How to deal with ‘orphaned’ specimens in natural history collections – a malacological case study at the Arctic University Museum of Norway

The Arctic University Museum of Norway houses more than 475,000 cataloged items in its natural history collections, including around 125 type specimens. Over the course of the museum's 150-year existence, orphaned specimens have accumulated alongside the registered material. These specimens were stored in various boxes at different locations within the collection. They have not been properly registered for various reasons, such as missing metadata, unidentified material from field campaigns, the departure of responsible curators, and donations that were accepted without the capacity to register them, among others. Deciding what to do with these specimens is not an easy process. Here, we provide a case study from the Arctic University Museum of Norway, which might serve as a guideline or inspiration on how to deal with orphaned specimens in a natural history museum context.