A formal accession policy was first established for the then Snow Entomological Museum collection in 1988; since 1995 Entomology has fully subscribed to the Acquisition Policies and Procedures as laid out by the Biodiversity Institute. In brief, specimens must be accompanied by the following documentation to be accessioned: Copies of all collecting permits (if necessary), export permits (if necessary given the country of origin) and a copy of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service form 3-177 if the material was recently brought into the U.S. A signed “Deed of Transfer” form or, less preferably, a letter of intent written by the donor clearly stating who is giving the material and their institutional affiliation (if any), how many specimens/lots are being given, and who collected the specimens when and where. Additionally, specimens should be accompanied by modern collection data (locality, collector, date, geocoordinates, etc.), preferably in digital format for recently collected bulk specimens or archival quality data labels with standard collection data appropriate for the age of the specimens.

We currently do not have the ability to utilize extramural specimen identifiers or bar codes in our database, though hope to develop this capability shortly. The criteria used for accepting or removing specimens from Entomology’s collections are consonant with those of the Biodiversity Institute, and the overall roles and missions of the Entomology within the University of Kansas, the world-wide entomological community and its public. The general features of these criteria are as follows:

• Within Entomology's areas of focus, species and specimens are accepted with no geographic or taxonomic restrictions.
• Priorities for acquisition are: first, to strengthen collection areas in which Entomology has current specialization and/or recognized historical strength; second, to broaden the comparative base of existing collections; third, to provide a representative collection of the insect fauna of the State of Kansas; fourth, to obtain collections of a general nature within the broad interests of Entomology, the University of Kansas, and the State of Kansas.
• Specimens will remain in the collections as long as they retain their physical integrity, authenticity and relevance for the purposes of Entomology, the University of Kansas, and the State of Kansas.
• Deaccessioning may take place through: a) gifts and exchanges (small exchanges are routine in entomology); b) disposal of bulk residues not deemed valuable enough to gift or exchange; and c) removal to the teaching collection or disposal of poorly documented or irreparably damaged specimens.