The Conner Museum web site has finally been moved from the old, struggling platform to the Word Press platform. I am hoping the new platform will make it easier to keep the site updated.
The museum priority for this fall in the research collection is to continue our inventory of the “pickle” collections (consisting of specimens stored in ethanol) so records for those specimens can be added to the online museum database, VertNet. We are also replacing jars and lids that do not seal adequately. The pickle inventory and upgrading of jars and lids is a big task. We have thousands of specimens stored in ethanol and among them are hundreds of jars with rusting or cracked lids or jar liners that no longer seal adequately.
I am also hoping to devote some time this semester to improving some of the displays. With so much of the last decade having been devoted to computerizing the research collection and working through our immense backlog of specimens awaiting preparation, the public exhibit has taken a back seat to the research collection.