The University of California Riverside Nematode Collection (UCRNC) is one of the largest museums of economically important plant parasitic nematodes in the world, with 13,000 vials of bulked specimens and nearly 150,000 specimens mounted on 32,000 slides for microscopic examination. The collection is used by scientists from throughout the world, studying nematodes for research in many disciplines including agriculture, ecology, genetics, taxonomy, evolution, and invertebrate zoology. The collection conserves original specimens from descriptions of new species, voucher specimens as a record of previous research, and specimens from worldwide surveys which provide insight into the diversity of nematodes. Since nematodes are one of the most abundant and diverse multicellular organisms, since they frequently serve as a convenient model for research in fundamental biology, and since in some developing countries plant parasitic forms are the limiting factor in agriculture, efficient museum resources are essential. Previous NSF support provided convenient accessible fireproof storage and reliable updating of records through computerization of UCRNC, but funding was only adequate for storage and updating of records for two-thirds of the collection. The present proposal is to extend these improvements to the remainder of the collection and allow secure storage which will accommodate modest growth (3000 additional slides). Computerization of records will not only allow quick access of available material but will provide for careful monitoring of loaned specimens and cross-indexing according to species, host, geographical area, preparation technique, date of collection or preparation, taxonomic category, literature reference and other parameters. Computerization of UCRNC will also provide a model for efficient cataloguing of other museums. A common format for similar nematology collections will allow eventual storage of records of several collections on a single computer for widespread accessibility of the combined data.
