Introduction • The scientific value of collections • What’s important? • Calculating the financial value of systematic biology collections • Some notes on the quality and economics of a natural history collection • The Italian Association of Science Museums and its goals in regard to scientific collections • Archives of nature in natural history collections • Through a glass darkly: value concepts and ultimate objectives • The National Zoological Collection of the Zoological Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences • Microbial genetic resources: their use and organization • The social history value of natural science collections • Criteria for establishing the scientific value of natural science collections • The economics of botanical collections • Scientific and didactic valuation of moveable monuments of inanimate nature in museum’s geological collections • The cultural value of collections • Maintaining scientific collections: a parallel from the humanities • The cultural impact of natural science collections • Museum disposals • The educational value of university natural history museums • A comparison of methodologies used for valuation of the fish collection at the Canadian Museum of Nature • Evaluating the earth sciences collections at the Royal Ontario Museum • A Dutch exercise in the valuation of natural history collections • A scientific/historical/educational heritage for whom: the value of geological collections in a small museum • Slaying the sacred cow • Targeting the user short term - who pays for long term storage and maintenance? • From grave to cradle, the changing fortunes of the giant Irish deer • The effect of high market prices on the value and valuation of vertebrate fossil sites and specimens • Museums and the mineral specimen market • The evaluation of natural history collections: some remarks • The financial value of collections • The financial value of cultural, heritage and scientific collections: an accounting fiction • Insurance implications of display of collections made up of unique items with little or no commercial market interest • Natural science collections: the Loss Adjuster’s view • Valuations: a professional’s view • Accounting for local authorities’ museum collections • The cost of collecting: collection management in UK museums • Discussion • Debate and agreement of: The Manchester Accord • Additional papers presented as posters • Cost of natural science specimen conservation versus value of collections • The Natural History Museum of the University of Lisbon • Targeting collection care: costing and targeting collection care in North West England • The second Alexandrian tragedy, and the fundamental relationship between biological collections and scientific knowledge • The culture collection of Algae and Protozoa - a living resource • Monetary value of natural science collections of Museu de Ciencias Naturais, Fundacao Zoobotanica do Rio Grande do Sul, Brasil • Accidental damage leading to retrospective valuation of historically unique molluscan specimen • The value of natural science collections in contemporary society • The historical collections of the Botanical Museum of Florence and their scientific value • The key scientific educational value of natural history collection for primary school children • History and value of the malacological collections of the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences • Invited lecture • Murder in the museum: a case of natural selection?