PROGRAM & ABSTRACTS Emerging Technology and Innovation in ...peabody.yale.edu/sites/default/files/documents/botany/SPNHC2012-… · 43 Oral and Poster Presentation Abstracts 97 DemoCamp

e 27th Annual Meeting of the Society for the Preservation of Natural History CollectionsJune 11–16, 2012Yale University • New Haven, Connecticut USA

PROGRAM & ABSTRACTSEmerging Technology and Innovation in Natural History Collections Management

Printing donated by

GIORDANOGIORDANO

Smithsonian

© 2012 The Society for the Preservation of Natural History Collections • spnhc.org

e 27th Annual Meeting of the Society for the Preservation of Natural History CollectionsJune 11–16, 2012Yale University • New Haven, Connecticut USA

PROGRAM & ABSTRACTSEmerging Technology and Innovation in Natural History Collections Management

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SPNHC 2012 ››› Emerging Technology and Innovation in Natural History Collections Management

Contents5 Welcome

10 Sponsors and Vendors

13 General Conference Information

19 Keynote and Plenary Speakers

22 Awards

25 Program at a Glance

31 Detailed Program

43 Oral and Poster Presentation Abstracts

97 DemoCamp Abstracts and Factsheets

108 Poster Presentations

112 Author Index

Maps

17 Downtown New Haven30 Omni Hotel, 2nd Floor

Inside back cover: New Haven and Yale University

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SPNHC 2012 ‹‹‹ Emerging Technology and Innovation in Natural History Collections Management

June 8, 2012

visit us at kesoftware.com

Images courtesy of: Natural History Museum (Photograph by: Jack Randall) / Peabody Museum of Natural History (Photograph by: William J. Sacco) / Field Museum of Natural History / Museum Victoria (Photograph by: Rodney Start) / Denver Museum of Natural and Science (Photograph by: Richard M. Wicker) / Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa / Manchester Museum / Biosecurity Queensland (SEM: Desley Tree)

incorporatingMuseum Management System

Transforming data into knowledge

Bringing collections

to life

Internet Museum System

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Dear Participants of the SPNHC 2012 Annual Meeting,

It is with great pleasure that I welcome you to New Haven, Connecticut. As you know,Annual Meetings are the perfect opportunity to interact directly with our colleagues; toestablish and maintain our professional network; to find out what’s new in the field ofnatural history collection management and conservation, and to highlight and celebratesome of our accomplishments.

Once again, the Local Organizing Committee has worked hard to provide a programwith a full schedule of informative, practical and exciting sessions, great workshops, andsome fun local activities. The theme, “Emerging Technology and Innovation in NaturalHistory Collections Management,” is very timely, as many new technologies are quicklymaking their way into our professional lives. Please, join me in expressing greatappreciation to them for the enormous amount of work they have invested to make thisanother memorable event. We must remember that these are people that actually volunteerto organize and host an annual meeting. And of course, we must not forget to thank all theindividual presenters of oral papers and posters, and those leading workshops; yourcontinued participation is what makes our annual meetings such a valuable element in ourprofessional development.

As in the past, this meeting would not be possible without the significant financialsupport of our sponsors and vendors; thank you so much for all that you have done andcontinue to do. Notwithstanding the importance of your financial support, your presence atour annual meetings continues to be a significant added value to our professionalnetworking and development endeavours. The best way for conference participants to showappreciation is to visit the vendors’ booths at the tradeshow and find out what they have tooffer.

Finally, if this is your first SPNHC conference, I hope you have registered for the specialbreakfast for newcomers (Wednesday at 7:00 a.m.) and introduce yourself to members ofthe SPNHC Council; we would like to get to know you better and help you make the mostof the first of what we hope will be many meetings.

Enjoy!Jean-Marc Gagnon, President,

Society for the Preservation of Natural History Collections

Welcome to SPNHC 2012

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The Society for the Preservation of Natural History Collections (SPNHC) is a global organization composedof a lively, active, and interdisciplinary community of professionals dedicated to the care of natural sciencecollections. SPNHC members are museum specialists; such as curators, collections managers, conservators,preparators, and database administrators, from more than 20 countries. The Society holds annual meetingsand sponsors symposia and workshops to foster the exchange of ideas and information. To learn more aboutSPNHC or to become a SPNHC member, please visit www.spnhc.org.

Susan CastaldiTravel & Social Events

Maureen DaRosCollections Tours

Lynn JonesCommunications

Bonnie MahmoodAccomodations & Social Events

Sally PallattoWebsite & Logo Design

Merchandise

Lourdes RojasHospitality

Harry ShyketWebmaster

Jessica SlawskiWest Campus Liaison

Patrick SweeneyProgram

Annette Van AkenSponsors & Vendors

Rosemary VolpeProgram Design

Greg Watkins-ColwellField Trips

Robert Capers, CNH OrganizerSusan ButtsLeo Hickey

Susan HochgrafMaureen DaRos

Anton (Twan) LeendersLynn Jones

Cope MacClintock

Bill MoorheadPenny SharpJessica Utrup

Greg Watkins-ColwellTim White

Charles YarishKristof Zyskowski

Rachael Perkins ArensteinDavid BloomPeter DesmetMarilyn Fox

Theresa Fairbanks HarrisChristine McCarthy

Elizabeth MerrittMeaghan Monaghan

Nelson RiosCatherine SeaseCarol Spencer

Executive CouncilJean Marc Gagnon, PresidentChris Norris, President-Elect

Richard Rabeler, Past PresidentBarbara Brown, Treasurer

Ruth O’Leary, Treasurer-in-TrainingJudith Price, Secretary

Susan Butts, Managing Editor

Members-at-LargeDebra Trock (2009-2012)

Richard Sabin (2010-2012)(temporary appointment)Clare Valentine (2010-2013)Jessica Cundiff (2010-2013)

Gretchen Anderson (2011-2014)Mariko Kageyama (2010-2014)

Tim WhiteCo-Chair

Susan ButtsCo-Chair

SPNHC 2012 Local Organizing Committee

Field Trip Leaders Workshop Leaders

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Dear SPNHC 2012 Delegates,

On behalf of the SPNHC 2012 Local Organizing Committee, it is our great pleasure towelcome you to the City of New Haven and the campus of Yale University. This is the firsttime that the Society for the Preservation of Natural History collections has met at YaleUniversity and we are proud to host the Society in 2012. Delegates from 14 countries havemade the trip to SPNHC 2012 and we welcome all of you to New Haven.

The theme of this meeting—“Emerging Technology and Innovation in Natural HistoryCollections Management”—reflects the creativity that our museums and collections arefacing every day to meet the many challenges and opportunities in the 21st century. For thepast year our local committee has developed a program that reflects those challenges andcreativity. SPNHC and many other organizations, such as the American Association ofMuseums, have devoted much energy to develop and disseminate best practices formanaging and conserving natural history collections. In the past two years the NationalScience Foundation of the United States has promoted the Advancing Digitization ofBiological Collections program and has challenged the natural history community to builda national resource for study of biodiversity and the history of life. With that as a backdrop,SPNHC is pleased to partner with AIC, the NSF-sponsored IDigBio, the Council forLibrary and Information Resources, and the Smithsonian Institution National Museum ofNatural History on several special sessions, including digitization, cryo- and frozen-tissuecollections, archives and special collections, preventive conservation, and storage ofmuseum collections that require innovation and creativity from our museum specialists andseveral institutions.

This year we have 45 companies, institutions, and organizations sponsoring topicalsessions, workshops, and social events. With their support, we have been able to keep thecosts of this meeting affordable for broad participation from the natural history andmuseum communities. In particular, we would like to thank Delta Designs, Ltd., and theYale Institute for the Preservation of Cultural Heritage for their outstanding support.

Our meeting venue is the Omni Hotel in downtown New Haven, near the New HavenGreen. Our keynote address and plenary session will take place in New Haven’s historicShubert Theater. We encourage you to enjoy the city, the Yale campus and the meeting.With our best wishes,

Tim White, Co-ChairSusan Butts, Co-Chair

SPNHC 2012 Local Organizing Committee

Welcome from the SPNHC 2012 Local Organizing Committee

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“If there is a Sistine Chapel of evolution, it is Yale University’s Peabody Museum.”

170 Whitney Avenue New Haven, Connecticutpeabody.yale.edu

David Rains Wallace, 2004Beasts of Eden


Welcome to the Yale Peabody Museum, Yale University and New Haven. My colleaguesand I at the Peabody Museum are delighted to be hosting this, the 27th meeting of theSociety for the Preservation of Natural History Collections, and we are particularlypleased at the record registration.

As you will see, Yale University continues to be a remarkable steward of its collections,which extend well beyond natural history to the holdings, for example, of its two majorart galleries. The Peabody Museum collections of more than 12 million specimens arehoused in New Haven and at Yale’s West Campus. The Class of 1954 EnvironmentalScience Center, adjacent to the public museum, houses entomology, the herbarium,paleobotany, living and fossil invertebrates, and vertebrate zoology in collection facilitiesacross the corridor from faculty labs, allowing ready access to materials for research andteaching. Yale’s West Campus houses some 40% of the Peabody’s collections, includingour museum archives, historical scientific instruments, and most of our anthropologymaterials, in newly furbished space. Special collections from most of the Peabody’s othermuseum divisions are also accommodated there. And in the near future West Campuswill be the venue of Yale’s new Institute for the Preservation of Cultural Heritage, whichwill incorporate new centers for digitization and conservation that will serve all theUniversity’s collections.

We have a full schedule of workshops and sessions treating all the developments thatexercise today’s stewards of natural history collections. Not surprisingly, a major focus thisyear is on how we obtain, handle, use and make data available, with sessions on three-dimensional imaging, digitization, georeferencing and data sharing. Conservation is alsocentral, including the newer challenges presented by cryo collections. As ever, our concernsare caring and sharing, developing and delivering new methods of conserving ourcollections and making the information they embody as widely available as possible. Andapart from the attraction of Yale’s collections, you will discover that New Haven, with itsmany fine restaurants and bars, is an ideal venue for a SPNCH meeting—for, as we all know,it is the informal and unscheduled conversations, as much as the conference meetings, thatmove our agenda along.

Derek E.G. BriggsDirector, Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History

Welcome from the Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History


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Sponsors

Platinum SponsorsKE Software, Inc.

National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian InstitutionSystematics

University Products, Inc.U.S. Art Company, Inc.

Yale Printing and Publishing Services

Delta Designs, Ltd.Yale Institute for the Preservation of Cultural Heritage

Smithsonian

Gold SponsorsKirtas Technologies, Inc.

Spacesaver/Donnegan SystemsTyco Integrated Security (ADT)

Diamond SponsorS


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Sponsors

All Packaging Company, Inc.Art and Archival Pty, Inc.

Cascade Group/Hanwell InstrumentsElectronic Imaging Materials, Inc.

Gallery Systems, Inc.GIGAmacro / Four Chambers Studios, LLC

Hirox-USA, Inc.Hollinger Metal Edge

Image Permanence Institute / Rochester Institute of Technology

Insects Limited, Inc.Marioff

Morse Watchmans, Inc.Northeast Natural History Supply Co.

O. Berk of New England / Kohls Containers

Onset Computer Corp.Protect Heritage Corp.

RURO, Inc.xpedx

Yale University Press

Giordano Construction Co., Inc.Open Text

TandD US, LLC

Tarsia Technical Industries, Inc.Viking Metal Cabinet Company

GIORDANOGIORDANO

Bronze Sponsors

supporting Sponsor

Silver Sponsors

Standard Builders


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general Conference informationRegiStRAtiON BOOtH

Please visit the Registration Booth before attend-ing any events or talks to check-in and pick up yourname badge, conference tote, and tickets for socialevents. Badges should always be worn in the confer-ence venues and in Yale buildings to identify you asa conference participant. Conference participantswith badges have free admission to the PeabodyMuseum exhibits.

