General Philosophy
We are committed to a program of general collecting that provides voucher specimens for our tissues. Tissues without voucher specimens and collection data are of limited use because researchers have no way to verify identification or to pursue complementary studies of anatomy, geographic variation in morphology, etc.

Our collection serves two communities: Our first priority when collecting tissues is to provide a resource for graduate students and other researchers at University of Washington. Thus, tissues that were collected with particular research projects in mind or those that could form the basis of a Ph.D. project might not be available for loan, or may be subject to more stringent loan conditions (see below). However, the Burke also gladly provides grants of its tissues and extracts to qualified researchers at other institutions. Usually, these grants are intended to supplement material already obtained through collecting or additional loans: Only rarely will the Burke consider providing the bulk of material for a particular research project. All those requesting grants will be expected to abide by our tissue policy and procedures outlined below. In return, the Burke will absorb the high cost of obtaining, cataloguing, and maintaining tissues and extracts for general use by the research community.

Contact and Approval of Loans
All requests for tissues must be received in writing, preferably via email to the Genetic Resources Collection Manager, Dr. Sharon Birks, at sbirks@u.washington.edu; a response is usually sent within 2–3 days. No information will be sent until researchers provide detailed information about their proposed project and need for tissues (see list of requested information below). Granting of loans is contingent upon final approval from appropriate curators and researchers within the Division of Zoology.

Service Fee and Exchanges
Because collecting and maintaining tissues is difficult, expensive, and consumptive, we request users provide some evidence of reciprocal benefit to the Burke. Currently, we either charge a $25 per tissue service fee, or request exchange of comparable tissues, specimens, or services, or invite co-authorship. Graduate students and staff at the Burke spend much of their time doing general collecting, so co-authorship is especially encouraged in cases when large series or especially important tissues are requested.

The tissue fee serves several purposes:

1. It encourages thoughtful use of and appreciation of the collection.
   As laboratory techniques improve, the gap in effort between obtaining tissues and analyzing them is widening into a gulf, particularly for rare or hard-to-obtain species. Our tissue collection is heavily used—typically we loan 600–800 tissues per year—and demands on it are growing. Requesting a fee is one way to encourage researchers to evaluate their use of tissue collections and to keep their requests reasonable.
2. It spreads the cost of tissues more evenly among users.
   As molecular labs become widespread, many researchers who do not have the resources or desire to collect specimens still need access to tissues. The fee allows such users to support collections and to receive loans routinely, without necessarily being asked to respond with exchanges of specimens or tissues.
3. It provides valuable financial support.
   While laboratory research is generally relatively well funded, museums still struggle to obtain basic funding for and recognition of the importance of their collections. Cryogenic storage for tissues is expensive to maintain, and loans are labor-intensive and sometimes expensive to process. Fees make a valuable contribution towards maintaining the collection and ensuring that it will continue to be available to a wide array of users.

Alternative to the fee, researchers may request an exchange or collaboration. The following may be considered appropriate for exchange: 1) salvaged or collected frozen whole birds, 2) tissues that may be requested by the Burke for a particular research project, 3) equivalent use of other museum collections. For example, in cases of requests by curators at other institutions that also loan tissues routinely, the fee may be waived. In addition, the Burke reserves the right to determine whether an exchange is desirable and of comparable value. Exchanges of tissues or blood without vouchers are generally discouraged. When unusually large numbers of tissues are requested, collaboration or co-authorship may be appropriate; this must be negotiated on a case-by-case basis.

Requested Information
Before receiving a list of any of our tissue holdings, researchers must provide the following information in their application letter:

1. Description of Project: Applicants should provide a complete description of the research project, including information about the molecular techniques employed, the markers used (if applicable), the lab where the research is to be completed, and experience of the researcher or expertise available from lab colleagues. Applicants should also include a brief explanation of how the proposed research complements previous studies.
2. Relative Contribution of Burke: Researchers should indicate how much genetic material they already have in hand, either from their personal collecting effort or through requests from other institutions. In most cases, researchers should not expect the Burke to provide them with all the tissues necessary for a dissertation or other large project. Rather, we prefer to see evidence that either the project itself is supporting the collection of a reasonable fraction of the material it will require, or that other institutions are contributing tissues to the project. This helps assure that our collection, which was developed primarily with local support, will not suffer unduly from the consumptive use of outside projects.

Permits
After loans are approved, requesters must provide appropriate permits for transport or import.

International loans: Foreign researchers must include any import permit required by the their government. If no permit is needed, the researcher must state so in writing at the time of the tissue request. The Burke will arrange appropriate U.S. export permits, which may take several weeks if species have special conservation status (e.g., CITES species, endangered species, marine mammals, migratory birds). Export of CITES listed species will be greatly facilitated if the receiving institution can provide a Certificate of Scientific Exchange.
Loans within the U.S.: U.S. researchers who request tissues obtained internationally will need to conduct their work in a USDA approved laboratory and provide a copy of their USDA transport permit before tissues can be shipped. These permits may be obtained from the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Veterinary Services, Riverdale, MD 20737.

Shipping
Loaned tissues will be accompanied by an invoice and by full voucher specimen information in the form of a catalog printout. An electronic copy of this information may also be requested at the time of shipping.

International loans: Tissues will be sent in ethanol or lysis buffer via international courier. Shipment costs will be covered by those requesting the loan, either by adding a flat fee of US$100 to the service fee, or by providing an account number for DHL, Federal Express, or other courier.

Loans within the U.S.: Most loans will be sent in ethanol via UPS at our expense. We can also accommodate researchers who would prefer to receive tissues on dry ice and/or via overnight delivery, if they provide a FedEx or other account number to charge for the shipment.

Tissue Use
Tissues and their extracts may be used only by the approved researcher and project. If you wish to share tissue or DNA with additional researchers, you must obtain prior approval from the Burke. Unused or leftover tissues should be returned. All vials containing DNA should be labeled with full scientific names, Burke field collector number, and type of DNA isolated (mtDNA or tgDNA). This reduces future consumption of the original specimen and keeps the voucher and DNA associated in a single institution. A letter explaining procedures that might affect the future use of returned DNA should be provided for our accession file.

Acknowledgments and Publications
Researchers who use our collection for publications and reports should acknowledge the "University of Washington Burke Museum" and should provide two copies of publications to us. These acknowledgements help us justify maintaining the Genetic Resources Collection and making it available to a wide variety of researchers.

Researchers should provide references to specific tissues used in each publication by listing the tissue's museum number (e.g., UWBM 54326). If the tissue has not yet been catalogued, refer to it by its collector number preceded by the Burke Museum acronym (e.g., UWBM C. S. Wood 6248). If sequences derived from tissues are submitted to a genetic databank (e.g., GENBANK), these numbers AND basic specimen voucher information such as location and date should also be included.