Welcome to iDigBio

Welcome to iDigBio (Integrated Digitized Biocollections)

On behalf of the iDigBio PIs, Larry Page, Pam Soltis, Bruce MacFadden, José Fortes and Greg Riccardi, the staff at the University of Florida (UF) and Florida State University (FSU) welcome you to iDigBio.

Below are some resources we hope you will find useful, whether you are writing your digitization proposal for the next round of funding, have just received your funding, or are looking for more ways to get involved in the biodiversity digitization community.

These are only some of the resources on the iDigBio website. We encourage you to use them and to explore on your own. Why not start a ‘Wiki’ page for your digitization project, get involved in a Working or Interest Group, or start a conversation about digitization on Facebook? These are some of the resources in the user participation area on https://www.idigbio.org.

Seeing the Big Picture – the Grand Challenge

The Network Integrated Biocollections Alliance (NIBA) documents are instructive in framing and planning the solution for the ‘Grand Challenge’ created by NSF to digitize all natural history collections in the U.S. Learn what NIBA is and how it supports your digitization efforts.

• NIBA Strategic Plan – this outlines the 10-year effort to digitize and mobilize the scientific information associated with biodiversity specimens held in U.S. research collections: https://www.idigbio.org/content/niba-strategic-plan

• NIBA Implementation Plan – this takes the NIBA strategic plan further by defining the steps necessary to meet the ‘Grand Challenge’ all the way to becoming a sustained program: https://www.idigbio.org/content/niba-implementation-plan

• If you would like to understand the mission and goals of iDigBio, including what is in scope, read: https://www.idigbio.org/about-idigbio

• Or take a look at this document for more details: https://www.idigbio.org/content/intro-idigbio-pdf

Funding Sources

If you are looking for funding for digitization of biodiversity collections data, below are some NSF resources.

• NSF ADBC program: http://search.nsf.gov/search?access=p&output=xml_no_dtd&sort=date%3AD%3AL%3Ad1&ie=UTF-8&btnG=Google+Search&client=NSF&oe=UTF-8&proxystylesheet=NSF2&site=NSF&q=ADBC

• NSF - Collections in Support of Biological Research (CSBR): http://search.nsf.gov/search?access=p&output=xml_no_dtd&sort=date%3AD%3AL%3Ad1&ie=UTF-8&btnG=Google+Search&client=NSF&oe=UTF-8&proxystylesheet=NSF2&site=NSF&q=CSBR

• Don’t forget that there are other sources of funding from other agencies that support collections digitization or related activities, including:
  • Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) – Museums for America Program: http://www.imls.gov/applicants/detail.aspx?GrantId=11
  • The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation: http://www.moore.org
  • The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation: http://www.mellon.org
  • Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF): http://www.gbif.org/

iDigBio is interested in all digitized natural history collections data, not only those supported by NSF.

Working Together

If you are curious about what collections might already be included under the iDigBio umbrella, TCNs, PENs and RDCNs, etc., go to: https://www.idigbio.org/content/thematic-collections-networks

• To see what recordsets have already been ingested into iDigbio’s portal, go to: https://www.idigbio.org/portal/publishers

• For specific at-a-glance info about existing TCNs, go to: https://www.idigbio.org/wiki/index.php/TCN_Resources

• If you would like to see all of those collections on a map, check out: https://www.idigbio.org/content/collaborating-institutions

iDigBio has various cyberinfrastructure resources (e.g., virtual machines (VMs)), services, and processes for collaborating that you might want to be aware of for your budget planning and proposal writing.

• To collaborate with iDigBio, look for information at: https://www.idigbio.org/content/collaborating-idigbio-grant-proposals

Our data use and support policies are documented in the following:

• Terms of Use - https://www.idigbio.org/content/idigbio-terms-use-policy

• Service Level Agreement - https://www.idigbio.org/content/idigbio-service-level-agreement-sla

iDigBio holds workshops throughout the year on such topics as georeferencing, methods for augmented optical character recognition (aOCR), public participation (e.g., citizen science), and specimen digitization workflows (e.g., flat sheets, pinned, things in jars, things in drawers). In addition, there are working/interest groups comprising community members (i.e., people like yourself interested in improving specimen digitization) working on cyberinfrastructure, database schema, and supporting the workshops.

• Find out about upcoming workshops at https://www.idigbio.org/calendar

• If you would like to suggest an iDigBio workshop: https://www.idigbio.org/content/workshop-proposal

Are you interested in joining a working group or interest group? Participation is open to all at any level of commitment: https://www.idigbio.org/wiki/index.php/IDigBio_Working_Groups

iDigBio relies on the community to propose and implement good ideas for uses of data.

• If you would like to propose an iDigBio tool or software appliance: https://www.idigbio.org/content/appliance-proposal

Dissemination and Contact

If you would like copies of our iDigBio poster and/or pamphlet, which are suitable for showing your support and interest in iDigBio in any public place:

• https://www.idigbio.org/content/idigbio-poster-available
• https://www.idigbio.org/content/idigbio-pamphlet-available

If you go to iDigBio’s website, https://www.idigbio.org, and want to find something but don’t know where to look, try the ‘Search’ box in the upper right. It provides a targeted Google search within the entire site.

If you would like to join one of our listservs to receive timely or important notices, apply here:

• https://www.idigbio.org/wiki/index.php/IDigBio_Listservs

If you have comments, suggestions, or need help:

• A list of all iDigBio staff is available here: https://www.idigbio.org/content/directory
• Send an email to:
  • For general questions: info@idigbio.org
  • For help requests: help@idigbio.org
  • For data-related questions: data@idigbio.org