Registration Booth hours and locations are:Omni 1st floor lobby

Sunday, 6:00 p.m.–8:00 p.m.Omni 2nd floor lobby

Monday, 8:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m.Tuesday, 7:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.Wednesday, 7:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m.Thursday, 8:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m.Friday, 8:00 a.m.–10:00 a.m.

There will be sign-up sheets for Special InterestGroups and Peabody Collection Tours at the Reg-istration Booth. You can also register for any socialevents, workshops, or field trips that still haveopenings.

Download the list of attendees and vendors from the SPNHC 2012 website at www.peabody.yale.edu/collections/SPNHC2012/program

iNfORMAtiON fOR PReSeNteRSOral Presenters

Your talk MUST be uploaded at the SpeakerReady Room (Omni Crown Room) the day beforeyour talk. If there is no one present in the SpeakerReady Room, please ask for assistance at the Regis-tration Booth. Talks can be in PowerPoint or PDFformat. Files should be labeled with the speaker’slast name. Oral presentation sessions will take placein the Omni New Haven Ballroom C, TempleRoom, and College Room. The keynote speaker andplenary sessions will be held at the Shubert Theater,247 College Street, (through the courtyard facingthe Omni front door).

POster PresentersPosters should be hung on Tuesday 1:00–5:00

p.m. or Wednesday 7:30–8:30 a.m. Poster removal isThursday 5:00–7:00 p.m. The Poster Session is

Wednesday 3:00–4:00 p.m. Please try to be at yourposter during the poster session so that you maydiscuss it with viewers.

tRAde SHOWThis year, the Trade Show features booths of over

thirty vendors who have helped to sponsor this con-ference. Please stop by the Trade Show in OmniBallroom A/B. The Trade Show will be open from1:00–5:00 p.m. Wednesday and 8:00 a.m.–3:40 p.m.Thursday. Coffee breaks will be at 10:00 a.m. and3:00 p.m. Wednesday, 10:00 a.m. and 3:10 p.m. onThursday, and 10:10 a.m. Friday in the Trade Show.All registrants are invited to attend.

Wi-fi ACCeSSWi-Fi is available to registrants in all areas on the

2nd floor of the Omni hotel. To connect:—Search for and connect to the “AVT Wireless Network” —Open your Internet browser

You will get an AVT splash page asking for user-name and password (all capital letters with no spaces):

Username—SPNHC2012Password—SPNHC2012

Check the box with “terms and conditions” andyou will be connected in a few seconds.

Wi-Fi is complimentary for Omni guests in themain 1st floor lobby and in all guest rooms.

SOCiAL MediAOur Twitter hashtag is #SPNHC2012.Look for us Facebook: SPNHC 2012 annual meeting.

ANNUAL BUSiNeSS MeetiNgThe Annual Business Meeting will take place on

Friday, June 15, at noon in the Omni Ballroom A/B.Lunch will be provided.

SPeCiAL iNteReSt gROUPS (SigS)Special Interest Groups will meet from 1:30–2:30

p.m. Friday, June 15, in various locations through-out the Omni. This year we will have SIGs forSTASH: Collaborations in Storage Methods andPractices, Collections Issues: Herbaria, CollectionsIssues: Cryo and Tissue Collections, Databases,


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Collecting and Shipping—Permits and Regulations,Grants and Funding Opportunities, EMu Commu-nity Developments, and Best Practices for NaturalHistory Collections Environments.

Please register (free) for SIGs at the RegistrationBooth. There is a limit of 20 people per group.Meeting locations are listed on the sign-up sheet.

BeHiNd-tHe-SCeNeS PeABOdY COLLeCtiONS tOURS

You will have the opportunity to tour the PeabodyMuseum collections in the Class of 1954 Environ-mental Science Center (ESC), our state-of-the-artcollections facilities, and the newly renovated collec-tion facility on the Yale West Campus. We have foursimultaneous afternoon collections tours slated from3:00 – 5:00 p.m. on Friday, June 15:—ESC 1: Molecular Tissue Lab, Ornithology/

Vertebrate Zoology Preparation Lab, InvertebrateZoology, and Invertebrate Paleontology

—ESC 2: Botany, Paleobotany, Center for EarthObservation, and Entomology

—ESC 3: Vertebrate Paleontology, VertebratePaleontology Preparation Laboratory, andMineralogy

—West Campus: Archives, Vertebrate Zoologyand Entomology, Kirtas (high-throughputdigitization), and AnthropologyParticipants of the ESC tours should walk from

the Omni New Haven to the Peabody Museum (25minutes). For those on the West Campus tour, vantransportation will be available between the Omniand West Campus, meeting on the 2nd floor nearthe Registration Booth.

Please register (free) at the Registration Booth.There is a limit of 20 people per tour.

SOCiAL eveNtS All social events are ticketed events and require

pre-registration. Please check with the RegistrationBooth to see if additional tickets are available forpurchase.

WelcOming recePtiOnThe Welcoming Reception will be held under the

world-famous Zallinger mural The Age of Reptilesin the Great Hall of Dinosaurs at the Peabody Mu-seum on Tuesday from 5:30–9:00 p.m. Some trans-portation is available between the Omni New

Haven and the Peabody starting at 5:15 p.m., butthe distance is walkable from the Omni (25 min-utes) and the residential colleges (20 minutes).

BanquetJoin us on Thursday for a Down East Clambake

at Amarante’s Sea Cliff, located in a quiet cove alongConnecticut’s shore, just minutes from downtownNew Haven. Appetizers will be served from 6:00 to7:00 p.m. with dinner to follow.The banquet includes:—Your choice of 1-1/4 pound steamed lobster, beef

tenderloin filet, or vegetarian entree, plus barbe-cued chicken, mussels, corn on the cob, roastedred potatoes, cole slaw, and strawberry shortcake

—Open bar—D.J. and dancing

Bus transportation will be available to take youfrom the Omni New Haven, beginning at 5:30 p.m.Return buses will be available beginning at 9:30p.m., with the final trip at 11:00 p.m. Please bringyour banquet ticket for admission.

VendOr lunch Say hello and thank our conference sponsors and

vendors for their support throughout the year andfor their support of the SPNHC 2012 conference atthe Vendor Lunch. The Vendor Lunch will be heldat the Omni Temple Room at noon on Wednesday.Please bring your ticket for admission.

neW ParticiPant BreakfastSPNHC New Participants—please join us for

breakfast and meet SPNHC officers, mentors, andother newcomers. Breakfast will be at 7:00 a.m.,Wednesday, in the Harbour and Davenport rooms(Omni New Haven, 19th floor) and will finish intime to head to the opening talks. Please bring yourticket for admission.

fieLd tRiPSField trips will meet on the second floor of the

Omni New Haven, near the Registration Booth.Lunch and bottled water will be provided, but youmight like to bring additional water. Grab a lunchand look for the field trip leader holding a sign withyour field trip name.Field trips will leave at:—Bird-watching 8:00 a.m.

general Conference information


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—Connecticut Geology 8:30 a.m.—Plant-life of Traprock Ridges 9:00 a.m.—Marine Algae of Southern New England 9:00 a.m.—Botany of Northwestern Connecticut 9:00 a.m—New Haven Walking Tour 9:30 a.m.

WORkSHOPSThe pre-conference workshop, Georeferencing,

will be held on Sunday, June 10 (10:00 a.m.–6:00p.m.) and Monday, June 11 (9:00 a.m.–6:00 p.m.) inthe Kline Biology Tower (KBT) CSSSI StatLabClassroom (C27) on Yale Science Hill. It is approxi-mately a 25-minute walk to KBT from the Omniand 20 minutes from the residential colleges. Lunchand breaks will be provided both days.

The post-conference workshop, Forecasting theFuture of Natural History Museums and Collections,will be held in the auditorium of the Yale PeabodyMuseum on Saturday, June 16, from 8:30 a.m.–5:00p.m. Use the Peabody main entrance. The post-con-ference workshop, Stabilize This!, will be held in theClass of 1954 Environmental Science Center (ESC)adjacent to the Peabody Museum on Saturday, June16, from 9:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m. There will be directionsto the meeting rooms at the ESC entrances. Lunchand breaks will be provided for both workshops.

SPNHC COMMittee MeetiNgSCommittee meetings for the SPNHC Council will

be held on Monday, June 11, in the Class of 1954Environmental Science Center. A schedule is in-cluded in this program.

gettiNg AROUNdInformation on transportation for specific events

is listed with that event. New Haven is pedestrian-friendly. As with any large urban setting, it is advis-able to be aware of your surroundings and walk ac-companied after dark.Walking times between lodging and venues:

Omni New Haven to Peabody 25 minutesJonathan Edwards Residential

College to Peabody/ESC 20 minutesJonathan Edwards residential

college to Omni 15 minutesTaxis are generally available outside the Omni.

Metro Taxi: (203) 777-7777Quick Taxi: (203) 777-7778NH Yellow Taxi: (203) 777-7770

PARkiNgParking at the Omni is available for $19/night in

the below-ground garage. Parking for the residentcolleges is $28. Please note that the resident collegeparking garage is approximately one mile away, onfoot, from campus housing locations. Yale Shuttleservice is available. Most of the downtown NewHaven streets have metered parking. Parking at thePeabody Museum is available, but very limited.

JONAtHAN edWARdS ReSideNtiAL COLLege

Enter Jonathan Edwards Residential College atthe main gate at 68 High Street (off street). You willbe assisted by Yale Conference Services employees.The Housing Office is open for check-in from 8:30a.m.–4:30 p.m. If check-in or assistance is neededafter hours, please contact the Guest Service Repre-sentatives on call at (203) 432-2840.

MAPSMaps of downtown New Haven, the Yale Campus

(inside back cover), and the 2nd floor of the OmniHotel, are in this program.

general Conference information


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fROM tHe PAge tO tHe PixeL: SCieNCe WRitiNg gOeS ONLiNe

carl ZimmerThe Internet has profoundly transformed communication about

science. Traditional venues, such as museums and printedmagazines, have now been joined by blogs, Facebook, Twitter,Google Plus, and a dizzying menagerie of other media. Carl’s talk willdiscuss his experiments—successful and otherwise—in making thetransition to science online.

The New York Times Book Review calls award-winning popular science writer,speaker and blogger Carl Zimmer “as fine a science essayist as we have.” Zimmer grad-

uated magna cum laude from Yale University and from 1994 to 1998 was a senior editor at Discover, where he remains acontributing editor and writes a monthly column. The author of 12 books about science, Zimmer has written hundreds ofarticles for the New York Times and magazines including National Geographic, Time, Scientific American, Science andPopular Science. Zimmer's work has been anthologized in both The Best American Science Writing series and The BestAmerican Science and Nature Writing series. Since 2008 he has been a lecturer in Yale’s Environmental Studies Program,where he teaches science writing. He is a two-time winner of the American Association for the Advancement of ScienceJournalism Award and has received the National Academies Communication Award. In 2011 he was elected to the boardof directors of the Council for the Advancement of Science Writing.

keynote Speaker

Plenary SessiontHe digitAL CONteNt LifeCYCLe ANd NAtURAL HiStORY COLLeCtiONS:

NeW ReSPONSiBiLitieS ANd OPPORtUNitieSThere has been an increasing focus on digitizing objects housed in natural history collections, and recent

funding initiatives will lead to the acquisition of digital assets on a massive scale. The acquisition of these as-sets presents many new challenges related to the management and accessibility of these items. It also pro-vides an opportunity to make collections accessible in new and interesting ways. This session will featurepresentations on the digital content lifecycle from leaders in the field.

iMPLeMeNtAtiON MAY Be PROBLeMAtiC

kenneth hammaConsultantYale Center for British Art, Yale University, P.O. Box208280, New Haven CT 06520-8280 USA

We all have managed aspects of transitioningcollections and collection management into a digi-tal mode. The longer we’ve been at it, the more wehave worked not just with systems and digital as-

sets but also with institutional change. The “digitalcontent lifecycle” has evolved to describe and sum-marize the scope of our every-day back-end man-agement. In addition it helps us conceptualize anoverview that may vary from one institution to an-other but is fundamental in planning processes,policy and funding.

