NCHU Course Outline

Course Name	(中) 昆蟲標本製作與管理(3179)
Course Name	(Eng.) Preservation and Management of Insect Collections
Offering Dept	Department of Entomology
Course Type	Elective	Credits	3	Teacher	Dávid Rédei
Department	Department of Entomology/Undergraduate	Language	English	Semester	2026-SPRING
Course Description	For most people the word “museum” equals a public exhibition. Natural history museums, however, usually store an immense amount of biological material, sometimes accumulated for a period of almost three centuries. Besides of the self-evident use for systematics and zoogeography the preserved material can be viewed as an enormous databank offering an indispensable opportunity to study various biological problems ranging from medical entomology to ecotoxicology. Natural history collections become more valuable over time not only because of the constant change of habitats and populations which make every collection unique and unreproducible, but because advancing technology offers new and new methods for data extraction; collections of the present will certainly have uses in the future which we cannot even imagine now. The importance of natural history collections in service of biological research and the society therefore can hardly be overestimated. This course introduces the students into the establishment and management of natural history (specifically, insect) collections for various (but mainly scientific) purposes. On completion of the course the students will become familiar with the most important techniques of insect collection and preservation; learn the most important methods of preparing insect specimens and setting up a collection; acquire a detailed general background of natural history museum strategy, management and maintenance, including scientific collections and exhibitions; understand the main scientific directions of uses of natural history collections; improve their English vocabulary, listening and oral skills; improve their skills in conducting a literature research on a scientific topic in English, reading and analyzing scientific articles, and preparing and presenting a short in-class presentation summarizing his/her results. 對大多數人來說，“博物館”一詞等同於公開展覽。然而，自然歷史博物館通常儲存著大量的生物材料，有時是積累了近三個世紀的生物材料。除了對系統學和動物地理學顯而易見的用途外，保存下來的生物材料可以看作是一個龐大的數據庫，為研究從醫學昆蟲學到生態毒理學的各種生物學問題提供了一個不可或缺的機會。隨著時間的推移，自然歷史收藏變得越來越有價值，這不僅是因為棲息地和人口的不斷變化，使得每一個收藏都獨一無二，不可複制，而且還因為技術的進步為數據提取不斷地提供新的方法；現在的收藏在未來肯定會有我們現在還無法想像的用途。因此，自然歷史收藏在為生物學研究和社會服務方面的重要性怎麼估計都不為過。本課程旨在向學生介紹不同目的（主要是科研用途）的自然歷史收藏（特別是昆蟲）的建立和管理。課程結束後，學生將熟悉昆蟲收集和保存最重要的技術；學習昆蟲標本製備和建立標本庫最重要的方法；獲得自然歷史博物館戰略、管理和維護的詳細總體背景知識，包括科學館藏和展覽；了解自然歷史館藏使用的主要科學方向；提高英語詞彙、聽力和口語能力；提高使用英語進行文獻研究、閱讀和分析科研論文的能力，以及準備並展示簡短的課堂報告匯報成果的能力。
Prerequisites				self-directed learning in the course	Y

Relevance of Course Objectives and Core Learning Outcomes(%)

Teaching and Assessment Methods for Course Objectives

Course Objectives

Competency Indicators

Ratio(%)

Teaching Methods

Assessment Methods

A培養昆蟲學與自然科學專業人才
B培養昆蟲學研究與應用能力

Practicum

Lecturing

Quiz

Course Content and Homework/Schedule/Tests Schedule

Week	Course Content
Week 1	Introduction. Collections for different purposes. Public collections in service of the society. The history and development of natural history collections.
Week 2	Ways of specimen acquisition. Ethical and legal issues.
Week 3	Active and passive collecting methods of insects in various habitats: tools and techniques (1).
Week 4	Active and passive collecting methods of insects in various habitats: tools and techniques (2).
Week 5	Active and passive collecting methods of insects in various habitats: tools and techniques (3).
Week 6	Specimen preparation for general taxonomic collection. Specimen labelling and handling (1).
Week 7	Specimen preparation for general taxonomic collection. Specimen labelling and handling (2).
Week 8	Specimen restoration. Special ways of preservation. Microscope slide collections. Fluid-preserved collections. Preserving specimens for DNA extraction.
Week 9	MID-SEMESTER TEST.
Week 10	Methods of keeping, rearing and breeding insects for different purposes. The rearing container as a microcosm. Maintenance and sanitation. Documentation. Maintaining colonies.
Week 11	Collection management and maintenance. The site. The building. The environment in the collection. Maintenance systems. Planning and protocols.
Week 12	The most important pests in the collection. Student presentations (1).
Week 13	The most important pests in the collection. Student presentations (2).
Week 14	Facility survey. Exclusion of pests. General monitoring and inspection: protocols. Repellents. Ways of pest control. Integrated pest management in the collection. Planning and prioritizing, policies and procedures.
Week 15	Administrative management of collections. Curation standards and levels. Collection databasing, information management. Photographic documentation of insect specimens. Databasing and storing specimen photos. Handling metadata. Unique species identifiers, machine-readable matrix code labels. Database administration and maintenance, software choice. Public access to museum databases.
Week 16	Utilizing museum specimens in modern research. Mining from massively collected biodiversity data based on collections; using specimens and linked data for revealing patterns of diversity and distribution for ecological and evolutionary research. Building and developing an exhibition. Exhibitions and education. Reaching the public. Volunteers in the museum’s life. FINAL EXAM.
self-directed learning

Evaluation

General class activity: 20%
Mid-semester test results: 30%
Final test results: 30%
Student presentation: 20%

Textbook & other References

國立自然科學博物館編 1995. 博物館蒐藏經營管理之理論與實務研習會（一、二）。國立自然科學博物館，台中，755頁。
NPS Museum Handbook. Parts I (2016), II (2000), III (1998). National Park Service, Washington, DC, 1441+871+554 pp.
Gibb, T.J. & Oseto, C. 2019. Insect collection and identification. Techniques for the field and laboratory. Academic Press, London, San Diego etc., xiii+339 pp.
Han, J., Kamber, M. & Pei, J. 2012. Data mining. Concepts and techniques. (Third edition.) Elsevier, Amsterdam, Boston etc., xxxv+703 pp.
Häuser, C.L., Steiner, A., Holstein, J. & Scoble, M.J. 2005. Digital imaging of biological type specimens. A manual of best practice. Results from a study of the European Network for Biodiversity Information. Stuttgart, 304 pp.
Huxley, R., Quaisser, C., Butler, C.R. & Dekker, R.W.R.J. 2020. Managing natural science collections. A guide to strategy, planning and resourcing. Routledge & CRC Press, Abingdon-on-Thames, 248 pp.
Paulson, G.S. 2005. Handbook to the construction and use of insect collection and rearing devices. A guide for teachers with suggested classroom applications. Springer, Dordrecht, Berlin etc., xi+121 pp.
Pinniger, D. & Winsor, P. 2004. Integrated pest management. A guide for museums, libraries and archives. Museums, Libraries and Archives Council, London, 37 pp.

Teaching Aids & Teacher's Website

自編教材

Office Hours

待定

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include experience courses：N

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Update Date, year/month/day：None	Printed Date, year/month/day：2026 / 1 / 09
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