Guide
How to write museum labels
A specimen label is the one piece of documentation that never leaves the object. These conventions come from museum practice and apply equally to a private cabinet.
Short answer: A museum label carries the specimen name, the locality from precise to broad, the collecting or acquisition date, the collector and determiner, and the catalogue number — printed with pigment ink on acid-free card in one of two or three fixed sizes.
Written by the Museumica team · Last updated: 22 September 2026
Step by step
01Start with the name
The first line carries the specimen name: mineral species, binomial scientific name, or fossil taxon. Set scientific names in italics and keep the authority and year after the name where convention expects it, for example Conus marmoreus Linnaeus, 1758.
02Add the locality on the second line
Write locality from precise to broad — mine or outcrop, district, region, country — so a reader's eye finds the specific place first. Never abbreviate a country to a code that future readers may misread.
03Include the collecting or acquisition date
Use an unambiguous date format such as 22 September 2026 or 2026-09-22. Numeric formats like 09/22/26 are read differently in different countries and cause real errors in catalogues.
04Name the collector and the determiner
Record who collected the specimen and, if different, who identified it. On scientific labels these appear as 'Coll.' and 'Det.' with a date, so a later redetermination can be recorded without erasing the first.
05Print the catalogue number prominently
The catalogue number links the physical specimen to its record. Place it in a consistent corner of every label so it can be read without lifting the specimen.
06Keep the diagnostic extras short
Hardness, geological formation and period, depth, host rock or dimensions earn a line only when they help identify the piece in the drawer. A label is a pointer to the record, not a copy of it.
07Choose readable, archival typography
Use a serif face at 6 to 8 point for body lines with generous leading, printed with pigment ink on acid-free card. Dye inks fade and ordinary paper yellows and becomes brittle within a decade.
08Size labels to the drawer, not the specimen
Pick two or three fixed label sizes for the whole collection so drawers stay tidy and labels remain interchangeable between unit trays.
09Add a QR code if records live online
A small QR code linking to the full catalogue record gives visitors and future curators the complete data without crowding the printed label.
10Never separate label and specimen
Print a replacement label the moment one is lost, and keep old labels with the specimen even after reprinting. A specimen without its label loses most of its scientific value.
Frequently asked
- What information must be on a museum specimen label?
- At minimum the specimen name, the locality, the catalogue number and the collector with a date. Those four elements let anyone reconnect the object to its record and verify its origin.
- What size should a specimen label be?
- Most drawer labels are between 40x25 mm and 90x50 mm. Choose two or three fixed sizes for the whole collection rather than sizing every label individually.
- Which paper and ink last longest?
- Acid-free or buffered archival card with pigment-based ink, laser toner or archival inkjet ink. Avoid dye inks, thermal paper and ordinary office paper, all of which degrade within years.
- Should scientific names be italic on labels?
- Yes. Genus and species are italicised, while the authority and year after the name are not. Keeping this convention signals that the determination was made carefully.
- Can I print museum labels in batches?
- Yes. Museumica generates classic, scientific, cabinet and QR label styles from your existing records and prints them onto Avery sheets or a PDF, so a whole drawer can be relabelled in one pass.
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