It has been my experience, however, that, evenwith the understanding we share today, successfullong-term implementation with all the desired out-comes cannot be assumed. While models like the

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digital content lifecycle are stable and predictable,many elements we manage are not.

Kenneth Hamma is currently working as an independentconsultant for planning and organizational change at theintersection of information technology and cultural her-itage collections. Among current clients are the AndrewW. Mellon Foundation, the Yale Center for British Art,the Museums of New Mexico and Yale’s Office of DigitalAssets and Infrastructure. He was Executive Director forDigital Policy and Initiatives at the J. Paul Getty Trustuntil 2008. From 1996 to 2004 he was Assistant Directorand from 1987 to 1996 Associate Curator of Antiquitiesat the Getty Museum. He has served as a member of theSteering Committee of the Coalition for Networked Infor-mation (CNI), a member of the RLG Programs Councilof OCLC, and a member of the At Large Advisory Com-mittee of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Namesand Numbers (ICANN).

COLLABORAtive digitAL ReSeARCH

dOminic OldmanDeputy Head of Information SystemsBritish Museum, Great Russell Street, WC1B 3DG,United Kingdom

For many scholars the Internet and the WorldWide Web promise a revolution that always seemsto be just about to happen. The web can be highlyimmersive but also disruptive, operating as a con-tinually moving environment. It is fuelled year onyear by new technology, greater bandwidth andprocessing power, and by multimedia visualisationswith the potential to radically change the way thatwe work and present knowledge to a global audi-ence. Despite this potential many academic organi-sations lack the infrastructure, skills and culture toengage with the Internet effectively, leaving it toothers to provide Internet services covering the artsand history that often suffer from issues of qualityand quantity. This presentation looks at some of thechallenges for researchers using the Internet andhow it is changing the way that we collaborate. Itwill look at some of the initiatives aimed at releasingknowledge previously held in data silos, and someof the tools and technologies that might support thework of digital researchers in the future.

Dominic Oldman is the British Museum’s InformationSystems Development Manager and the Principal Investi-

gator of ResearchSpace, an Andrew Mellon Foundation-funded project developing a collaborative online environ-ment for humanities research projects using semantic webdata technology. He has been involved in museum cura-torial computing for many years and managed the imple-mentation of the British Museum’s Collection Online sys-tem, recently extended for computer reuse. He is currentlychair of the new Bloomsbury Digital Humanities Group.

digitAL PReSeRvAtiON—A diffeReNt ANiMAL iN SURPRiSiNg WAYS

Paul cOurantUniversity of Michigan Librarian and Dean of LibrariesLibrary Administration, University of Michigan, 818 Hatcher Graduate Library South, Ann Arbor, MI48109-1205 USA

As the scholarly and cultural records are increas-ingly produced in digital form, legal, technical, in-stitutional and economic preservation frameworksthat worked well in a world where only physical ob-jects matter are under stress and at risk of failure.Put simply, the ability of research and cultural her-


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itage institutions, including libraries and museums,to provide access to valuable and interesting objectsof study depended on those objects being well-pre-served and cared for. In the digital world, the con-nection between access and preservation is no longerautomatic. This is especially true for texts and im-ages, but will become increasingly true in other do-mains, as we are better and better able to encodecomplicated information in digital form and as wedevelop tools that require digital information as thestarting place for our work.

The crux of the organizational and economicproblem is that preservation for its own sake is diffi-cult to produce and sustain, so we need to developinstitutions and incentives that will assure preserva-tion in the interest of future access, or we risk theloss of elements of the scholarly record and associ-ated objects of study. Bits rot, formats change, stor-age and distribution of digital information can beand often will be outsourced. Born-digital informa-tion is especially at risk, but so too are digitizedcopies of texts, objects and events, as well as schol-arly work that is done using those objects.

In my segment of the plenary session, I will am-plify these themes, review the current landscape of

cultural heritage organizations supporting access todigital information and present an economic frame-work for addressing the questions all decision-mak-ers face as they consider digital preservation, follow-ing from work that is discussed in the Blue RibbonTask Force on Sustainable Digital Preservation andAccess, of which I was a member.

Paul N. Courant is Arthur F. Thurnau Professor, HaroldT. Shapiro Collegiate Professor of Public Policy, Professorof Economics, Professor of Information, and Faculty Asso-ciate in the Institute for Social Research at the Universityof Michigan. Courant has authored half a dozen booksand over seventy papers covering a broad range of topicsin economics and public policy, including tax policy, localeconomic development, gender differences in pay, housing,radon and public health, relationships between economicgrowth and environmental policy, and university budget-ing systems. More recently, he has been studying the eco-nomics of universities, the economics of libraries andarchives, and the changes in the system of scholarly com-munication that derive from new information technolo-gies. From 2007-2010, Courant was a member of the BlueRibbon Task Force on Sustainable Digital Preservationand Access.


◆→▶ 21◀←◆

e 2012 Carolyn Rose Award

For activities which have furthered the objectives of the Society through outstanding committee work, prolonged officer roles,

or promotion of activities of the Society

Russell D. (Tim) White

In recognition of his extensive contributions to SPNHC since its earliest days,the Council of the Society for the Preservation of Natural History Collectionshas voted to present the 2012 President’s Award to Russell D. (Tim) White.

Tim is fiercely devoted to SPNHC. Period. A look at his CV shows that, inaddition to his tenure as President, he has served on eight committees and fourlocal committees, and has received four Special Service Awards. When one of

his colleagues asked him recently about his future SPNHC activities, he noted “I’m just going to keep doingstuff until someone tells me to stop.”

In the words of his supporters:“Through his strong leadership and unshakable dedication [as President], he helped to guide the Society

on a path towards broad influence and acknowledged professionalism beyond natural history”; indeed, hefostered “the elevation of SPNHC into a truly professional and world class society.”

“I have no hesitation in saying that Tim is one of the pillars of the SPNHC Community…[,] epitomizeswhat the Society stand for and strives to promote collections care and the profession in its widest sense.”

“The unwavering commitment and devotion that Tim continues to show in his efforts and interactions onbehalf of the Society are awe-inspiring.”

For outstanding commitment to natural history collections care and management

Catharine Hawks

In recognition of her significant contributions to conservation and collectionmanagement worldwide through her tireless service as a conservator, author,editor, and educator, the Council of the Society for the Preservation of NaturalHistory Collections has voted to present the 2012 Carolyn Rose Award toCatharine (Cathy) Hawks.

It is easy to see that Cathy was a natural to receive this honor when one readssome of the accolades in the support letters that were written on her behalf.

“Twenty-six years after first meeting Cathy, I am more in awe than ever of her professional knowledge andleadership abilities, and her amazing generosity of spirit. I would not have had the career that I have hadwithout Cathy’s mentoring.”

“She is one of the most considerate, ethical, and devoted people that I know in our field.”“To me, the real test of dedication is the unacknowledged time and effort that a person spends on some-

thing that they believe in. And Cathy is an extraordinary example of genuine dedication.”“Cathy was a protégé of, collaborator with, and close friend to Carolyn L. Rose. I know that Carolyn, in

looking down at us making this award to Cathy, would be very proud of and happy for her, as we all can be.”

e 2012 President’s Award

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Recognition for a single extraordinary effort that directly and positively affects

the success of SPNHC activities or events

Lisa Kronthal Elkin

In recognition of her significant contribution to SPNHC arising from herchairmanship of the Publicity and Outreach Sessional Committee, the Councilof the Society for the Preservation of Natural History Collections has voted topresent a Special Services Award to Lisa Kronthal Elkin.

In the words of her supporters: Lisa “managed the committee’s work in an extremely professional manner”

and she clearly was “the driving force behind P&O.” “P&O ended up tackling some of the biggest questions that face any professional society”; via their recom-

mendations, the Society now has a new logo, promotional materials, conference exhibit booth, and, as manyof you have likely seen, a new website.

“Most importantly, the recommendations of the P&O Committee led to two major new initiatives of theSociety, focused on professional mentorship and best practices.” These initiatives have helped define the fu-ture of the Society.

e 2012 Special Service Award

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Design, Build and Integration for Security, Life Safety and Network Systems

We have been providing integrated security systems since 1983. Since then our primary goal has been to provide our clients with the highest quality customer service available.

�ere are many museums, galleries, theaters, libraries, and historical research facilities throughout the state of Connecticut, and each requires close attention and the highest level of

security. Openly displaying art, artifacts and documents of great historical importance is a risky business, but this is exactly where Nationwide Security Corporation can help.

Nationwide Security provides all facets of State of the Art electronics security includingISIS protection. �e Aspects ARTSTM (Art Register Tracking So�ware) is a real-time Artwork Security RFID System designed to protect, track and manage �ne art, antiques, ceramics and

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47 Montowese Avenue, North Haven, CT 06473CT License # 105668 - Web Site: www.nationwidesecuritycorp.com


◆→▶ 24◀←◆

Registration6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.

1st floor lobby, Omni hotel

Georeferencing Workshop day 1 • 10:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.

kline Biology towercsssi stat lab classroom, c27

Presented by the university of california–Berkeleyand tulane university

Registration8:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.

2nd floor lobby, Omni hotel

Georeferencing Workshop day 2 • 9:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.

kline Biology towercsssi stat lab classroom, c27

Presented by the university of california–Berkeleyand tulane university

Program at a glanceSunday, June 10

Monday, June 11

8:30 a.mCommittee Meetings

class of 1954 environmental science center

12:30 p.m. lunch (on your own)

1:15 p.m.Committee Meetings

class of 1954 environmental science center

4:45 p.m.

6:00 p.m.1st Council Meeting

(dinner included)class of 1954 environmental science center

10:00 p.m.


◆→▶ 25◀←◆

Program at a glancetuesday, June 12



Vendor Set Up1:00 – 6:00 p.m.

Ballroom a/B, Omni hotel

Poster Set Up1:00 – 5:00 p.m.

Ballroom d, Omni hotel

fieLd tRiPSdepart from 2nd floor lobby, Omni hotel

8:00 a.m.

Bird-watching

8:30 a.m.

Connecticutgeology

9:00 a.m.Consortium of

Northeastern Herbaria Co-sponsored Botany trips

Plant-life of traprock ridge

Botany of northwesternconnecticut

marine algae of southern new england

9:30 a.m.

Walking tour of New Haven

and YaleCollections

10:00 a.m.

3:00 p.m.

3:30 p.m.

4:00 p.m.

4:30 p.m.

5:30 p.m.Welcoming Reception

Yale Peabody museum great hall of dinosaurs

9:00 p.m.


◆→▶ 26◀←◆

Program at a glanceWednesday, June 13

Registration7:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. • 2nd floor lobby, Omni hotel

New Participant Breakfast7:00 – 8:30 a.m.

harbour and davenport rooms, 19th floor, Omni hotel (ticketed event)Poster Set Up7:30 – 8:30 a.m.

