Specimen Loan Policies

Below are the Museum's policies on outgoing loans of Museum specimens and incoming loans from other museums and institutions.  You may read the policies in their entirety or only those sections that interest you.

To request a loan from the Museum, or if you have questions about the policies, please call or email the Registrar's office at (608) 262-3766, or email the appropriate curator (see staff listing on home page). You may also write to 250 North Mills Street, Madison, WI  53706 USA.

Outgoing Loans

Introduction
Loan Types
Requests for Loans from the Museum
    General Requests
    University of Wisconsin Departmental Requests
Packing and Shipping Loans
Loan Periods, Renewals, and Recalls
Citation in Written Results
Specimen Handling
Reporting Damage to or Theft of Museum Specimens on Loan
Destructive Use
 

I.  Introduction

The University of Wisconsin Zoological Museum is a research-support museum that collects and curates scientific specimens.  The majority of the museum's holdings are from vertebrate taxa and contain study skins, osteological assemblages, alcohol-preserved specimens, histological preparations, and blood and tissue samples.  The museum maintains a static collection of molluscs and snails and small collections of paleontological specimens and historical objects.  A large collection of plankton collected for long-term ecology studies is curated by the Center for Limnology under the auspices of the Museum.

This loan policy describes procedures and guidelines for outgoing loans of specimens and objects from the museum's collections.  With few exceptions, all of the museum's specimens are available for loan to qualified researchers.  Due to the rising commercial value of certain natural history specimens and the irreplaceable nature of some of these, many museums are instituting loan policies to regulate the use of their collections and protect them from unacceptable abuse.

All packing, shipping, and related activities pertaining to specimen loans will adhere to international, federal, and state laws pertinent to the possession and transport of animals, animal parts, and associated data.  The Zoological Museum and its borrowers must make every reasonable effort to act in accord with these laws.

In this document "museum" refers to the University of Wisconsin Zoological Museum.

The Zoological Museum reserves the right to refuse loan requests at its discretion.
 

II.  Loan Types

Specimen loans from the museum fall into one of two types:  research loans and educational loans.  All loans are renewable upon request of the borrower.  The museum will not grant permanent loans.

A.  Research loans are generally made to scientists or their students who are conducting bonafide scientific studies in taxonomy, comparative anatomy, population biology, faunal analysis, and other related disciplines.  Specimens loaned under a research loan are expected to be used and stored in a secure location away from access by the general public and handled in a manner in keeping with professional museum collections-care standards.  See sec. VII, "Specimen Handling," for specific information.  Research loans may be granted for periods up to 12 months.
 

B.  Educational loans are generally granted to educators for the purpose of display to public or classroom audiences in an informal educational setting.  Borrowers are given basic instructions in regard to the care of the specimens and are expected to return specimens in the condition that they were lent.  Educational loans may be granted for periods up to six weeks.
 

III.  Requests for Loans from the Museum

Subsection A applies to loans requested outside of the University of Wisconsin Zoology Department and other Madison campus departments.  Subsection B applies to departmental and campus loans.  Loan requests from UW campuses outside Madison will be considered general loans.  If specimens are requested for destructive, consumptive, or invasive study, special considerations apply.  See "Destructive Use" (sec. IX).  The museum reserves the right to deny loan requests.

A.  Submitting and Granting Loan Requests - General
  1.  Requests for specimens must be made to the curator of the collection or to the museum registrar no less than ten working days before the date that the  loan is desired.  Insufficient notice may result in denial of the loan.
  2.  The curator in consultation with the registrar (if necessary) will review requests and decide if the loan will be granted.  The requestor will be contacted and informed if the request has been granted or denied.
  3.  Students requesting loans are required to submit a letter from their advisor supporting the loan.  The loan will be made to the advising professor.
  4.  At the discretion of the collection curator, a requestor may be invited to visit the museum and use the specimens in-house rather than initiate a loan.

