Labeling and coding your collection is vital. Too often, museums who acquire private collections find themselves struggling to find data to each find. Basic information such as the exact location, zone and formation are essential with date found, comments and as much information as possible. This is to ensure that any research in the future can easily identify and categorised finds based on exact zone that the fossil was found in. Fossils which are found on the beach or foreshore which are not in situ should be stated clearly and identified as 'Beach', 'Foreshore' etc. You should keep your records somewhere safe and use a consistent coding system to relate your finds. Codes should not change, so be sure to allow space in your coding system for plenty of expansion. Anyone who wishes to view your collection can then take down the code details and then should they wish to locate that find again, they can use the code reference.

How to record your fossils

Name - The full scientific name should be used where possible, some times only the Genus is known. Where this is the case, the Specie should be represented with 'sp.' meaning species of. For example. 'Macrocephalites sp.'

Type - This field is used for certain fossils, for example mammals and dinosaurs which require more detailed information on the type of bone'. E.G. 'Lower Left Side Jaw'.

Locality - You should state where you found the specimen, which area within that location and if it was found in situ, on foreshore, beach etc. E.G. 'Barton-on-Sea, Suffolk - East End on beach'

Date Found - Recording the date when you found the fossil is very important. Over time localities change and formations can change within those locality's. Research work may also be carried out to see how fossils from a particularly formation have changed overtime at a certain locality. Recording the date is essential. The full date is more desirable because you are also recording the months which are more productive but if all you have is the date, then this is fine. If you do not know the date or find this should be indicated by an '?'.

Period/Age/Stage - You should include as much information about the Stratigraphy of where the fossil was found as possible. This should be in Two fields. The first should contain the period, age and stage. For example 'Jurassic - Pliensbachian - Early Lias'

Formation/Zone/Deposit - The second part of recording the Stratigraphy of the location where the fossil was found should go into further detail. This should include the Formation, Zones and Sub-zones or Deposits. For example 'Cleveland Ironstone Formation - Kettleness Member - Nodule Bed'

Store Location - For larger collections, it is highly advisable to have a store location field. This could be text such as 'In Shed 1' or better, code each location. for example, 'MR:Dset1:Dr5' could represent, 'Main Room, Draw Set 1, Draw number 5'

Comments - You should always allow space for comments, this may be unusual features about the fossil, or if the fossil is located in a different area or on loan/donated to a museum or another museum.

Of course there maybe other fields that are more specific to individual collections.

 Labeling your collection

Larger finds - For larger fossils, you should print the codes in small '8' point text size onto Achievable paper using Achievable computer ink. This will insure that the paper and ink doesn't fade over the collections lifetime. Use a small coating of glue to fix the label to the underside of the fossil, be sure to size the paper as small as possible and cover with none permanent surface insensitive glues to capsulate the code.

Smaller finds - Should be individually placed into small boxes with labels separate. The specimens should be separated with labels fixed or inside the box.

Coding your collection

Most Museums will have two codes, the 'field code' and the 'museum code'. The field code is a unique code given on site at the time, the 'Museum code' is the main code used to relate all data and information to individual fossils.

Coding by Type: It is easy to code fossils by type ...I.E. you could have [AM] for ammonites, [BI] for bird etc, followed by a number such as 'AM0013'. This has its problems. If you code a fossil which later becomes re identified, the code then becomes inconsistent and you will have to re-code, anyone who has referred to that fossil will find their code becomes incorrect which causes massive problems for anyone trying to carry out research.

Coding by Formation: The same is true when coding by formation. For instance in North Norfolk, until recently at Weybourne the Crag was known as the Weybourne Crag, this could have been represented as 'WEYC0001' however the formation is now known as the 'Wroxham Formation'. Formations and zones constantly change as new research changes boundaries.

Coding by Collector: Some museums code by their original collector which is fine for national collections but no good for individual collections. For example 'WOOD0001'

Coding by Locality: The most recommended method of coding is by Locality. Codes shouldn't change as the location where the fossil was found should never change. It is best to use a four digital code followed by the fossil number. You should separate the numbers and letters to ensure that they cannot become confused. Any fossil which you do not know the location from you should code as 'X'. The number of digitals which depend on your current collection but allowing plenty of space for expansion.

PTMU:0001
For example would be Port Mulgrave

X:0001
For example would be fossil from unknown location

XSUF:0001
For example would be fossil from unknown location in Suffolk