Society for the Preservation of Natural History Collections 2013 Symposium (Morning Session)

As part of the SPNHC meeting, iDigBio and the Natural Science Collections Alliance (NCSA) will host a symposium on digitization and dissemination of natural history data. This will be organized into two sessions on Thursday, June 20: 
Organizers: 

Joanna McCaffrey, iDigBio Biodiversity Informatics Manager, Gainesville,
FL, email: jmccaffrey@flmnh.ufl.edu
Elizabeth Martín, Technical Information Specialist and Biologist, U.S. Geological Survey, Gainesville, FL, email: elizabeth_martin@usgs.gov
Bruce MacFadden iDigBio PI, Gainesville, FL, email: bmacfadd@flmnh.ufl.edu
Larry Page, iDigBio PI, Gainesville, FL, email: lpage@flmnh.ufl.edu
Pam Soltis, iDigBio PI, Gainesville, FL, email: psoltis@flmnh.ufl.edu 
 
Sponsors: NSCA / iDigBio 
Natural Sciences Collections Alliance (NSCA) / Integrated Digitized Biocollections (iDigBio) / U.S. 

Venue: 2013 meeting: 28th annual meeting of the Society for the Preservation of Natural History Collections (SPNHC) 

Date: June 20, 2013

Location: Rapid City, South Dakota, South Dakota School of Mines and Technology

Symposium (Morning  session): Introduction to Digitization and Dissemination of Natural History Data: iDigBio, BISON and other initiatives

Morning session length: ½ day

Description: This session is an introduction to iDigBio, the grand challenge it addresses, and the approaches it takes to digitizing natural history collections. Additionally it will describe the relationship between BISON and iDigBio, the federal and non-federal efforts to mobilize collections.

Speakers: 
9:30  AM Larry Page – iDigBio
    Alphabet Soup: Overview of NIBA - ADBC –  iDigBio - TCNs
9:45  AM Larry Page – iDigBio
    NSCA and the State of Collections
10:00 AM Joanna McCaffrey - iDigBio
    Intro to iDigBio, Survey of TCNs, PENs, RDCN
10:15 AM Gil Nelson – iDigBio
    Introduction to Digitization: Metadata & Data Standards, Workflows, Photography, and Applied Training

10:30 – 10:45 AM    BREAK  

10:45 AM Deb Paul – iDigBio
    Integrating Augmented OCR and Georeferencing in Natural History Collection (NHC) Digitization
11:00 AM Bruce MacFadden – iDigBio
    Engaging downstream users of paleocollections through iDigBio E&O (education and outreach)
11:15 AM Una Farrell – University of  Kansas
    Introduction to a TCN: PaleoNICHES
11:30  AM Elizabeth Martín – U.S. Geological Survey / BISON (by video)
Introduction to BISON and the IWGSC: Federal Collections Coordination
 

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Integrated Digitized Biocollections (iDigBio) is the national resource for digitized information about existing, vouchered natural history collections within the context established by the community strategic plan for the Network Integrated Biocollections Alliance (NIBA) and is supported through funds from the NSF program Advancing Digitization of  Biodiversity Collections. As such, iDigBio serves as the administrative home for the national digitization effort; fosters partnerships and innovations; facilitates the determination and dissemination of digitization practices and workflows; establishes integration and interconnectivity among the data generated by collection digitization projects; and promotes the uses of biological/paleontological collections data by the scientific community and stakeholders including government agencies, educational institutions, NGOs, and other national and international entities to benefit science and society through enhanced research, educational, and outreach activities. iDigBio provides these services to all stakeholders with clarity, simplicity, transparency, intuitive methodology, and intuitive design.

 

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The Natural Science Collections Alliance (NSC Alliance) is a nonprofit association that supports natural science collections, their human resources, the institutions that house them, and their research activities for the benefit of science and society.  Our institutional members are part of an international community of museums, botanical gardens, herbariums, universities, and other institutions that house natural science collections and utilize them in research, exhibitions, academic and informal science education, and outreach activities.