B.  Submitting and Granting Loan Requests - University of Wisconsin-Madison
  1.  Loans made within the Zoology Department or other University departments must be made to the collection curator or museum registrar at least four working days before the date that the loan is desired.   Insufficient notice may result in denial of the loan.
  2.  Students requesting loans are required to submit a letter from their advisor supporting the loan.  The loan will be made to the advising professor.
  3.  The museum may require the borrower to assist in moving large or numerous specimens.
  4.  Departmental loans are governed by the rules set forth throughout this Policy, including the specimen-handling and damage-reporting procedures outlined in sections VII and VIII.
 

IV.  Packing and Shipping Loans

A.  The collection curator will pack the loan and prepare it for shipping using accepted museum packing techniques and conventions.  The registrar will be responsible for preparing the loan invoice, pertinent permits, cover letter, and shipping labels.

B.  The museum will pay outgoing shipping.  Borrowers will pay return shipping.  Borrowers will be advised of this arrangement when informed that the loan request has been granted.
 

V.  Loan Periods, Loan Renewals, and Loan Recalls

A.  Maximum loan periods are one year (12 months) for research loans and six weeks for educational loans per request.  A curator may adjust a loan period at his or her discretion.  The museum will not grant "permanent" loans due to the threat of damage to or loss of museum specimens.

B.  Renewals may be granted at the request of the borrower.  Renewals may be requested by mail, phone, or email, but a new loan invoice must be completed for each loan renewal and signed by the borrower.  The registrar will monitor outstanding loans.  Within 30 days of the end of the loan period the registrar will contact the borrower to check on the status of the loan to see if the specimens will be returned or if a renewal is desired.  The registrar will prepare loan invoices for renewals as needed.

C.  The registrar is responsible for recalling overdue loans for which the borrower has not requested a renewal.  The registrar will make every reasonable effort to contact the borrower by telephone and mail.  If after an appreciable amount of time the registrar is unable to contact the borrower, the borrower's superior may be contacted in regard to an overdue loan.  An unreturned loan may be considered "lost" by the museum director and curator, and a claim may be filed with the University Department of Risk Management.

D.  Failure to return loans in a timely manner and to cooperate with museum staff are legitimate grounds for denying future loan requests.
 

VI.  Citation in Published Results

Authors of papers, manuscripts, and other published materials who use borrowed museum specimens in their research must cite the museum and specimen catalog-numbers in the written results.  The museum will be referred to by its full institutional name, "University of Wisconsin Zoological Museum," or by its acronym, "UWZM."  The museum requests authors to send one copy of published results to the museum for its records.  This statement will be included in the cover letter to the borrower.

VII.  Specimen Handling

A.  Borrowers are expected to care for specimens on loan from the museum according to accepted professional museum standards:

  1.  Specimens should be used and stored in a climate-controlled area in a museum environment with limited fluctuation (approximately 70 degrees Fahrenheit and 50% relative humidity).
  2.  Specimens must be stored in environments appropriate to their preparation.
  3.  Specimens must be stored in a locked area with limited access.

B.  Specimens may not be loaned to a third party without the consent of the appropriate Zoological Museum curator.  Third-party loans must be documented in writing in museum records.  Third-party loans are rarely granted in the interest of the safety of the specimens.

C.  Destructive sampling and other invasive techniques may not be used unless permission to use  such techniques has been requested in the original loan request and subsequently approved by the curator.  (See "Destructive Use," sec. IX.)

D.  The original packing materials should be retained by the borrower and used to ship the specimens back to the museum.  If the original packing materials are damaged, the borrower should pack and return the specimens in the same manner as they were received.

E.  All returned specimens will be subjected to a 72-hour quarantine.
 

VIII.  Reporting Damage to or Theft of Museum Specimens on Loan

A.  All damage to specimens observed upon arrival to the borrower must be immediately reported to the museum registrar, who will consult with the appropriate curator and director to decide on the course of action.
B.  In cases of damage accrued while in transit, the registrar will contact the shipper and coordinate any requests for compensation.
 

IX.  Destructive Use

 As new technologies for sampling and analysis become available to zoology researchers, new uses are being found for museum specimens.  However, some of these new technologies require the removal and destruction of parts of museum specimens.  Destructive use generally refers to removing tissue from museum specimens that were not originally collected for sub-sampling.  Destructive use also implies that the specimen or samples taken from a specimen will be destroyed during use, affecting the physical integrity and possibly the morphological and chemical properties of the specimen.  Invasive use implies study techniques that require manipulation of museum specimens but not necessarily to the extent that the specimen is destroyed.

