PERPETUAL DATABASE	of	Registered Specimens

Rock collecting comes of age.

  

   RocksOnline.com is in the process of developing 2 services that will equip our users with a whole new way of collecting rocks, minerals, fossils, gemstones and lapidary materials.    Very soon we will be releasing our Perpetual Database SM and the Registered Specimen SM.  These 2 services devised and created by RocksOnline.com will enable collectors of fine specimens for the first time to assemble their collection in an online format.  Once specimens are registered in the RocksOnline.com Perpetual Database users will enjoy many benefits from the features that our services will provide.  Please review the FAQs pages for each of these exciting new services for more insight.

   BACKGROUND:  The typical rockhound acting as an amateur paleobotanist, prospector, geologist, lapidary artist, jeweler or mineralogist has assembled a collection of specimens that represent their individual interests.  They have invested both a good deal of time and money in procuring their collection.  Unless the enthusiast has carefully cataloged the data about the specimen this pertinent information is soon lost or forgotten because a permanent record of the specimen and its history was not kept.  If the collector was diligent about keeping a catalog of their collection in many cases these records are lost or destroyed or cannot be interpreted by a person that takes over the collection.  With the data about a collection and its individual specimens much of the value is also gone.  The reason for the creation of the RocksOnline.com perpetual database of registered specimens is in response to this list of problems associated with having a private collection of rocks, mineral and fossil specimens:  

• It is easy to misplace the physical data associated with a specimen.
• There is not a universal way to catalog a collection.
• The purchase history of a specimen is usually not recorded and is lost or forgotten.
•  It is difficult to establish the market price of a mineral or fossil.
• There is not an easy way to market a specimen for a non-dealer collector.
•  It would be interesting to know what someone would offer for a specimen.
• It is difficult for heirs to know the history and value of an inherited rock collection.
• The knowledge base of many of the lesser known mining locations and mineral types is being lost from the collecting world as we lose more and more “old timers”.
• It is difficult to offer up a rock or mineral for trade.
• Many rock and mineral collectors are elderly and the use of computers and websites is difficult.
• It is difficult to obtain a professional appraisal of rock and mineral collections for tax purposes, donation or insurance values.
  
  This is only a partial list of some of the management difficulties experienced in assembling and maintaining a lifetime collection of specimens. 

Our goal is that through this development of the RocksOnline.com website we will help the world retain some of the valuable information obtained from collectors, in mass as they add registered specimens to our perpetual database.  Our goal is to enhance the hobbies associated with collecting and working with rocks, minerals fossils and gemstone lapidary materials by this assemblage of a vast perpetual database.