Ballroom d, Omni hotelTrade Show

1:00 – 5:00 p.m.Ballroom a/B, Omni hotel

start shuBert theater

8:30 a.m. Opening sessionWelcome and Keynote Speaker

10:00 a.m. Break10:30 a.m. Plenary Session


start Omni hOtel12:00 p.m. Vendor Lunch – temPle rOOm (ticketed event)

BallrOOm c BallrOOm d cOllege rOOm1:30 p.m. Oral session

Collections Digitization & Mobilization 1

Oral sessionGeneral Session 1

3:00 p.m. AIC & SPNHC Poster Sessions

(refreshments provided)4:00 p.m. Oral session

Collections Digitization & Mobilization 1 (cont’d)


(cont’d)5:00 p.m.

5:30 p.m.Consortium of

Northeastern Herbaria Business Meeting

6:00 p.m. SALIX Workshop7:00 p.m.

7:30 p.m.


◆→▶ 27◀←◆

Program at a glance



Trade Show8:00 a.m. – 3:40 p.m.


Vendor Breakdown3:40 – 7:00 p.m.


Poster Removal5:00 – 7:00 p.m.

Ballroom d, Omni hotel

ursday, June 14

start time BallrOOm c temPle rOOm cOllege rOOm8:30 a.m.


Oral sessionTechnology in

Outreach & Education

Oral sessionCollections Digitization

& Mobilization 210:00 a.m. Break – BallrOOm a/B10:30 a.m. Oral session

General Session 2 (cont’d)

Oral sessionPreventive Conservation

Oral sessionCollections Digitization & Mobilization 2 (cont’d)


1:30 p.m.DemoCamp


(cont’d)Oral sessionArchives &

Special Collections3:10 p.m.3:15 p.m Break – BallrOOm a/B3:40 p.m.

DemoCamp (cont’d)


(cont’d)

Oral sessionArchives &

Special Collections (cont’d)

5:00 p.m.6:00 p.m. SPNHC Banquet at Amarante’s Sea Cliff

(ticketed event)shuttle transportation from the Omni hotel begins at 5:30 p.m.

return trips run from 9:30 – 11:00 p.m.

11:00 p.m.


◆→▶ 28◀←◆

fULL dAY WORkSHOPS

Forecasting the Future of Natural History Museums and Collections8:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.

Yale Peabody museum auditorium

Stabilize This!9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.

class of 1954 environmental science center, room 110

Registration8:00 – 10:00 a.m.


Peabody Museum Collections Tours3:00 – 5:00 p.m.

Yale science hill or West campus

2nd Council Meeting5:30 – 9:00 p.m.

class of 1954 environmental science center, room 110

Program at a glancefriday, June 15

Saturday, June 16

start time BallrOOm c temPle rOOm cOllege rOOm

8:30 a.m.Oral session

Collaborations

Oral sessionCryo Collections

Oral sessionThree Dimensional

Imaging10:10 a.m.

Break – BallrOOm a/B10:15 a.m. Break – BallrOOm a/B10:40 a.m.

Oral sessionCollaborations

(cont’d)

Oral sessionCryo Collections

(cont’d)

Oral sessionThree Dimensional

Imaging (cont’d)

12:00 p.m. annual Business meeting (lunch included) – BallrOOm a/B1:30 p.m. Special Interest Groups

(Omni)2:30 p.m.


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Om

ni H

otel

flo

or P

lan

SeCO

Nd

fLO

OR


◆→▶ 30◀←◆

detailed Program • Monday, June 11

detailed Program • Sunday, June 10

startclass Of 1954 enVirOnmental science center kline BiOlOgY tOWer

esc 110 esc 240 esc 210 csssi stat lab classroom, c27

8:30 a.m.Committee Meeting:

WebCommittee Meeting:

Mentorship9:00 a.m.

georeferencing Workshop• dAY 2

Presented by the university of california–

Berkeley and tulane university

9:45 a.m. Break

10:00 a.m. Committee Meeting:Best Practices

Committee Meeting:Professional

development

Committee Meeting:Legislation

& Regulations

11:15 a.m. Committee Meeting:Long-range Planning

Committee Meeting:documentation

Committee Meeting:Publications


1:15 p.m.Committee Meeting:

MembershipCommittee Meeting:

ConferenceCommittee Meeting:

Conservation

2:30 p.m. Break

2:45 p.m. Plenary Session: Long-range Planning

(includes all committee chairs,

council)

4:45 p.m.

6:00 p.m. Council Meeting (dinner included)

10:00 p.m.

start 1st flOOr lOBBY, Omni hotel

kline BiOlOgY tOWercsssi stat lab classroom, c27

10:00 a.mgeoreferencing Workshop• dAY 1

Presented by the university of california–Berkeley

and tulane university

6:00 p.m. Registration

8:00 p.m.

Registration • 8:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. • 2nd flOOr lOBBY, Omni hOtel


◆→▶ 31◀←◆

fieLd tRiPS

start dePart frOm registratiOn BOOth, Omni hOtel, 2nd flOOr lOBBY

8:00 a.m.

Bird-watching

8:30 a.m.

Connecticut geology

9:00 a.m.

Consortium of Northeastern Herbaria

Co-sponsored Botany trips

Plant-life of traprock ridge

Botany of northwestern connecticutmarine algae of

southern new england

9:30 a.m.

Walking tour of New Haven

and Yale Collections

10:00 a.m.

3:00 p.m.

3:30 p.m.

4:00 p.m.

4:30 p.m.

5:30 p.m.Welcoming Reception

Yale Peabody museum great hall of dinosaurs

9:00 p.m.

detailed Program • tuesday, June 12

Registration • 7:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. • 2nd flOOr lOBBY, Omni hOtelPoster Set Up • 1:00 – 5:00 p.m. • BallrOOm d, Omni hOtel

vendor Set Up • 1:00 – 6:00 p.m. • BallrOOm a/B, Omni hOtel


◆→▶ 32◀←◆

detailed Program • Wednesday, June 13 • Morning

start shuBert theaterOmni hOtel

BallrOOm d harBOur & daVenPOrt rOOms,19th flOOr

7:00 New Participant Breakfast

(ticketed event)7:30 Poster Set Up

8:30 OPeNiNg SeSSiON WeLCOMiNg ReMARkS

tim WhiteCo-chair, SPNHC 2012

Jean-marc gagnonPresident, SPNHC

derek BriggsDirector, Yale Peabody Museum

Peter saloveyProvost, Yale University

9:00 keYNOte AddReSSmoderator: susan Butts

from the Page to the Pixel: Science Writing goes Online

carl Zimmer

10:00 Break – BallrOOm a/B, Omni hOtel

PLeNARY SeSSiONmoderator: meg Bellinger

10:30implementation

May Be Problematickenneth hamma

11:00Collaborative

digital Researchdominic Oldman

11:30digital Preservation

—A different Animal in Surprising Ways

Paul n. courant


vendor Lunch – temPle rOOm (ticketed event)

Registration • 7:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. • 2nd flOOr lOBBY, Omni hOtel

trade Show • 1:00 – 5:00 p.m. • BallrOOm a/B, Omni hOtel


◆→▶ 33◀←◆

detailed Program • Wednesday, June 13 • Aernoon

start BallrOOm c

COLLeCtiONS digitizAtiON & MOBiLizAtiON 1moderator: Patrick sweeney

1:30Common and effective digitization practices in biological and paleontological collections

nelson & Paul

1:50digitizing North American lichen

and bryophyte specimensthiers, gries, nash, gilbert

2:10Plants, herbivores, and parasitoids:

A model system for the study of tri-trophic associations

tulig, naczi, rabeler, magill, schuh

2:30Large volume digitization:

How to spend 18 million dollarsvan der mije

2:50

3:00 Poster Sessions – BallrOOm d4:00

Building a service centre for outsourcing large-scale digitisation

saarenmaa, tegelberg, Pajari, mononen, hyvönen, shah, haapala

4:20A names-based cyberinfrastructure—

What can names management offer to collection management

Patterson

4:40digital representations:

An approach to best practice for data sharing

giere

5:00

5:30 Consortium of Northeastern Herbaria Business Meeting

7:30

start cOllege rOOm

geNeRAL SeSSiON 1moderator: catherine sease

1:30 the physicochemical characteristics andconservation of fossil resins (amber) nascimbene, Bisulca, elkin, grimaldi

1:45 Constructive decision-making for destructivesampling: An example for isotopic geochemistry

clementz, holroyd2:00 documenting and communicating

about toxins in collectionsdemouthe

2:15 Hazard identification and exposure assessment ofconservation occupational work tasks associated

with anthropological collection objectsmakos

2:30 A ticking time bomb: Acid-caused decay of mammal skins

quaisser, giere, Willborn, Bartsch2:45 towards best practice in mounting and conservation

of botanical specimens Yesilyurt, collins, santana

3:00 Poster Sessions – BallrOOm d4:00 developing methods for the use

of pulped paper in archival fossil repairVital

4:15 Protecting collections and integrated pestmanagement challenges: A twelve-year perspective

hites, revelez4:30 New approaches to combat an old infestation:

Webbing clothes moths at the Natural HistoryMuseum, a case studymendez, ryder, smith

4:45 innovation through interdisciplinary exchange:Restoration of the North American mammal habitat

dioramassybalsky, Palumbo, nunan, levinson, elkin

5:00 Rising to a challenge: embedding museum conservation with natural history

at the National Museum WalesButtler, carter, Purewal

5:15 ConservationSpacemccarthy

6:00 SALix Workshop7:30


◆→▶ 34◀←◆

detailed Program • ursday, June 14 • Morning

start temPle rOOm

teCHNOLOgY iN OUtReACH & edUCAtiON moderator: Bill Watson

8:30 Building a 21st century natural history museumWatson

8:4521st century learning in natural history settings:

Perspectives from conference attendees Babcock, chandler, dasari, flannery, norris, Pickering, sullivan

9:00Networking nature: Building cybercabinets of digital curiosities

sargent

9:15 innovative educational and collection management tools for natural history museums

mavrogianni, marianos, gkinis, maroudas, tsilivigkos9:30

Riding the World Wide Web to fame and fortunemayer, grant

9:45iCBUg: the Peabody’s collections in nature’s classroom

Piel, gall, Pickering, shyket, sweeney

10:00 Break – BallrOOm a/B

PReveNtive CONSeRvAtiONmoderators: cathy hawks and lisa elkin

Co-sponsored by the American institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works

10:30introduction

10:40 Resources for preventive conservation and collections carefifield, arenstein, gleeson

11:00Cultural property risk analysis:

A report on the state of the art as revealed at the 2011 international SymposiumWaller

11:20 Protecting collections: tools to engage climate dialogues with conservators, engineers, collection managers and facilities managers

grzywacz11:40 Research on energy savings opportunities: System shutdowns and cultural institutions

linden, reilly, herzog

12:00 pm lunch (on your own)

Registration • 8:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. • 2nd flOOr lOBBY, Omni hOteltrade Show • 8:00 a.m. – 3:40 p.m. • BallrOOm a/B, Omni hOtel • vendor Breakdown • 3:40 – 7:00 p.m.

Poster Removal • 5:00 – 7:00 p.m. • BallrOOm d, Omni hOtelSPNHC Banquet at Amarante’s Sea Cliff • 6:00 – 11:00 p.m. (ticketed event)

shuttle transportation from the Omni hotel begins 5:30 p.m. • return trips 9:30 – 11:00 p.m.


