RE: paleonet Estimating value of paleo collections

["Andy Rindsberg" <arindsberg@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Rowan,

Interesting. Insurance is important but so is your time, so it's proper to
think of the fossils' value in bulk, not as individual items.

There you are at the departmental meeting. Most of the crew probably thinks
of fossils as free things that are picked up on field trips. You have your
work cut out for you to convince them otherwise, but they aren't paying much
attention, so you have to speak clearly and simply before, bam! hitting them
with the sledgehammer. So to speak.

So, start by ignoring the value of the fossils. Estimate just the
replacement cost for the cabinets, chipboard trays, vials, and so on used to
house the fossils. A Lane cabinet with ten drawers might cost about a
thousand dollars, for instance, and you can use standard catalogs for the
other items. The amount of money invested in the physical plant of a growing
collection over a period of many years can be surprisingly high. After
naming your estimate, which may raise eyebrows, you can add offhandedly, "Of
course, the fossils are worth a lot more than the cabinets."

Then estimate the number of specimens by telling them the number of drawers,
and multiply by a reasonable estimate of the average number of fossils per
drawer. Then assign an arbitrary value per fossil: one dollar, two dollars,
whatever. The total value may startle your listeners a second time.

If you have a few objects of unusual value (mounted sabertooth skeletons,
that sort of thing), then obviously they can be treated individually.

As an analogy, suppose that your department has a library of 10,000 books
and journals. For purposes of argument, assign each one a value of only one
dollar, a figure that everyone will recognize as ridiculously low. Then
point out that most books would actually cost much more than ten dollars to
replace, let alone to shelve and catalog. By this time, you may have
everyone's full attention at the departmental meeting. Proceed accordingly;
you won't get this chance twice.

Cheers,
Andy

Andrew K. Rindsberg
Geological Survey of Alabama

On Monday 27 October 2003 08:08, you wrote:
> Hi folks,
>
> My college is reorganizing our insurance program and has asked me to 
> estimate the value of our fossil collection (primarily a teaching 
> collection). I don't have much experience in this area and was 
> wondering if anyone out there had any advice on how to proceed? I'm 
> especially interested in estimates of teaching collection size and 
> value from other colleges/universities.
>
> Thanks very much for your time,
> Rowan Lockwood
> 
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> Department of Geology
> The College of William and Mary
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> Department of Geology
> The College of William and Mary
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