Leveraging the fullest potential of scientific collections through digitisation.

Abstract

-Access to digitized specimen data is a vital means to distribute information and in turn create knowledge. Pooling the accessibility of specimen and observation data under common standards and harnessing the power of distributed datasets places more and more information and the disposal of a globally dispersed work force which would otherwise carry on its work in relative isolation, and with limited profile and impact. Citing a number of higher profile national and international projects, it is argued that a globally coordinated approach to the digitization of a critical mass of scientific specimens and specimen-related data is highly desirable. An action plan of this scale is required to maximize the value of these collections to civil society and to support the advancement of our scientific knowledge globally.

Rescuing and Sharing Historical Vegetation Data for Ecological Analysis: The California Vegetation Type Mapping Project

“…Contemporary large-scale citizen science efforts promote and alleviate some issues of data transparency and sharing by promoting open data collection, distribution, and assessment (Kearns et al 2003;Kelly et al 2012). Technological advances in computer science have increased our ability to query, visualize and use large heterogeneous collections in meaningful ways (Baird 2010;Fox and Hendler 2011;Reichman et al 2011;Hampton et al 2013). New web applications such as APIs linked to structured ecological databases allow the rapid generation of maps, charts, timelines, graphs, word clouds, search interfaces, RSS feeds, and many others capabilities (Fox and Hendler 2011).…”

Biodiversity in a Rapidly Changing World: How to Manage and Use Information?

“…Both data sources are important as they may cover different gaps -taxonomic and geographic -in our quest to know life on Earth. The most traditional users of biological collections have been taxonomists and systematists that use them for identifying, naming and classifying species, for studying the diversity of species and the relationships among them through time (Baird, 2010). However, while these studies are essential for the development of other disciplines, such as ecology, biological collections are also essential data sources to help answer questions that interest and may involve many more individuals and knowledge areas including basic biology, human economics, and public health.…”

“…A broader, more open and easier access to specimen data is vital to distribute information and in turn create knowledge (Canhos et al, 1994;Baird, 2010). However for this to become effective it is necessary to digitize data and make it available on the web.…”

Makelabels: a Bash script for generating data matrix codes for collection management

“…Increasingly, NHCs have proven useful in providing evidence of climate change, pollution, species decline, habitat loss, and threats to agriculture and public health (e.g. : Colla et al 2012, Graham et al 2004, Lavoie 2013, Lister 2011, Page et al 2015, Pyke and Ehrlich 2010, Suarez and Tsutsui 2004, Winker 2004.…”

“…This approach places a wealth of previously inaccessible "dark" information into the hands of all interested parties (Page et al 2015). Natural history collections and their data are on the forefront of biological research, and we are just now glimpsing the power and capabilities of this multidimensional source of biological data (Baird 2010, Scoble 2010, Suarez and Tsutsui 2004, Vollmar et al 2010.…”