Digitization

Canada's Museum of Nature is Digitizing 3 Million Specimens. Part of an international movement to put archives online for researchers.

Canada's Museum of Nature is part of an international movement to put archives online for researchers. CLICK HERE to read full article on CBC News site.

By Max Paris Environment Unit, CBC News Posted: Jan 05, 2014 9:00 PM ET Last Updated: Jan 05, 2014 12:21 PM ET

Mobilizing Small Herbaria Workshop Attracts Enthusiastic Participants

Any doubt about the importance of small herbaria or the enthusiasm of their curators was certainly dispelled at the recent Mobilizing Small Herbaria workshop held at Florida State University the week of December 9th.  Co-sponsored by iDigBio, the Robert K. Godfrey Herbarium at Florida State, the North American Network of Small Herbaria, and the Small Collections Network (SCNet), the event brought together about 30 collections professionals from 25 institutions representing 16 states.

iDigBio’s Paleo Digitization Workshop Draws more than 60 Attendees to New Haven

More than 60 paleontologists representing 41 institutions assembled in New Haven, CT the week of September 23rd, 2013 to share ideas, protocols, preferences, and strategies. This was iDigBio’s most populous workshop to date, with an assortment of excellent presentations and ample opportunities for rich discussion.

Entomologists Gather in Ann Arbor to Explore Fluid-preserved Arthropod Imaging

There was no dearth of enthusiasm or expertise at the recent Fluid-preserved Arthropod and Microscopic Slide Imaging workshop held at the University of Michigan September 16-18, 2013. For those whose interests span the gamut of cameras, lenses, microscopes, and the myriad gadgets and creative solutions that make it possible to capture images of difficult subjects, this workshop was the place to be.

iDigBio Responds to Call for International Collaboration

The expansive scope of iDigBio’s activities places it in the forefront of national and international digitization and data aggregation efforts. Recognizing the importance of its numerous international partners and encouraged by the NSF to expand international collaborations, iDigBio accepted an invitation to join a digitization symposium featured at the 12th Pacific Science Inter-Congress held at the University of the South Pacific in Suva, Fiji, and to follow the symposium with a digitization workshop for the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), in Canberra, Australia.

SPNHC 2013 – DemoCamp: Demonstration of iDigBio’s Specimen Data Portal

Demo Camp live demonstrations are a highlight of the annual SPNHC conferences. This year, iDigBio took this great opportunity to show the natural history collections community all we've accomplished in two years’ time. iDigBio Principal Investigator, Pam Soltis, stepped up to show off the iDigBio Data and Image Portal.

Specify 6 Workshop

The Biodiversity Institute at University of Kansas, iDigBio, and the Specify Software team are pleased to co-sponsor a 5-day Specify 6 workshop to be held the week of August 12-16, 2013 in Lawrence, KS. This is a "progressive workshop," beginning with Specify 6 installation and basics and progressing through advanced topics. Each participant will attend up to 3 consecutive days, depending on need and experience with Specify. The success of this workshop may lead to similar workshops in the future.

Entomologists Gather for Insect Digitization Workshop in Chicago

Chicago’s Field Museum of Natural History (FMNH) turned out to be the perfect venue for iDigBio’s April 23–25 (2013) Dried Insect Digitization workshop. Overlooking Grant Park and the Chicago lakefront, FMNH provided an exceptionally attractive and hospitable environment with outstanding amenities. About 50 entomologists and digitization professionals from the U.S., Australia, and the United Kingdom attended, bringing together a diverse assemblage of knowledge and skill to address the complex job of digitizing pinned insect collections. 

ASB–iDigBio Digitization Symposium and Workshop Report: An Inspiring Event

Digitization was a hot topic at the 2013 Association of Southeastern Biologists’ (ASB) meeting held in Charleston, West Virginia the week of April 10. Well before the beginning of the ASB–iDigBio-sponsored digitization symposium and workshop, several conference goers had already offered important papers outlining strategies and successes in digitizing small herbaria and incorporating digitization into biodiversity field research.

iDigBio Announces the Second Train-the-Trainers Georeferencing Workshop (TTT #2)

iDigBio Announces the Second Train-the-Trainers Georeferencing Workshop (TTT #2)

UPDATE: Participants Selected, GWG Second Train the Trainers Workshop Agenda

NOTE: AdobeConnect set up for REMOTE participation. Join us!

Save the Date Now and Join us remotely! See you August 12th - August 16th.

Application submission deadline was Thursday May 9th, 2013.

Fluid-preserved Invertebrate Imaging Workshop Opportunity

iDigBio, the National Science Foundation’s national HUB for Advancing Digitization of Biological Collections (ADBC), in collaboration with the University of Michigan's Museum of Zoology, is pleased to announce the fifth in a series of preparation-specific workshops focusing on biological collections digitization. The workshop announced here focuses on imaging techniques for fluid-preserved invertebrates and microscopic slides.

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. 

