The Carnegie Museum of Natural History houses one of the most comprehensive bird collections in the New World. During the past ten years, support from the National Science Foundation has improved research access to these collections through the installation of compactorized storage cabinets and implementation of a computerized specimen database. Origianl data entry was from collection ledgers, and the essential step of verifying the accuracy of the computer records against individual specimens is now commencing. When data verification has been completed, the Carnegie Museum Ornithological Collections will be highly accessible to the entire community of systematic and evolutionary biologists. Modernization of natural history collections such as the bird holdings in the Carnegie Museum serve a wide research community. This computer database will not only serve collection managers and curators, it will facilitate more active use of the collections and data for a variety of projects. Land management decisions, environmental impact analyses, natural resource conservation, and the full spectrum of evolutionary studies can benefit from this collection database.
