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CUP Loan Procedures

Loans of CUP specimens and photographs may be granted to support scholarly research upon application to the director. The loan period is typically six months.

We prefer to send CUP specimens to a herbarium address. We welcome requests from students, who should provide the name of their supervising professor. CUP specimens are shipped using methods that allow tracking (US certified mail or courier), and we ask that they be returned by a similar method. We regret that we cannot cover return postage.

When requesting a loan, it is essential that you provide as much information as possible to help us locate the specimens you seek. CUP does not file types separately and our catalog does not always indicate a specimen's type status. Providing basionyms, synonyms, and details of collection or publication will ensure that we don't overlook a critical specimen. We expect that you will have done a thorough literature search before contacting CUP and that you will be able to provide these details for type specimens.

If specimens are to be subjected to DNA analysis, permission of the Director must be sought before the specimens are shipped. We will appreciate receiving GenBank accession numbers for sequences derived from CUP specimens.

Obligations of the borrower

  1. Protect CUP materials from damage by insects, humidity, and crushing while in your possession and during shipping.
  2. Remove as little of the material as possible. In the case of type specimens, return all preparations, including any slides you have made.
  3. Annotate the specimens you have studied, indicating your taxonomic (or other) conclusions. Annotations must never be written on the packet or box, but are to be written in pencil or permanent ink on a slip of archival paper that is no larger than 3 by 2 inches. See our annotation instructions.
  4. Return the loan in a timely manner by registered mail or courier. The standard loan period is six months; request an extension if needed.
  5. Please provide reprints of articles in which CUP specimens are discussed.

Nominal charges may apply to cover the costs of photographic printing or digitization when materials are requested from the photograph collections.

Loan requests may be addressed to the director by e-mail or letter.