◆→▶ 35◀←◆

◆→▶ 36◀←◆


detailed Program • ursday, June 14 • Morning

startBallrOOm c cOllege rOOm

geNeRAL SeSSiON 2moderator: greg Watkins-colwell

COLLeCtiONS digitizAtiON & MOBiLizAtiON 2moderator: susan Butts

8:30 Larger collection yet smaller location: Moving theichthyological and herpetological alcohol

collections of NCB Naturalisde ruiter

Maximizing data generation workflow: two case studies from the New York Botanical garden

asencio, gottschalk

8:45 from Acris to Xenopus: Recuration of amphibians at Yale Peabody Museum

smith, Watkins-colwell, skelly

A shift in strategy for digitizing a large herbarium: implications for managing the collection

tarnowsky9:00 developing a new national museum of natural

history at tel Aviv Universityfurth

Meeting the demands of rapid digitization—imaging and archiving plant specimens

Bevans

9:15Herbarium in a public library’s history room

flannery

Streamlining herbarium specimen digitization using optical character recognition

gottschalk, kirchgessner, Watson9:30 the Barneby Legume Catalogue: An integration of

specimen data and published text santos lorenzo, tulig

gigAmacro technology for high-resolution digitization of specimens

cooper, cooper

9:45RCiS developments at NMNH

Brown, m.; Orrell, t.

Advances in the computational photography tools: Reflectance transformation imaging (Rti)

and Algorithmic Rendering (AR)schroer, mudge

10:00 Break – BallrOOm a/B10:30 One name, one fungal species: implications for

the herbarium and the database to the rescue dominick, rossman

Museum protocols serving as a standard for workflowsand a support document for activities: A case study

alonso-Perez, ford10:45

the rewards of having countedBrouillet

Maintaining a mineral collection in an evolvinggeosciences department: Progress toward preservation

holl, hollister, duffy11:00

Creating collection relevance: A museum’s guide to values assessment

Work

Conservation and digitization of Compendium index of North American Mesozoic and

Cenozoic type fossil Plants at the Peabody Museumhu, hickey

11:15developing a flexible collections competency system for europe

huxley, maldar

Using specimen collections databases to highlight significance of animal pollinators:

a case study from east AfricaOtieno, muchai, Oyieke

11:30 federal interest in scientific collections: A statusreport on two interagency working groups

schindel, miller, Bartuska, Jones

Using herbarium databases to deduce plant associationslandrum, lafferty, Baker

11:45Managing a collection of students

Watkins-colwell

Sam Mitchel Herbarium of fungi: A case study in thefuture of collection information in a digital world

toner



◆→▶ 37◀←◆

detailed Program • ursday, June 14 • Aernoon

start cOllege rOOm

ARCHiveS & SPeCiAL COLLeCtiONSmoderator: rusty russell

Co-sponsored by the Council for Library & information Resources1:30 21st century approaches to 17th century collections: Aspects of access to, conservation and security

of the early botanical collections of the Natural History Museum, London huxley

1:45Creating serendipity: How collaboration and a shared database

can lead to eureka momentsutrup

2:00Catherine Parr traill and Adam White: Challenges met

and discoveries made while conserving their historical botanical scrapbooks metsger, cowan, dickinson

2:15the American Museum of Natural History Archive Project

mathé, lee, morgan

2:30integrating paleobiological and archival informatics in the cataloging

of the University of California Museum of Paleontology archivesholroyd, marshall

2:45 Archives at the Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History: the anatomy of a university natural history museum

and the evolution of science in Americadrew

3:00 What Henderson saw: extracting observations from century-old field notebook

thomer, Vaidya, guralnick, Bloom, russell3:15 Break – BallrOOm a/B3:40 the ecosystem of the archive:

Scholarly and public interaction with natural history collectionsstinson

3:55the field Book Registry:

Bringing consistency and cohesion to distributed collectionssheffield, russell

4:10discussion

4:25discussion

4:40 discussion5:00 p.m.

Registration • 8:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. • 2nd flOOr lOBBY, Omni hOteltrade Show • 8:00 a.m. – 3:40 p.m. • BallrOOm a/B, Omni hOtel • vendor Breakdown • 3:40 – 7:00 p.m.

Poster Removal • 5:00 – 7:00 p.m. • BallrOOm d, Omni hOtelSPNHC Banquet at Amarante’s Sea Cliff • 6:00 – 11:00 p.m.

shuttle transportation from the Omni hotel begins 5:30 p.m. • return trips 9:30 – 11:00 p.m.


detailed Program • ursday, June 14 • Aernoon

start

BallrOOm c temPle rOOm

deMOCAMPmoderator: amanda neill

PReveNtive CONSeRvAtiONmoderators: cathy hawks and lisa elkin

Co-sponsored by the American institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works

1:30 gigAmacro: Creating gigapixel photographs of macro and micro specimens

cooper, cooper

Microenvironments: their future use and potential in the control of deterioration mechanisms in organic

and inorganic materialscollins

1:50Reflectance transformation imaging (Rti)

for empirical documentation of natural history collections

schroer, mudge

effectiveness of entomological collection storage cabinets in buffering environmental fluctuations in historic museum buildings

szczepanowska, hawks, dePriest, furth, gentili-Poole, Bell, shockley, mecklenburg

2:10High-throughput 3-d pinned

insect data capturesieracki, favret

illumination and preservation of museum exhibitions:tempering the beast with new technology

Weintraub

2:30egeMS electronic geological management system:

Preserving geological materials and information for our future

timm

the use of microfading to manage the risk of light-fading during display

ford, smith

2:50georeferencing natural history collections data:

the geOLocate Projectrios, Bart

defensible collections: designing a safe exhibit space

hirsh, harris

3:10Break – BallrOOm a/B

3:40Connecting expert knowledge to specimens: remote

annotation of data in a filtered Push networkmorris, macklin, dou, hanken, kelly, lowery,

ludaescher, mcPhillips, morris

Application of preventive conservation to solve the coming crisis

in collections managementsimmons

4:00 Collaborative digitization workflows with Specify

BentleyPanel

4:20Natural selection:

finding specimens in a natural history collectionvan der mije

Panel

4:40the Apiary Project—A framework

and workflow for extraction and parsing of herbarium specimen data

Best, neill, moen

Panel

5:00

◆→▶ 38◀←◆

◆→▶ 39◀←◆


detailed Program • friday, June 15 • Morning

Registration • 8:00 – 10:00 a.m. • 2nd flOOr lOBBY, Omni hOtel

start BallrOOm c

COLLABORAtiONSmoderator: david schindel

8:30 doing it digitally: A 25-year Peabody perspectivegall

8:45Shared digital infrastructure—An institutional approach

king

9:00 Consortium of Northeastern Herbaria: A regional, data-sharing collaborationsweeney

9:15 Opening access to works in the public domain at Yale Universityfournier

9:30 the PBi Miconieae project: A complete web-based monograph of the tribe Miconieae (Melastomataceae)

Watson, tiernan, michelangeli, tulig

9:45An overview of the global Plants initiative

mozzicato, tulig

10:00BiSciCol—A community effort and toolkit to link-up,

tag and track biological collections data more effectivelystucky, Ziemba, deck, guralnick, Beaman, cellinese

10:15 Break – BallrOOm a/B10:40

integrated digitized Biocollections (idigBio) cloud-based cyberinfrastructure

fortes, figueiredo, matsunaga, thompson, collins, Xu

10:55 Canadensys—How we built a national biodiversity data networkdesmet, Bruneau

11:10 Biodiversity information Serving Our Nation (BiSON): the national resource for discovery, linkage and re-use of organismal occurrence data

simpson, martín, masaki, guala

11:25CollectionSpace: Museums, higher education

and community source collaborationforbes, spinazze

11:40 integrating biodiversity distribution knowledge: toward a global map of life

Jetz, guralnick


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detailed Program • friday, June 15 • Morning

start

temPle rOOm cOllege rOOm

CRYO COLLeCtiONSmoderator: Breda Zimkus

tHRee diMeNSiONAL iMAgiNgmoderator: holly rushmeier

8:30 tHe Big Chill: A framework for the conversion of the Museum of vertebrate zoology

genetic resources collection from ultra-cold to liquid nitrogen storage

trápaga, spencer, cicero, mcguire

3d and hyperspectral scanning at the Yale graphics Laboratory

rushmeier

8:50the Molecular Collections facility at the Natural History Museum, London

huxley, mackenzie-dodds

3d imaging of the structural and geometrical properties of avian nests

lill, Zyskowski, Bertrand, shattuck, Prum, O'hern

9:10the Smithsonian’s pan-institutional

frozen collectionshuddleston, mullins

evolutionary morphingamenta, Wiley, ghosh, delson, tallen,

harcourt-smith, frost, rohlf

9:30the global genome initiative:

Building the genomic collection from across the tree of Lifecoddington, Butler, Barker

from organismal- to millimeter-scale: Methodologies for studying patterns in color and direction of the reflectance from avian organisms

harvey, Bostwick

9:50Survey of genetic resource collections

associated with natural history collectionsZimkus, ford

10:10 Break – BallrOOm a/B

10:40Analysis of national and international

biorepository standardizationdemchok, cho, lockhart, moore, Vaught

Using terrestrial laser scanning to construct 3d imagery and models of a eubrontes trackway at dinosaur State Park, Rocky Hill, Connecticut

hyatt, rosiene

11:00

dNA barcoding for collection management and QA/QC: USNM birds case study

schindel, trizna, graves, milensky

digitizing the thera frescoes: Practical 3d acquisition methods

for museum conservationtoler-franklin

11:20 Herbarium collections and dNA barcode reference libriaries:

Complementary benefits and hidden dangers kuzmina

3d imaging at the Yale University Art galleryffrench

11:40

12:00 pmannual Business meeting (lunch included) – BallrOOm a/B

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detailed Program • Saturday, June 16

startfULL dAY WORkSHOPS

Yale PeaBOdY museum auditOrium class Of 1954 enVirOnmental science centerrOOm 110

8:30 a.m

forecasting the future of Natural History Museums

and Collections

9:00 a.m.

Stabilize this!

