DOI: 10.3897/rio.6.e60470

Authors: Henry Väre, Leena Myllys, Risto Väinölä, Pasi Sihvonen, Anniina Kuusijärvi, Gunilla Ståhls-Mäkelä, Björn Kröger, Markku Oinonen, Aino Juslén, Leif Schulman, Marko-Tapio Hyvärinen

Abstract: The herbarium collections are sub-collections of the Finnish Museum of Natural History Luomus that manages national natural history collections, as referred to in the Universities Act. The general collections policy defines the overall principles and guidelines concerning the collections practices. The sub-collections policies specify its guidelines and instructions, considering the special nature of the sub-collections. The policy for the botanical and mycological herbarium collections guides the activities related to all botanical, mycological and phycological collections in herbaria, hence excluding digital collections, DNA and tissue samples as well as living collections, which have separate policies. The herbarium collections policy defines and outlines the purpose of the collections as is to accrue and preserve natural specimens representing biodiversity for research and university-level teaching. The policy defines the objectives and content of related activities, the division of responsibilities for the administration and care of the collections within the organisation, and the general principles and practices for the acquisition, preservation, availability and use of the collections.

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DOI: 10.3897/rio.6.e58167

Authors: Marko-Tapio Hyvärinen, Risto Väinölä, Henry Väre, Gunilla Ståhls-Mäkelä, Pasi Sihvonen, Anniina Kuusijärvi, Leena Myllys, Björn Kröger, Mikko Heikkinen, Aino Juslén, Markku Oinonen, Leif Schulman

Abstract: As part of its quality management and goal-driven strategic development, the Finnish Museum of Natural History Luomus drafts policy documents to guide its operational sectors. The purpose of such policies is to define the content and procedures of the Museum’s activities. They answer the questions “what”, “why”, “who” and “for whom” about the activities they discuss, which is to say that they define and delimit the scope of the operational sector, provide the operations with a purpose and determine their content, describe the allocation of responsibilities in the sector under the Luomus organisation and identify the target groups. The policies provide general objectives and thus form the basis for target programmes and any action plans which in turn answer the question “How can we reach the designated goals?”. Policies are not tied to a schedule, unlike target programmes, even though they must be dynamic and updated periodically to better serve the organisation. The core activities at Luomus are: (1) maintenance of the scientific collections, (2) research and (3) expert services. The General Collections Policy sets guidelines for the maintenance of the scientific collections based on the mission of the University of Helsinki and Luomus.

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