NHM Digital Collection ProgrammeIan Owens, Natural History Museum, LondonDigital Specimen 2014, Berlin, September 2014

Why digitise natural history collections?Make collections available to global audiencesDevelop new ways to engage society with the natural worldCreate novel resources for education

Tackle major challenges for science and societyOrigins and evolution of our solar system, earth and lifeModelling the biosphereEnvironmental changeHealth and diseaseFood and agricultureNew sources of scarce minerals

Modelling the biosphere Iwww.predicts.org.uk

Modelling the biosphere IILand managementEcosystemsAgro-ecosystemsSecondary vegetationMatureMidYoungwww.predicts.org.uk

Modelling the biosphere IIIwww.predicts.org.uk

NHM collection

NHM Digital Collections ProgrammeTo collate, organise and make available to global scientific and public audiences one of the worlds most important natural history collections, delivering:- an online specimen- / lot-level data base for all holding- core meta-data and / or images for key parts of the collection, and- flexible informatics and visualisation tools

Target = 20 million specimens digitised in 5 years

How does the programme work?Central programme board and task force to manage & drive the programmePrioritisation based on research questionsBroad and thin approach: high-throughput, core meta-data onlyFoundation projectsData standards and policiesCollection databaseFundraising and partnershipsOngoing projectsPinned insects Crowd-sourcing dataHerbarium sheets Data portalMicroscope slidesPalaeontology

Question-oriented prioritisationWhat meta-data are required for different types of study?Core meta-data categories:

Pinned insects: iCollections

Pilot Projects Pilot 1 Herbarium sheetsTrial partnership with Kew & Picturae (NL)Conveyor-based equipmentC.95,000 sheets in1 monthOutsourcing of label transcriptionPilot 2 Microscopic slides Pilot 3 PalaeontologyMesozoic vertebratesAnthropological remainsStandardised photography(Laser and CT scanning for some specimens only)Many types of slide in collectionHigh-throughput slide scanner Satscan to capture label information

Crowdsourcing dataAtlas of Living Australiahttp://volunteer.ala.org.au/Herbarium @Homehttp://herbariaunited.org/atHome/Smithsonian Transcription Centerhttps://transcription.si.edu/Les Herbonauteshttp://lesherbonautes.mnhn.fr/Notes from Naturehttp://www.notesfromnatureCrowdcraftinghttp://crowdcrafting.org

NHM Ornithological registers1 user with 32,629 transcriptions!92 users with 100+ transcriptions363 users with 1 transcription

CrowdfundingNavigationCost to digitiseTaxon nameTop sponsorsProgress bar1-Click sponsorship

NHM Data portalA platform for deposition and discovery of NHM research & collections dataStable, citable identifiers on datasets & specimen / lot recordsTransparent data quality (un-reviewed, reviewed, reviewed & updated)Download (DwCA), web-services & Linked Open DataBuild using CKAN, with enhanced mapping functionalitySearchDatasets matching criteriaIndividual datasetResultsBrowse & searchcriteriaMapping, table & statistical views

External data portalsFlickrGBIFEuropeanaNHM Coleoptera

SummaryQuestion-oriented digitisation programmeBroad and thin approachFocus on core meta-data what, when, where, whoPilot projects underwayPinned insectsHerbarium sheetsMicroscope slidesPalaeontologyCrowdsourcing of label and registry informationOpen data principles

*********