In our mollusc collection, we have collection object MOLL-0102391, originally catalogued as a lot of 22 specimens preserved in alcohol and identified as Limax nyctelius.
The lot was loaned to a specialist for study. Following the revision, it turned out that only 2 specimens were actually Limax nyctelius. The remaining specimens belonged to other species, so we created five new collection objects, one for each newly identified species.
The difficulty is that the original collection object is linked to the loan transaction, so we cannot simply reduce its quantity from 22 to 2 without affecting the historical loan record.
One option we are considering would be to create a Gift transaction (although the term may not be ideal in this context) to transfer a total of 20 specimens from the original collection object to the newly created ones. This would leave 2 specimens available in the original lot while preserving the original quantity of 22 associated with the loan.
Do you have any recommendations on the best process to follow in this situation, so that the history of the specimen lot remains fully traceable without losing any information?
What about a workflow like this? I do not have specific guidance on best practice for this scenario, but this should theoretically track everything accruately at the database level:
Process the loan return for all 22 specimens and mark them as returned and resolved. This permanently locks the historical snapshot in the LoanPreparation and LoanReturnPrep tables, proving that 22 items went out and 22 came back.
Go to the original collection object (MOLL-0102391) and use the Clone tool to make the 5 new records. This copies over all the collecting event, locality, and collectors automatically so you don’t have to re-type anything.
For each of the 5 new cloned records, enter the new catalog number, the updated taxon determination, and the correct preparation quantity. Add a note in the remarks like: “Split from MOLL-0102391 following post-loan taxonomic revision by [Specialist] on [Date].”
Go back to MOLL-0102391 and manually change the preparation count from 22 down to 2. Because the loan is already closed, this won’t alter your historical loan data. You could then add notes like: “Originally a lot of 22. Post-loan revision reduced count to 2. Remaining 20 specimens split into new catalog numbers [MOLL-XXXXX] through [MOLL-YYYYY].”
You could add more structured fields to better handle this information if you’d like. Have you thought about this approach?
Ah, that’s too bad. Thanks for giving that a try, I apologize for taking your time. I think that rule was designed to prevent you from accidentally shrinking a preparation that has unresolved loan activity, but it is overly conservative in that it doesn’t check whether the loan items have already been fully returned…
I suppose with that restriction, you could use a Gift of 20 specimens from the original CO to the five new COs (as originally suggested). The GiftPreparation field uses different math when calculating, instead finding the available count using this formula: Available = countAmt − Gifted + (Returned − Loaned).
The Gift records the transfer without altering countAmt, which should achieve your goal. If that works for you, I would like to recommend it as a best practice in the future, as I believe it is the only way to accomplish what you seek.
