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Prior to August 2001, physical sediment samples collected by U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey (USCGS) and NOAA National Ocean Service (NOS) personnel during hydrographic surveys were routinely sent to the Smithsonian Institution National Museum of Natural History (NMNH) for curation. USCGS and NOAA/NOS hydrographic party personnel also generated forms documenting and describing these samples. Both the samples and forms were sent to the Smithsonian. Smithsonian staff then key-entered information from the forms into the NMNH Paleobiology Sediment Collection database. NOAA discontinued the practice of sending samples to NMNH in September of 2001. Also in 2001, NMNH gave NOAA's National Geophysical Data Center (NGDC) a copy of information from their database documenting USCGS and NOAA/NOS samples in their collections. This was a one-time transfer to make the collection searchable via the Index to Marine and Lacustrine Geological Samples (IMLGS) database. No further contributions to the IMLGS are expected from NMNH.