The Completeness of Thematic Collections - a Venn Diagram-Based Conceptual Approach.

Multiple factors influence the degree of completeness of any thematic collection, such as a biological collection encompassing any natural group, but even any collection of man-made items (including art collections and object collections) that encompass any specific theme. The concept of “completeness” itself is both subjective, inasmuch as it may refer to any purpose unilaterally defined by the collector, and objective, inasmuch as that purpose includes an exhaustive coverage of the actual diversity inherent in the chosen group. In a general sense, also the factors (or “conditions”) that exert their influence on the collection process can be grouped in two dimensions: objective (availability)and subjective (desirability). The former, quantitatively ranging from rarity to abundance, is subject to collection bias as scientifically defined, while the latter defines the subjective aims of the collector. Both are influenced by cognitive biases, whose discussion is beyond the scope of this short paper, meant just to provide a graphical representation, based on logical Venn diagrams, of those main conditions, and to elucidate the discrete categories at the intersection of the observed sets of items. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]