensify their present and future use through selection, de-accession, collection mobility, or even disposal. Some experiences, pitfalls and recommendations will be discussed.Este artigo descreve em linhas gérais o ciclo de vida das colecçôes de geologia das universidades holandesas, tendo comò pano de fundo a evoluçâo das politicas de investigaçâo e de ensino superior. A passagem do 'traballio de campo' para o 'traballio em laboratòrio', combinado com a massificaçâo do ensino superior, conduziu a intimeras 'colecçôes órfas' totalizando mais de dois milhòes de espécimens. Recentemente, e com o apoio do governo holandês, as cinco universidades mais antigas (Amsterdâo, Utrecht, Delft, Groningen e Leiden) iniciaram uni projecto de colaboraçâo com 0 firn de intensificar utilizaçôes présentes e futuras e, de urna forma geral, memorar a acessibilidade das colecçôes, através de um rigoroso e selectivo processo de inventario, transferências e desincorporaçôes. O artigo descreve a experiência, salientando altos e baixos e apresentando recomendaçôes para futuros projectos semelhantes.