5:00 p.m.

start Omni hOtel Yale science hill/ West camPus

class Of 1954 enVirOnmental science center

1:30Special interest groups

stash: collaborations in storage methods and Practices

collections issues: herbariacollections issues:

cryo and tissue collectionsdatabases, collecting and shipping

—Permits and regulationsgrants and funding Opportunities

emu community developmentsBest Practices for natural history

collections environments

2:30

3:00Peabody Museum Collections tours

5:00

5:302nd Council Meeting

9:00

detailed Program • friday, June 15 • Aernoon

Registration • 8:00 – 10:00 a.m. • 2nd flOOr lOBBY, Omni hOtel

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Oral and Poster Presentation Abstracts

In the case of oral presentations with more than one author, presenter names are underlined. DemoCamp abstracts are provided in a separate section following the Poster and Oral Presentation abstracts.

posterdetecting arsenic in vertebrate specimens at the Michigan State University Museum using a handheld x-ray fluorescence (xRf)analyzerAbraczinskas, L.M.; Siciliano, L.M.; Lundrigan, B.L.Michigan state University Museum, 409 West Circle Dr., rm. 103,east Lansing, MI 48824 UsA

the X-ray fluorescence (Xrf) analyzer is a usefultool for detecting and quantifying arsenic and otherpesticide components in museum specimens. accurateanalytical data are provided rapidly and without dam-aging the specimen being tested. in 2012, arsenic de-tection tests were conducted on 1,077 vertebrate speci-mens at the michigan state university museum, usinga niton Xlt 700 handheld Xrf analyzer. tested speci-mens included bird and mammal study skins, and taxi-dermy-mounted fishes, reptiles, birds, and mammals;collecting dates ranged from 1863 to 2006.

according to niton, the Xlt 700 will accurately de-tect arsenic up to a depth of 3.18 mm, with a lowerlevel for arsenic detection of 10 parts per million(ppm) when no lead is present; arsenic data are auto-matically corrected for lead interference. Over a 13-dayperiod, 2,046 samples were collected, with each speci-men sampled from 1 to 5 times. Within-specimen sam-ples represent different anatomical and structural fea-tures (e.g., beak, face, horn, seam, base). Of the 1,077specimens tested, all but 3 showed detectable arsenic.there was little consistency across sampling locationswithin a specimen; arsenic was detected at all types oftesting locations, including on the base of many of thetaxidermy mounts. surprisingly, horns, antlers, andhooves of taxidermy-mounted mammals often gavepositive readings. arsenic concentrations were above100 ppm in 67% of the samples collected and above100,000 ppm in 3% of the samples. analysis of dataover multi-decade spans indicated a declining trend inspecimen arsenic content.

data from the Xrf analyzer, including elementreadings, spectra, and images of sampling locations arebeing incorporated into the museum’s specimenrecords. the msu environmental health and safety of-fice is working with museum staff to refine specimen-handing procedures and labeling protocols and de-

velop a training program for staff and regular users ofthese collections.

posterdeveloping digital resources for the University of iowa Paleontology RepositoryAmoco Conodont CollectionAdrain, T.; Hawkinson, K.paleontology repository, Department of Geoscience, University ofIowa, 121 trowbridge Hall, Iowa City, IA 52242 UsA

in 1998, the amoco Production company mergedwith BP and distributed their paleontology collectionsamong several institutions: university of iowa (con-odonts); university of kansas (foraminifera); texasa&m university (modern pollen, microfossils); uni-versity of Oklahoma (megafossils); and university ofcalifornia at Berkeley (foraminifera). in 2006, theuniversity of iowa Paleontology repository receivednational science foundation funding to digitize theamoco conodont collection. this collection consistsof cavity slides of picked material from approximately1,400 localities worldwide. the specimens were ac-companied by a relational database in microsoft ac-cess containing three tables: locality, stratigraphy, andspecimens; over 29,000 records in total. the collectionwas prioritized for digitization because of the poten-tial loss of data with changes in software and hard-ware. initially, data were reformatted and prepared forbulk transfer into the specify Biodiversity software5.2.3 collection database. however, while slides werebeing numbered and checked against the database,discrepancies in the data were discovered. Over 5,000slides were listed but not present in the collection andapproximately 5,000 slides were present but not listedin the database. full stratigraphic data were not in-cluded in the database, but had to be gleaned fromprinted locality files. Batch upload to specify and indi-vidual record entry both had advantages and draw-backs. to realize the potential of the collection and itsassociated documentation, a website is being devel-oped to provide access to the specimen data, localityfiles, and species reference collection. Public interestfeatures are being developed, including interviewswith former amoco paleontologists about collectingand processing procedures. the potential for collabo-

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ration with institutions holding other amoco collec-tions is being investigated.

posterengaging students in hands-on and project-based learning—Using specimenpreparation as an educational tool in the Mvz Undergraduate ProgramAlbe, M.J.; Cicero, C.; Trápaga, A.; Spencer, C.L.Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, University of California–Berkeley,Berkeley, CA 94720-3160 UsA

any zoological researcher or institution that has long-term projects and research goals should be concernedwith the creation of a scientific legacy and with trainingthe next generation of scientists. in a recent new Yorktimes article “Why science majors change theirminds,” the problem of retention of science majors intop institutions was emphasized. although project-based learning has been found to be more effective thanlectures in engaging students and in teaching them thescientific method, few institutions have found ways toimplement it on broader scales. Project-based learningthat directly involves students in research takes time andresources, and thus many institutions struggle to findways to increase the number of students involved with-out compromising the quality of data collection andanalysis. if we find more ways to engage students in sci-ence, it will benefit our long-term goals as zoologists aswell as science in general. in response to this challenge,the museum of Vertebrate Zoology (mVZ) has created atiered system of learning, with introductory museumcourses that allow for entry-level students with no previ-ous knowledge of zoology to learn the basics of verte-brate anatomy and evolution, specimen preparation, andgathering quality data in a supportive hands-on learningenvironment. from there, the mVZ undergraduate stu-dents can pursue molecular or specimen-based labwork, fieldwork, and eventually, their own independentresearch projects. the mVZ undergraduate Programhas over 120 students involved each semester, with ahigh rate of student retention. in 2008, it won the ucBerkeley education initiatives award. this poster willpresent the mVZ approach to undergraduate education,specifically highlighting our specimen preparation labthat benefits the students, the museum, and the broaderuniversity. Our program also increases undergraduateawareness about the scientific method and possible ca-reer paths in organismal biology and museum science.

orALMuseum protocols serving as a standard forworkflows and a support document for activities:A case studyAlonso-Perez, R.1; Ford L.S.2

1Harvard Mineralogical Museum, Harvard University, 24 oxford st.,Cambridge, MA 02138 UsA

2Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, 26 oxford st.,Cambridge, MA 02138 UsA

Workflow protocols have long been a staple of indus-try and have recently become a topic for museum activi-ties. museums have, in fact, been doing baseline work-flows in their general protocols and procedures. in thebusy museum setting, unfortunately, protocols are fre-quently viewed as a time-consuming step that is not re-ally necessary. as museum activities fall under morescrutiny from various sources, however, well-developedprotocols serve to streamline, facilitate, and support theactivities within a museum collection.

We will present a case study on the authority of proto-cols to run efficiently and to support a standard inven-tory of a valuable collection at the harvard mineralogi-cal museum (hmm), which because of its economicvalue involved higher administrative interest in theprocess. the collection, consisting of 1054 objects, wasphysically inventoried, photographed, and updated inthe museum database in a total of 48 hours by a team offour people.

the protocol for this successful project consisted offour sections (introduction, methodology, procedure,and glossary) and described the general workflow of theassessment in a manner useful for collection experts andadministrators. in addition, daily memo reports and anaddendum were appended to document the process andminor adjustments in the protocol during the inventory.

Within a museum, any collection activity can benefitfrom a well-developed protocol by anticipating theforthcoming problems through defining an optimalworkflow, allowing museum staff to work consistentlyaccording to a previewed plan, and providing the meansfor activity results to stand alone during subsequentevaluation. With respect to broader goals, protocols alsoserve as tools to achieve best practice standards, estab-lish robust baseline indicators, and document an histori-cal record of museum activities.

orALevolutionary morphingAmenta, N.1; Wiley, D.2; Ghosh, D.2; Delson, E.3; Tallen,L.3; Harcourt-Smith, W.3; Frost, S.4; Rohlf, F.J.5

1Computer science, University of California–Davis, 2063 KemperHall, 1 shields Avenue, Davis, CA 95616 UsA

2stratovan, Inc., 3801 power Inn rd., sacramento, CA 95826 UsA3Lehman College, CUNY, 250 Bedford park Boulevard West, Bronx,

NY 10468 UsA; and American Museum of Natural History4Department of Anthropology, University of oregon, 369 Condon

Hall, 1218 University of oregon, eugene, or 97403 UsA5Department of ecology and evolution, stony Brook University, 650

Life sciences Building, stony Brook, NY 11794-5245 UsA

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Primate evolution is a highlight in many natural his-tory museums. Paleontologists model the gradual cra-nial changes between species as an interpolation be-tween their shapes. By capturing three-dimensionalcranial surfaces with a laser range scanner, and then in-terpolating the digitized surfaces, we can reify thismodel. We show the 3d shape change across a tree ofOld World monkeys, producing 3d cranial shapes forthe hypothetical ancestor nodes. comparing fossils tothese hypothetical ancestors is interesting. We showsome examples of fossil reconstructions, including com-puter symmetrizations of flattened crania, and the mor-phological hypotheses about how the fossils should beplaced into the tree.

posterConnecting the dots: Wireless data nodes and environmental planningAnderson, G.1; Kreitler, P.2; Lyon, J.1; Santioanni, K.1

1Carnegie Museum of Natural History, 4400 Forbes Ave., pittsburgh,pA 15202 UsA

2Landmark Facilities Group, Inc., 5116 riverside Dr., Columbus, oH43220 UsA

most museums are challenged by their environmentalsystems. to get an idea of what the conditions are wecollect the data, from a wide range of tools, everythingfrom humidity cards to hygrothermographs to data log-gers. the data accumulates into piles of paper which arehard to integrate and interpret. hVac failures some-times are not caught until the data is downloaded, some-times weeks later.

in 2010 the carnegie museum of natural history(cmnh) was awarded an imls-cPs grant to conduct anenvironmental survey of the museum’s buildings andcollections. the project is a collaboration betweencmnh conservation and the facilities, Planning andOperations department, to develop a comprehensiveand effective environmental monitoring system to betterunderstand environmental risk factors threatening thepreservation of collections and the landmark museumbuilding. the accurate monitoring system will allow usto move forward with improving environmental man-agement systems and with integrated planning to im-prove mechanical systems, we can then accurately assesspreservation environments for collections and the land-mark building. With these data sets and working closelywith consultants from landmark facilities group, wewill be able to apply methods to achieve environmentalstandards as set by conservation research, reducing riskfactors to collections.

We are half-way through the process. this poster il-lustrates both the challenges we have faced in setting upa wireless system in an old landmark building and thesuccesses we are already seeing in identifying and re-

porting, and improvement of data collections and man-agement.

posterRe-housing archaeological textiles during the National Museum of the American indiancollections moveAnderson, Lisa1; Chang, Lauren2; Heald, Susan3

1Johns Hopkins Archaeology Museum, 150 Gilman Hall, 3400 N.Charles st., Baltimore, MD 21218 UsA

2Department of textiles, Art Institute of Chicago, 111 s. MichiganAve., Chicago, IL 60603 UsA

3National Museum of the American Indian, Cultural resourcesCenter, 4220 silver Hill rd., suitland, MD 20746 UsA

the nmai’s archaeological textile collection wasstored in plastic bags and layered in small wooden draw-ers at the old storage facility in the Bronx, nY. a direc-tive of the museum is to have the collection be easily ac-cessible and visible for both native communities andscholars. the original re-housing proposal was to placeeach textile fragment into a portfolio that could beflipped to view both sides. this option was not approvedbecause it would have taken too much staff time duringthe move of 800,000 museum objects to the new cul-tural resources center in suitland, md. the alternativewas to leave the textiles in their plastic bags or find amore time efficient solution. a method was developedusing folded tyvek “trays” with tied corners attached toacid-free support boards. these trays can be opened andflattened so that textiles could be turned over using asecondary support board. several trays can be fitted intoarchival boxes and stored on shelves. the textiles can beviewed when box lids are removed. many trays can bemade in the time it takes to make one portfolio.

orALMaximizing data generation workflow: two casestudies from the New York Botanical gardenAsencio, D.S.; Gottschalk, S.D.the William and Lynda steere Herbarium, the New York BotanicalGarden, 2900 southern Blvd., Bronx, NY 10458 UsA

the workflow of large-scale cataloguing projects cangreatly benefit from accessing data from various sources.these include, but are not limited to, duplicate specimendata from other institutions, data from nearby specimencollections, and field book information. among these,we have found the use of field books to be a highly-effec-tive method of harvesting data for both the Brazilianamazon and caribbean digitization Projects. Projetoflora, a project led by the new York Botanical garden(nYBg) in the late 1970s until the mid-1980s, has en-abled the acquisition of highly accurate amazonianBrazil collection data from field books. similarly, nYBgarchives house field books for caribbean collectors go-ing back to nathaniel lord Britton, the garden’s founder.

