| Marine mammal: | Any mammal that (1) is morphologically adapted to the marine environment (including sea otters and members of the orders Sirenia,, Pinnipedia, and Cetacea), or (2) primarily inhabits the marine environment (such as the polar bear); and, for the purpose of this act, includes any part of any such marine mammal, including its raw, dressed, or dyed fur or skin. |
| Material Safety Data Sheets CMSD S): | Provided by manufacturers, these sheets include data on the volatility, flammability, toxicity, and other safety-related information about a specific chemical or material. |
| Microfoam: | See polyethylene/polypropylene foam. |
| Micro-environment: | A climate-controlled and secure space for the display or storage of artifacts or specimens within a sealed case or frame, used m buildings where such control is not feasible in entire rooms (Lord and Lord 1991). |
| Net weight: | For shipping purposes, the weight of the object being shipped, exclusive of the weight of the box or packing materials. See also gross weight, tare weight. (Nauert l979). |
| Nitrile rubber: | A synthetic rubber which is highly oil resistant. |
| Nomenclature: | A system of terms used in a particular science or discipline |
| Off-gassing: | The process of releasing (usually slowly) volatile materials from woods, some paints, some polymers, etc. Many of these volatile materials contribute to the deterioration of objects (Rose and de Tones 1992). |
| Old loans: | Expired loans or loans of unlimited duration left unclaimed by lenders at the museum; the term also includes unclaimed objects left at the museum under informal custody arrangements for study or examination by museum staff. |
| One-way case: | Simple case used for a single transit of an object. Often destroyed after one use. |
| Original order: | The archival principle that records should be maintained in the order in which they were placed by the organization, individual, or family that created them (Daniels and Walch 1986). |
| Outgoing loan: | An object loaned by a museum to another institution. It is an outgoing loan from the perspective of the lending institution; such a loan would be an incoming loan to the borrowing institution (Nauert 1979). |