Before contacting any of
the professional identification sources, you should have as much information
as
possible about your mineral, rock, or fossil: where it was found (road cut,
mine or quarry, county, state, level or depth, etc.), when it was found,
what others have called it, and so on.
You should first check with members of your club and other clubs in your
area, with fellow collectors who collect at the same site, with amateur
collectors of note, with your MWF State Director, and in the classic
reference books. Midwest Federation committee members [pages W-14 onward]
may be able to suggest other sources in your area. You should call on a
professional only after exhausting local resources.
State Geological Surveys will almost all do "eyeball" identification if
possible; but because of limited staff time or lack of mineral and rock
testing equipment, they should be asked only when all other local sources
have failed. Most request that only specimens from their own state be
considered. However, some State Geological Surveys are able to do x-ray or
spectrographic examination, and (rarely) prepare thin sections for
microscopic study. While most will try to identify fossils, they do not
attempt to give the genera or species unless preservation of the specimen is
excellent. In addition to the services offered by the State Geological
Survey, the Geology Department in any university is likely to have equipment
to identify an unknown mineral.
Any specimen sent to an outside source should be non-returnable or have
sufficient money or postage sent to cover the cost of returning it. Send
along a stamped, self-addressed envelope for the results.
Some institutions may charge a fee for this service. Write or call before
sending your specimen to be certain they can provide the service desired,
and what the fee will be.
Lastly, if all other state sources cannot identify the specimen, the
Smithsonian Institution (Washington, DC) may be contacted for help. This is
truly a last resort, since the Smithsonian is likely to have a huge backlog
of requests and may take months or years to reply.
Midwest Federation of
Mineralogical &
Geological Societies
Resources