Wet Collections Digitization Workshop Report

When iDigBio announced an upcoming wet collections digitization workshop to be held in cooperation with the Biodiversity Institute at the University of Kansas, we had no idea what to expect. As it turns out, we must have hit a nerve. By the close of the application period, well over 50 people had responded - far exceeding our expectations.

iDigBio 2012 Visiting Scholar: Organizing, Executing and Utilizing a Digitized Regional Herbarium

 

UPDATE: A recording of this seminar is available here: https://www.idigbio.org/content/organizing-executing-and-utilizing-digitized-regional-herbarium

 

IDIGBIO 2012 VISITING SCHOLAR: ORGANIZING, EXECUTING AND UTILIZING A DIGITIZED REGIONAL HERBARIUM

Dr. Anna K. Monfils, Central Michigan University

Congratulations to Dr. Anna K. Monfils: iDigBio Visiting Scholar

Please join iDigBio in congratulating Dr. Anna Monfils on her selection as our 2012 Visiting Scholar.  Anna is an Associate Professor at Central Michigan University and Director of the Central Michigan University Herbarium.

Dr. Monfils' winning proposal includes building generalized, web-deliverable specimen databasing protocols, designing web-based teaching activities focused on databasing, and organizing a workshop aimed at professional botanists, students and citizen scientists from throughout Michigan.

IDigBio Announces Dried Insect Digitization Workshop April 24-25, 2013

Pinned Insect DraweriDigBio is pleased to announce the third in a series of preparation-specific workshops focusing on organizing, launching, maintaining, and/or enhancing a biological collections digitization program. This workshop will focus on digitization of dried insect specimens, stored in drawers and trays, either pinned or in packets. The workshop will be held at The Field Museum, Chicago, Illinois April 24–25, 2013. We have funding to support travel and per diem for 24 participants. April 23 and 26 will be travel days, with a welcoming reception early evening, April 23. Those desiring to attend this workshop should complete the online application no later than February 15, 2013. For more information, contact Gil Nelson.(gnelson@bio.fsu.edu).

New iDigBio Workshop Opportunity: Digitizing Specimens in Wet Collections, March 5–6, 2013

iDigBio is pleased to announce the second in a series of preparation-specific workshops focusing on organizing, launching, maintaining, and enhancing a biological collections digitization program. This new workshop will focus on digitization of wet collections, to include specimen label databasing, specimen imaging, ledger and field book imaging, and digitization of legacy objects such as X-rays, CT scans, and 35mm slides.

Workflow Modules and Task Lists

One outgrowth of the DROID (Developing Robust Object-to-Image-to-Data) workflow workshop held in May 2012 was the establishment of a series of working groups, each focused on workflow modules and tasks for various preparation types. The first of these groups, informally called the Flat Sheets and Packets Working Group, was charged with fleshing out task lists for digitizing vascular and non-vascular plant collections. The second group, Pinned Specimens in Trays and Drawers, is investing its time developing modules to support effective entomological digitization workflows. Other preservation types will follow, concluding with the development of an overall project management module designed to provide guidance for developing and managing digitization projects across disciplines and preservation types.

Seeking Effective Efficient Digitization - ZooKeys Publishes iDigBio's 5 Task Clusters

Digitization Workflows

 

Efficient and effective workflows are at the heart of successful biological and paleontological collections digitization. Much work has been done with developing workflows and protocols at the museum and collections level, but few of these workflows have been documented or made available to the larger collections community. iDigBio, through its Documentation pages, is establishing an online repository for sharing existing customized workflows from as many collection types and institutions as possible, an idea that stems largely from the Developing Robust Object-to-Image-to-Data (DROID) workshop held May 30-31, 2012. We have assembled an initial set of workflows, including selected examples from the DROID workshop, as well as those developed by iDigBio staff. Here we offer the beginnings of the repository and encourage those in the community to both discuss the workflows via the forum links, and to contribute to this resource by adding new workflows and updating existing workflows.

iDigBio Botany 2012 Digitization Workshop - Open Registration

Registration is open for the Specimen Digitization Tools and Practices Workshop at the Botany 2012 Conference.  The workshop will introduce current and future biological and paleontological specimen collections staff to resources and workflows that can lead to greater efficiencies in the digitization of their collections. The workshop will be held from 8:00 AM – 5:30 PM on Thursday, July 12, the day after the conference at the conference facility. Note: you do NOT have to attend the conference to attend the workshop.

Workshop for Developing Robust Object to Image to Data (DROID) Workflows

 

It is our pleasure to announce the Developing Robust Object to Image to Data Workflows (DROID) Workshop to be held at the University of Florida in Gainesville, FL. The workshop is designed to identify existing optimal digitization workflows, as well as process and technology gaps that must be bridged in order to achieve the scope of digitization required to meet the Grand Challenge. The workshop is co-sponsored by Integrated Digitized Biocollections (iDigBio) and Software Infrastructure for Sustained Innovation (S2I2). It will be held on May 30th and May 31st. Additional details may be obtained from the workshop overview.

Up to five participant slots are available for applicants. Accepted participants will be provided with travel, lodging and meals to attend the workshop.

Congratulations to Dr. Anna K. Monfils, iDigBio's 2012 Visiting Scholar

Please join iDigBio in congratulating Dr. Anna Monfils on her selection as our 2012 Visiting Scholar.  Anna is an Associate Professor at Central Michigan University and Director of the Central Michigan University Herbarium.

Dr. Monfils' winning proposal includes building generalized, web-deliverable specimen databasing protocols, designing web-based teaching activities focused on databasing, and organizing a workshop aimed at professional botanists, students and citizen scientists from throughout Michigan.

Pages

Subscribe to RSS - Digitization