iDigBio and Yale Peabody Museum Announce Paleontology Digitization Workshop

 

iDigBio, in collaboration with Yale Peabody Museum, is pleased to announce the fourth  in a series of preparation-specific workshops focusing on organizing, launching, maintaining, and/or enhancing a collections digitization program. This new workshop will focus on digitizing paleontology collections, including invertebrates, vertebrates, and plants. The target audiences for these workshops include collections managers, curators, curatorial assistants, and directors in U.S. non-federal institutions that are planning, implementing, or enhancing a digitization program, regardless of collection size. The primary goal is to prepare participants to return to their home institutions with the necessary skills and knowledge to launch or enhance a digitization program, either individually, through collaboration with an existing Thematic Collections Network (TCN), as a Partner with an Existing Collections Network (PEN), or through direct collaboration with iDigBio. Workshop topics will include but are not restricted to: 1) an overview of iDigBio, NSF’s ADBC program, and nationwide digitization activities, 2) strategies for organizing and launching a digitization program, 3) digitization modules and tasks, 4) strategies for developing effective workflows and protocols for paleo digitization, 5) strategies for evaluating hardware and software, including database management systems, 6) procedures for image and data capture tailored to paleo specimens, 7) a paleo-focused introduction to tools and techniques for georeferencing, and 8) strategies for moving digitized data to the internet via iDigBio and other data aggregators and harvesters. Sample workflows, hardware specifications, and comparison software features will be available during and following the workshop through a workshop wiki. As much as practicable, workshop sessions will focus on practical application and demonstration.

The workshop announced here will focus specifically on digitization of paleontological specimens and will be held at the Yale Peabody Museum, New Haven, CT, September 23-26, 2013. iDigBio has funding to support travel and per diem for 25 participants. September 23 and 26 will be travel days, with a welcome reception at the Peabody the evening of September 23. Those desiring to attend this workshop should complete the online application no later than May 1, 2013. Questions about the application or related issues should be addressed to iDigBio’s Project Assistant, Cathy Bester (cbester@flmnh.ufl.edu), or to workshop coordinator Gil Nelson (gnelson@bio.fsu.edu). Participants will be notified as soon as possible following the May 1 due date.

What: Workshop for Digitizing Paleontology Collections.

Where: Yale Peabody Museum, New Haven, Connecticut.

Who: Collections managers, curators, curatorial assistants, and directors of U.S. non-federal paleontological collections who are in the planning stages, early initiation, or enhancement of collection digitization.

When: September 23–26, 2013 (September 23 and 26 will be travel days)

Planning Team: Susan Butts (Yale Peabody Museum), Una Farrell (Biodiversity Institute, University of Kansas), Austin Hendy (Florida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida), Talia Karim (Museum of Natural History, University of Colorado at Boulder), Gil Nelson (iDigBio, Florida State University), Chris Norris (Yale Peabody Museum), and Jessica Utrup (Yale Peabody Museum).

Sponsored by: iDigBio (Integrated Digitized Biocollections) in collaboration with the Yale Peabody Museum.

Contact: For further information, contact Gil Nelson (gnelson@bio.fsu.edu) or Susan Butts (susan.butts@yale.edu).