Australia's Science Forum

Thanks Lis but that list differs from the one I mean, part of it is in the DET "Working with Science" but its not complete marble is 8, slate 17i. I thought it may be a generic DET list MariaC

Many millenia ago, rock sets were almost universally purchased from "Government Stores" who in turn got them from the "Department of Mineral Resources/Geological and Mining Museum". They had a catalogue of rock specimens that you could purchase where each pack had a number. Bulk pack 1 was 10 specimens of Biotite Mica. Pack 2 was 10 specimens of of calcite, etc. Some of the packs had several different rocks/minerals so that, for instance, Bulk Pack 15 (Organic Sedimentary Rocks) had 15(a) Coal x 3, 15(b) Lignite x 3, 15(c) Fossiliferous Limestone x 3, and 15(d) Oolitic limestone x3, etc, etc, etc

In my current school, and I think previous government schools I have worked at, they have simply painted a white paint dot on to every specimen and printed the catalogue number on to it.

That meant that if you were cleaning up and found a rock on the floor in a corner of the lab, and it was labeled say, 22(d) you would look up the catalogue and find that it was Magnetite, then just look for the magnetite drawer and pop it in. If you need more samples of a particular rock, you would simply read the number that had been painted on the rock and ring up the Mining Museum or the Government Stores people and ask them for it!

Of course, now you don't buy rocks from the Dept of mineral resources, you buy them from "Serrata" or "Science Supply", so the cataloging system is meaningless, yet it was such a complete system that it lingers on years after the catalogue ceased to be connected to a purchase!

I have a scanned copy of the old catalogue as a PDF on my computer. I will see if I can upload it

Cheers
Ian

That is exactly what I was looking for, thank you Ian, I just this site! MariaC

That's great, Ian!

Wish I'd had that list last year, it would have been a great help with identifying all the variations I had.

Thanks

Thanks Ian,
Unfortunately my numbering system has gone way beyond 25. Porphyry is both 15 and 46. Did find one piece of marble with 8 on it. Quartz is 25 and found one piece of rock with 79 on it. I think perhaps they may be numbered according to a rock identification handbook. Anyhow I can usually sort them by sight back into their containers.
Old catalogues are really useful sometimes. I used an old Selbys catalogue to identify a lot of Physics equipment that had no identifying names on them or any indication as to what function they fulfilled. Then they had a cleanup and threw most of the old stuff out.

Lyn.

I have just organised our rocks into plastic semi clear lunch boxes (2 lunch boxes for $3 at the reject shop)

I have bought them out of lunch boxes twice now, as I am also using them for all sorts of other bits and pieces - balloons, straws, safety labels etc etc

I simple stick a label/rock number on top and side and they stack on top of each other in glass front cabinets on the wall - neat tidy and easy to find.

Dee - I use those ones too!! Such a convenient size for so many 'bits and pieces' that we seem to collect around the place! I am almost at the end of my 4th year here and I am STILL getting things organised!! I have a collection of emty containers of various sizes and when I get a chance or see something I can store more efficiently I pull them out and label them. It feels great!!

I just sorted all our rocks out last year, and we have a lab with lots of drawers, which was not reburbished, and the rocks are in there with a label on the front with the number and name. All rocks are just numbered 1 to whatever, from an old geology specimens kit. I like the idea of classifying into sedimentary, igneous etc, but it was a huge job just working out what they were. As long as you have each specimen numbered and a key to finding them it will work.
As for painting them with a white dot, before numbering, I used white out correction pen to do the dot, then numbered, then a small drop of clear nail polish.
Have fun.

Did you actually purchase this brand or an Australian alternative?
They are wonderful!
I'm at a school without a refit (old) and the rock drawers are sooo heavy that I can't even open them.
Lesley

Help!
I have rock samples labelled with an "A". They are also labelled as quartz. I thought quartz was a metamorphic rock. What would the "A" stand for???


Lorrae

Mine are A to Z and then I put ont the front Sed Min Met etc