They are unique and irreplaceable. In theory at least, they are to be maintained forever, as a public trust. The vast majority are inaccessible electronically. Fossil collections differ from other natural history or systematic biological collections in their stratigraphic component. Fossil collections are used for a different array of purposes from other natural history collections, and cannot be subject to exactly the same conditions or standards of handling and organization.
Paleontological collections face threats to their continued maintenance and even their existence.
This is due in part to their special characteristics, just summarized. Although most collections grow continually, the resources that many institutions can or will allocate to collections stays constant or shrinks. In the U.S., many smaller collections, principally at colleges and universities, are in precarious positions. Many occupy valuable space coveted by other, more fundable areas of geology. Many have no paleontologist to manage or curate them, or even to assure they are not discarded.