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these represent an estimated 75 percent of caribbeancollectors with collections in the steere herbarium. al-though care is needed when matching old specimen la-bels with old field book data, we have found that in somecases different field book information can actually aug-ment less informative specimen labels. We have alsofound this method to be more efficient than enteringdata from the labels directly. a total of 53,920 amazon-ian specimen collection events were created using fieldbooks. an average of 641 collection records were createdeach day using this method, though productivity hasbeen as high as 1,557 records created in a single day.similar rates have been observed for the caribbean Proj-ect, which is ongoing.

orAL21st century learning in natural history settings:Perspectives from conference attendeesBabcock, E.1; Chandler, C.2; Dasari, P.1; Flannery, M.1;Norris, C.3; Pickering, J.3; Sullivan, S.4

1California Academy of sciences, 55 Music Concourse Dr., sanFrancisco, CA 94118 UsA

2putnam Museum of History and Natural science, 1717 W. 12th st.,Davenport, IA 52804 UsA

3peabody Museum of Natural History, Yale University, p.o. Box208118, New Haven, Ct 06520-8118 UsA

4the Chicago Academy of sciences/peggy Notebaert Nature Museum,2430 North Cannon Dr., Chicago, IL 60614 UsA

in february 2012, the national museum of naturalhistory hosted the 21st century learning in naturalhistory settings conference. this conference was onecomponent of the project funded by the national sci-ence foundation with the same title. the purpose of theproject is to develop, initiate, and disseminate a collabo-rative and sustained learning research agenda to informhow natural history museums can best use their re-sources, including collections, to support audiences inthe 21st century.

the conference included 100 participants from insti-tutions across the us and three international organiza-tions. attendees represented a variety of natural historysettings, including natural history museums, zoologicalparks, nature centers, and science centers. the composi-tion of attendees themselves represented various aspectsof each institution, including educators, scientists, ad-ministrators, and learning researchers.

Participants engaged in several pre-conference activi-ties to begin the dialogue. these included an online chat,internal institutional discussions, and development of avirtual poster. the conference itself included whole-group discussions, various working groups, multiple op-portunities for networking, a conference Wiki, and sev-eral keynote speakers.

the four-day conference resulted in the developmentof a call to action and a learning research agenda.

Both outcomes are meant to guide and transform hownatural history museums connect with our audiences,utilizing our unique assets in progressive and innovativeways. several sPnhc members attended the conferenceand will share their perspectives, ideas, and action itemsinspired by the workshops.

orALMeeting the demands of rapid digitization—imaging and archiving plant specimensBevans, M.the William and Linda steere Herbarium, the New York BotanicalGarden, 2900 southern Blvd., Bronx, NY 10458 UsA

the current demand for biological collections has ledto an increased demand for images of plant specimenswhile the proliferation of digital media has led to in-creased expectations for the use of images. the newYork Botanical garden herbarium has been digitallyphotographing its plant specimen collection since 1998.advances in digital photography have allowed us to pro-duce larger, higher quality images at a greater rate ofspeed than ever before. this presentation will cover themethods used to ensure consistent image quality duringproduction and post-production as well as the chal-lenges we face maintaining and modernizing our rapidlyexpanding digital archive. topics discussed include se-lection of photography equipment and image capture,archive strategies and file formats, and preparing imagesfor access and optical character recognition.

postervertebrates in the cloud (vertNet.org): Are we there yet?Bloom, David A.1; Spencer, Carol L.1; Koo, Michelle S.1;Rios, Nelson2; Cicero, Carla1; Guralnick, Rob P.3; Steele,Aaron1; Wieczorek, John1; Russell, Laura4; Bart, Hank2;Vieglais, David4

1Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, University of California–Berkeley,3101 Valley Life sciences Building, Berkeley, CA 94720-3160 UsA

2tulane Museum of Natural History, tulane University, 3705 Main st.,Building A-3, Belle Chasse, LA 70037 UsA

3University of Colorado Museum of Natural History, University ofColorado, Henderson Building, 15th and Broadway, Boulder, Co80309 UsA

4University of Kansas Biodiversity Institute, University of Kansas,1345 Jayhawk Blvd., Lawrence, Ks 66045-7593 UsA

the nsf-funded Vertnet project brings togetherfishnet2, manis, herpnet, and Ornis into a singlecloud-based platform for querying, visualizing, and an-notating distributed vertebrate biodiversity data. Vert-net will combine the four vertebrate data networks intoa single portal, making it easier for researchers to aggre-gate and synthesize data across all vertebrates. Vertnetwill provide five new and improved features, including:1) sustainable solutions (no local servers and fewer it

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problems); 2) improved performance and reliability(faster searching, better visualization, more mappingfeatures); 3) ease of discoverability (creating a thesaurusof synonyms for taxonomy and geography); 4) data im-provement (enabling annotations from users, potentialcrowd-sourcing); and 5) better integrations with otherprojects (including arctos and specify, map of life, en-cyclopedia of life, amphibiaWeb, inaturalist). develop-ment of Vertnet aPis (application Programming inter-faces) will be available to any online project forsearching and visualizing Vertnet data. for example, themap of life project will use Vertnet aPis to display datapoints for species distribution maps while Vertnet willdisplay species range maps generated by map of life. inaddition to infrastructure development, Vertnet hasbeen very active in outreach. since January 2011, wehave given six georeferencing workshops (in southafrica, alabama, california, and north carolina) thathave trained 129 people from 13 countries. a Biodiver-sity informatics training Workshop held in June 2012 atBoulder, colorado, trained an additional 25 studentsfrom 9 countries. We will work with institutions fromexisting networks over the next 6 months to put theirdata in the cloud, and the new prototype Vertnet portalwill be functional within the year.

posterdigitising the bird egg card index of the NaturalHistory Museum, LondonBrooks, L.Natural History Museum, Cromwell rd., London sW7 5BD, UnitedKingdom

the 153 drawer card index is the only completerecord of the collection of birds’ eggs held by the mu-seum and has been identified as a security and preserva-tion priority. the scope of the task was to undertake afeasibility study for the creation of a digital equivalent ofthe resource and to determine a suitable workflow.

a trial drawer was digitised using a combination offlatbed and automatic document fed (adf) scanners.cards were divided into two groups: simple annotatedindex cards, or envelopes containing miscellaneous ex-tra materials. standard cards were imaged 25 at a timeusing the adf, non-standard cards and their contentswere imaged individually using the flatbed. to ensurecards could be easily traced from their digital surrogates,cards were numbered and this number was used toname the corresponding image files. the registrationnumber (if present) and scientific name(s) on the cardwere recorded from the scanned images in an accessdatabase. for registered specimens, this data and thecorresponding images will be imported into the mu-seum’s collection management software and will be ac-cessible via a web browser.

the trial drawer contained 681 cards and produced739 images. this was made up of 507 ‘standard’ cardsproducing 509 images and 174 ‘non-standard’ cards pro-ducing 230 images. Preparing the cards for imaging took4 hours. standard cards were scanned at a rate of 25 perminute, non-standard at a rate of 1 per minute. total im-aging time was 3 hours 50 minutes. 1 hour was neededto post-process the images. databasing the cards at arate of 2 minutes per card took a total of 22 hours 42minutes. thus the total time taken to digitise one drawerwas 31 hours 51 minutes.

it was possible to create a basic but expandable andfunctional digital surrogate of the bird egg card indexusing the available resources. using the establishedmethodology, digitising the entire card index of ap-proximately 110,000 cards would take around threeyears of work.

orALthe rewards of having countedBrouillet, LucMarie-Victorin Herbarium, Biodiversity Centre of the Université deMontréal, 4101 sherbrooke e, Montreal QC, H1X 2B2 Canada

Planning prior to moving a collection implies knowl-edge of the identity and number of items it preserves.natural history collections do not always have suchmetadata, as was the case for the marie-Victorin herbar-ium (mt). We also wanted to change the classificationsystem from dalla torre & harms to aPgiii. therefore,moving to the new facility required that the specimensbe counted with enough detail to be able to assign gen-era to aPg families and to provide expansion room.specimens were counted by 36 friends of the montrealBotanical garden in 2010 and the results compiled in aspreadsheet by genus and geography. each genus thenwas assigned to a family by the curator. afterwards, thecontents were given a destination in the new cases, tak-ing into account the number of specimens per familyand a decompression factor. the contents of each tabletwas labeled according to its destination, which ensured asmooth moving later on. all that counting, however,turned out to have its own reward: we now have meta-data for the herbarium (http://data.canadensys.net/ipt/resource.do?r=mt-inventory), which everyone can con-sult. thus, a researcher interested in a group coulddownload the file and determine whether the herbariumhas material of interest before borrowing. another bene-fit is that we can now characterize the collection, bothgeographically and taxonomically. We now know howmany specimens we have with some accuracy, andwhich families are missing from the collection to planacquisitions. We have a list of all genera present in theherbarium, of great help with digitization. integratedinto the management system, the genus data can helpusers locate material in the collection. although it re-

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quired a lot of time, counting the herbarium specimenshas provided us with new tools to manage the collectionand to make it better known.

orALRising to a challenge: embedding museumconservation with natural history at the National Museum WalesButtler, B.; Carter, J.; Purewal, V.National Museum Wales, Cathays park, Cardiff CF15 8LF, UnitedKingdom

the national museum Wales (nmW) is a multidisci-plinary museum with collections of art, archaeology, so-cial history, industry and natural history. it has longbeen recognised that art and archaeological objects needspecialised conditions and conservation expertise to sur-vive, but until relatively recently natural history speci-mens had not been given the same level of care. this wasthe situation at the nmW until the late 1980s when anextensive review of conservation at the museum was un-dertaken. this resulted in the establishment of a conser-vation unit to tackle the backlog of conservation, ini-tially for a period of 5 years (1988–1993). a head ofconservation was established and new posts created inareas lacking conservation cover. this included naturalhistory and for the first time dedicated conservatorswere employed in the departments of Botany, geologyand Zoology. however the challenge had only just be-gun. these new posts were contract, low grade andpoorly paid, and at this time the concept of museumconservation practise within natural history was onlyjust being developed. the new conservators appointedhad training and experience in their subject but not inconservation. however guidance from fellow conserva-tors in other disciplines, from subject specialist bodiessuch as sPnhc and other associated groups helped tocement a framework that could be built upon. graduallythe importance of natural history conservators has be-come accepted and embedded with the nmW, and hasbecome recognised more professionally. this talk ex-plores the last 20-plus years and the changes that haveoccurred, and looks to the future in a fluid political andfinancial landscape.

orALConstructive decision-making for destructivesampling: An example for isotopic geochemistryClementz, M.T.1,2; Holroyd, P.A.3

1Department of Geology and Geophysics, p.o. Box 3006, University ofWyoming, Laramie, WY 82071 UsA

2program in ecology, Berry Biodiversity Conservation Center,University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY 82071 UsA

3Museum of paleontology, 1101 Valley Life sciences Building,University of California–Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720 UsA

destructive analyses of natural history specimens rep-resent an increasing percentage of collections use. the di-verse range of methods and research questions presentsignificant challenges for collections professionals toevaluate such user requests, and it is often unclear to re-searchers what constitutes a reasonable request. Based onour experiences as both requestors of specimens and ap-provers of destructive analyses, we are developing a set ofbest practices and a decision-making guide for stable iso-topic analyses of vertebrate specimens.

key elements of best practices for requestors include:1) explicit hypotheses to be tested and an experimentaldesign that accounts for the fact that samples may be lim-ited and are irreplaceable; 2) clear elucidation and justifi-cation of the relationship between the hypotheses andsample selection; 3) sample selection based on a soundunderstanding of the biology of the organisms and howthe biomaterials are formed; 4) a plan to minimize andmitigate damage (e.g., through replication of specimens);5) a data management plan to document each stage ofsampling and lab protocols used in sample processing;and 6) provision for reporting of results both to host in-stitution and through publication. Provider institutionsshould give information on preparations and possiblechemical alteration of specimens, when possible.

