Labels on your minerals increase the quality of your collection     Managing a Collection Getting Serious Labels Sizes Trimming Cleaning Displaying Disposing

Chapter 7 Importance of labels Even if YOU know where the mineral was collected, how can others guess what it is or where it came from? One very important thing about a good collection, private, public, scientific or for fun, is that each piece is labeled. The information should at least say what the specimen is and where it came from. Instead of simply labeling a specimen "from Arkansas'', use a specific location, such as the "whatever county quarry on Highway # so and so, Arkansas". If you don't know the name of the rock and would like to get it identified, the location can be a very important clue in determining what kind of rock or mineral it really is. In addition, you can put other information like "collected by" and the date on the label, and even notes such as "my grandfather took me on this trip". Making your labels Your computer can serve you well in making your labels. You might want to print up some labels with blanks that you can fill in by hand. Use your neatest printing with a permanent ink pen (not a felt tip that will bleed if it gets wet). If there is a chance the label might get separated from the rock, write a brief description of the specimen on your label. Some collectors put a white dot on each sample and give it a code number corresponding to the label.      A line drawn around the label gives it a nice finished appearance. Be careful of making the label too ornamental, because you want the specimen to receive the attention, not the labels. If your printer can handle a heavy weight paper, you will have less of a problem with humidity causing the labels to curl. For a display you may be taking to a show, think about gluing the labels onto some heavier cardboard or matt board, so they stand up or lay down properly. No label for this mineral? Look at the same piece in UV light (below). If you are sneaky, you can put a number on your piece in invisible ink that glows under black light! Keep the label in the box with the specimen in a way that the labels won't get mixed up with other specimens. An unlabeled or mis-labeled specimen does not have nearly as much value as a properly documented piece.   Next page is sizes of specimens Ch 7 page 2 Contact JMichaelHoward@rockhoundingAR.com revised July 1998 ©Rockhounding Arkansas 1998 http://rockhoundingAR.com