@Grant
The terms “exchange in” and “exchange out” in Specify-7 are confusing to me. To clarify, “exchange out” refers to the act of giving an item without expecting a direct return, akin to the concept of a “gift.” On the other hand, “exchange in,” similar to “accession,” involves receiving an item into a collection, typically as a form of acquisition or addition.
The question arises as to the added value of the terms “exchange in and out” over “gift” and “accession.” Additionally, it would be beneficial to understand various practical scenarios where these terms are applicable. Thanks
@Heryk
Exchange In and Exchange Out are different from gifts and accessions because there is an understood reciprocity that does not exist with gifts. It is, as you say, rather akin to a gentleman’s agreement. There is an understanding in Exchanges that when Institution A sends samples to Institution B, they will receive samples back at some point and that the value be roughly equivalent. For example, Institution A might give more samples, but Institution B gave more valuable samples. The Exchange tables allow the user to keep track of those exchanges and make sure they have repaid their end of the exchange.
Exchange In and Out should only be used when there is an understanding between two collections that the samples being given or received are part of the kind of exchange mentioned above and the collection wants to remember what they owe or what they should be compensated for.
There has been a lot of discussion recently in the botany community about whether they wanted to keep the tradition going. It was one of the topics brought up in the herbarium gathering at SPNHC in 2023. Many felt it was tradition and they still owed another institution for an exchange they received and wanted to fulfill their obligations. They also pointed out it is one of the ways smaller herbaria receive some of their variety as they can offer their regionally specialized samples and receive samples from regions they wouldn’t otherwise have access to. Others felt, exactly as you have mentioned, that gifts and accessions serve the same purpose and they do not want to receive random samples or do not want to add remembering to repay their end of the exchange to the list of tasks they have to accomplish.
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