Policies on destructive use are evolving with the museum community and are subject to change and/or amplification.  In particular, special regulations will be applied to "non-traditional" collections such as tissue or blood samples and histological preparations.

Borrowers must explicitly state in their loan request that they want permission to perform invasive and destructive study of museum specimens.  The curator may grant permission if satisfied that the proposed research merits the loss of the specimen and if the borrower is well-versed in the proposed research techniques.

In some instances (e.g., tissue samples), reciprocal provision of comparable materials or monetary compensation to recoup part of the costs of collection, curating, and maintenance may be requested.

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Incoming Loans

Introduction
Requesting Loans Through the Museum
Internal Tracking of Incoming Loans
Citation in Written Results
Specimen Handling
Reporting Damage to or Theft of Borrowed Specimens
 

I.  Introduction

The University of Wisconsin Zoological Museum is a research-support museum that collects and curates scientific specimens.  The majority of the museum's holdings are from vertebrate taxa and contain study skins, osteological assemblages, alcohol-preserved specimens, histological preparations, and blood and tissue samples.  The museum maintains a static collection of molluscs and snails and small collections of paleontological specimens and historical objects.  A large collection of plankton collected for long-term ecology studies is curated by the Center for Limnology under the auspices of the Museum.

Natural history museums commonly loan specimens to each other for various research projects.  Museum staff have borrowed hundreds of specimens from other institutions for their own studies.  Because most museums will more easily lend to another museum than to an individual, the Zoological Museum fulfills its mission as a research center by obtaining and holding loans for Department researchers.

This incoming loan policy describes procedures and guidelines for facilitating specimen loans to the museum.  In this document "museum" will mean the University of Wisconsin Zoological Museum.

All packing, shipping, and related activities pertaining to specimen loans will adhere to international, federal, and state laws pertinent to the possession and transport of animals, animal parts, and associated data.  The museum will make every reasonable effort to act in accord with these laws and expects lending institutions to be in accord with relevant laws.
 

II.  Requesting Loans

A.  Faculty and non-museum staff members must request and receive permission from the museum in order  to request loans in the museum's name.  If permission is granted, the museum assumes responsibility for the specimens while on loan.

B.   Museum staff and faculty are responsible for contacting the individual or institution from whom they wish to borrow specimens.

C.  The museum must be informed of the loan arrangments, including:
  1.  The name of the lender and lending institution;
  2.  The arrival date of the loan;
  3.  The loan period; and
  4.  Any special conditions regarding the storage of borrowed specimens.

III.  Internal Tracking of Incoming Loans

A Zoological Museum Incoming Loan invoice will be completed when the loan arrives.  The invoice will be filed in the Outstanding Loan file with the museum's copy of the original invoice from the lending institution by the registrar and will be used to track the incoming loan.  When the loan is returned, this internal tracking invoice will be filed by the registrar.
 

IV.  Citation in Written Results

The borrower  will follow the lending institution's directives for citation of specimens in papers and manuscripts.
 

V.  Specimen Handling

A.  The museum assumes responsibility for the safety of all specimens borrowed under its name.  The museum reserves the right to supervise the use of borrowed specimens by Department faculty and staff researchers.

B.  The museum will adhere to the lending institution's restrictions concerning the loan in regard to storage and study environments, specimen handling, methods of study, packing and shipping, and security.

C.  Invasive and destructive techniques will be allowed only with the lending institution's permission and after agreement to any reciprocal or compensatory rules of that institution.  Written permission for such techniques must be documented in the museum's records.

D.  All borrowed specimens will be subjected to a 48-hour quarantine immediately following receipt of the loan.
 

VI.  Reporting Damage to or Theft of Borrowed Specimens

The museum assumes responsibility for the safety of all specimens borrowed under its name.  Damage or theft sustained in transit or in-house at the museum will be immediately reported to the borrower who will then inform his or her contact at the lending institution.  The lending institution will be notified of the damage or theft by the museum registrar.