We hope that the existence of explicit guidelines in-formed by the scientific literature can help researchersbetter communicate with collections professionals,which, in turn, will save them time and effort in theirproject development. further, we hope it can providemuseum decision makers with information that can aidthe evaluation process and the development of proactivecollections policies. these guidelines can also serve as atemplate for other types of destructive analyses, and westrongly encourage other collections professionals topartner with researchers to develop similar guidelinesfor different areas of research.

orALthe global genome initiative: Building the genomic collection from across the tree of LifeCoddington, J.; Butler, C.; Barker, K.office of the Associate Director for research and Collections, NationalMuseum of Natural History, smithsonian Institution, p.o. Box 37012,MrC 105, rm. e-529, Washington, DC 20013-7012 UsA

the earth’s non-human genomes hold great potentialfor research, discovery and innovation; yielding solutionsto medical, environmental, energy, security and agricul-tural problems. these solutions are not guaranteed. thepotential for these discoveries is not only threatened byhabitat and species loss, but by lack of collaboration be-tween the world’s biodiversity biorepositories and re-search organizations. the global genome initiative(ggi) aims to preserve the genomic diversity of life on

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earth for future research and discovery by laying a solidfoundation for non-human genomic research. steps to-ward this vision will be guided by four collaborative ac-tivities: global genome Biodiversity network, Biodiver-sity research and collecting, Bioinformatics andBiotechnology, and engagement. Preservation of ge-nomic diversity starts with collaborative collecting andcollection management efforts, including appropriate ac-cess and benefits sharing (aBs). Online access to theseresources for genomic research, including genomic sam-ples, vouchers, molecular analysis, publications, and im-ages requires a federated information infrastructure.members of the global genome Biodiversity network areworking collaboratively to address issues associated withgenomic sample preservation and access on global scales.

orALMicroenvironments: their future use andpotential in the control of deteriorationmechanisms in organic and inorganic materials Collins, C.J.Natural History Museum, Cromwell rd., London sW7 5BD, UnitedKingdom

Passive and active microenvironments have beenused extensively in museums to fine tune or control en-vironmental conditions around specimens. Passive con-trol enables conservation staff to sustainably managespecific environments around either individual orgroups of specimens, without requiring the use of me-chanical systems and their subsequent maintenance andenergy requirements. micro-environmental control haslargely been primitive control of relative humidity (rh)to keep levels below a set rh figure. their use grew asconservation science’s understanding of deteriorationmechanisms, such as pyrite oxidation increased andconservators became aware of the links between relativehumidity, oxidation rates and hydration states of miner-als. the development of more efficient forms of silicagel, such as artsorb® and Prosorb® and the use of satu-rated salts to condition these relative humidity buffers toa wide range of specific relative humidities has improvedconservation staffs ability to manage humidity sensitivespecimens and to slow down rates of deterioration. morerecent developments in the use of reduced oxygen (rOe)and anoxic environments has further enhanced our abil-ity to control a wide range of oxidation and humiditybased problems, in organic and inorganic materials.

this paper reviews the current and future use of mi-croenvironments. in particular, it will look at develop-ments in the use of microenvironments in collectionsand the field to better conserve samples and their associ-ated data sets for research and education.

orALgigAmacro technology for high-resolutiondigitization of specimensCooper, Gene; Cooper, NaomiFour Chambers studio, 128 ebbetts pass rd., Vallejo, CA 94589 UsA

Questions: how can specimens be documented withenough photographic detail to enable online collabora-tive exploration and sharing of specimens worldwide?

Methods: gigamacro is a new technology designedto create, explore, annotate, and share gigapixel photo-graphs with ease. it includes robotics hardware, photog-raphy equipment, linear axis engineering, and software.these tools allow automation of the process of takingimages, “focus stacking” to increase the depth of field,and “stitching” to create high resolution photographs,ideal for digital preservation of objects.

resulting gigapixel Photographs can be explored on-line, compared to each other using the comparativeViewer, viewed in time-lapse format, and shared with thepublic and researchers online. this new approach to pho-tographing and studying subjects can be applied to re-search, curriculum, interactive exhibits, or print format.

Findings: gigamacro is currently in use at carnegiemuseum of natural history (entomology and paleontol-ogy), the usda Bee research laboratory, the scottishten conservation group (to image ancient calfskin doc-uments), carnegie mellon university, gigapan, and thenorthern Virginia community college (geology). Wewill share details of this work and how researchers areusing the technology to explore uncharted territory.

Implications: to have gigapixel images of delicate,rare, or degenerating objects is a way to preserve themfor researchers and exhibitors alike, for scientific studyworldwide, and for use in education and exhibitions.through our early collaborations we quickly realizedthat the technology is valuable not only for documenta-tion, but also to enable new research and studies thatwere previously not possible. We look forward to sharingthe technology with members of sPnhc and welcomeinput on how it can be used to further research andpreservation goals.

posterOdd lots: Storage supports for special situationsCovell, Amy L.; Harding, Deborah G.; Anderson,GretchenCenter for World Cultures, Carnegie Museum of Natural History, 5800Baum Blvd., pittsburgh, pA 15206 UsA

in 1998, following the completion of three permanentexhibit halls and the emptying of numerous storage cab-inets, the then-section of anthropology at carnegie mu-seum of natural history began re-organizing and de-compressing its storage. cabinets were emptied, cleaned,

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and new storage supports made for thousands of objects.many lessons were learned, and new support types de-vised. When gretchen anderson, late of the science mu-seum of minnesota, came on board, she introduced sev-eral new ideas and materials.

the problem of odd-shaped objects, or those withspecial needs, had to be addressed for proper storage.the poster explores some of the solutions developed fora variety of things, both ethnographic and archaeologi-cal, from the collections of the center for World cul-tures, cmnh. included are ancient glass, archaeologicalpottery, ethnographic money, and dolls and figurines.

different mount forms and materials are illustrated,including ring mounts, cavity mounts, specializedboxes, and stackable supports. a number are based onscience museum of minnesota methodology; othersare home-grown.

orALAnalysis of national and internationalbiorepository standardizationDemchok, Joanne; Cho, Young-Min; Lockhart, Nicole;Moore, Helen; Vaught, JimNational Institutes of Health, National Cancer Institute, office ofBiorepositories and Biospecimen research, 31 Center Dr., MsC 9160,Bethesda, MD 20892-9160 UsA

human biospecimens are critical in accelerating thedevelopment of molecular-based diagnostics and thera-peutics for personalized medicine. the sensitivity ofanalysis platforms requires high quality biospecimensobtained using standard operating procedures (sOPs).the publication of best practices (BP) guidelines is an at-tempt to unify biorepository policies and procedures,which serve as a foundation for sOPs. a comparativeanalysis of biorepository BP guidelines was performedfrom six national and international organizations in-cluding the national cancer institute (nci). most organ-izations’ BPs address the same areas of standardizationwith a comprehensive breakdown of specific recommen-dations. five of the six organizations studied provideguidelines for biorepository operations and manage-ment, biosafety, biospecimen informatics, quality man-agement systems, and access to biospecimen data. Onlytwo of the six organizations published BP guidelines forbiospecimen collection, storage, retrieval and dissemi-nation. in a separate study of 200 biorepositories, only15% of them had publicly available sOPs. Of the pub-lished sOPs describing blood collection, dna/rna ex-traction, and liquid nitrogen snap freezing, each institu-tion prescribed different procedures for each process.furthermore most sOPs lacked evidence-based refer-ences. in conclusion both national and internationalbiorepositories lacked inter-institute standardization.collaborative efforts from national and internationalbiorepositories are needed to harmonize BPs and sOPs

in order to consistently provide standardized high qual-ity biospecimens to the research community.

orALdocumenting and communicating about toxins in collectionsDeMouthe, J.Department of Invertebrate Zoology and Geology, CaliforniaAcademy of sciences, 55 Music Concourse Dr., san Francisco, CA94118 UsA

museum collections contain toxins in a number offorms. some specimens are intrinsically toxic, while oth-ers have been treated with poisonous materials forpreservation or protection against pests.

the integrity of collections and safety of all users caneasily be managed in a few simple steps. documentationof poisons, regardless of their origins, should be part ofany collection record. this can include notes or alerts inthe catalog or database, and codes or warnings on labels,drawers, cabinets and rooms. color codes or distinctivesymbols can be used to provide a visual alert.

toxic commercial products that have been used in acollection should be documented with msds sheets thatare available to all users. testing should be part of nor-mal collection management protocols, and in somecases should be on a regular schedule.

access to toxic specimens should be restricted. accessand handling protocols should be posted and enforcedas part of a collections management policy. collectionusers, including staff, visitors, borrowers, and students,should be notified of all potential health risks andtrained in appropriate handling methods for each typeof specimen containing toxins. records of this trainingshould be kept to insure that everyone participates andis kept up to date.

orALCanadensys—How we built a nationalbiodiversity data networkDesmet, P.; Bruneau, A.Université de Montréal Biodiversity Centre, 4101 rue sherbrooke est,Montreal, QC H1X2B2, Canada

canadensys (www.canadensys.net) was established tocoordinate efforts to unlock the rich biodiversity infor-mation found in canadian biological collections. head-quartered at the université de montréal Biodiversitycentre, the network comprises 11 universities and fivebotanical gardens, and unites 35 researchers and 30 col-lections (herbaria, botanical gardens, entomological andmycological collections). canadensys collectively holdsover 13 million specimens, of which approximately 20%are now digitized. the data are published through itsown web portal (data.canadensys.net/ipt) and that of theglobal Biodiversity information facility (gBif).

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canadensys is innovating the publication of biodiversitydata in several ways: collection managers can publishtheir data through the world’s first fully customized andhosted gBif integrated Publishing toolkit (iPt) andbenefit from dedicated support, including help withdarwin core mapping and metadata review. canadensysis also actively contributing to biodiversity standardsand open source software tools, and encourages its par-ticipants to dedicate their data to the public domain un-der the creative commons Zero waiver, enabling wideuse of the data.

orALOne name, one fungal species: implications forthe herbarium and the database to the rescueDominick, S.; Rossman, A.U.s. National Fungus Collections, systematic Mycology andMicrobiology Laboratory (sMML), U.s. Department of Agriculture,Agricultural research service, rm. 246, Bldg. 010A, BArC-West,10300 Baltimore Ave., Beltsville, MD 20705 UsA

article 59 of the international code of Botanicalnomenclature has long allowed an exception for fungi tothe rule that only one scientific name can be applied toone species. this accommodated the pleomorphic statesof fungi, e.g. those species with very different morpholo-gies in their sexual and asexual (imperfect) states. thisresulted in the use of two or more scientific names forone species of a fungus. in the herbarium, the sexual andasexual states of a species have been filed separately; also,researchers often request specimens that represent one,or the other, of these two states. at the most recent inter-national Botanical congress, it was voted overwhelm-ingly to move to the use of one scientific name for fungi.as of 1 January 2013, one scientific name for fungi will berequired. We give a brief overview of this new require-ment and how it will be carried out. We then discuss howthis may affect fungal herbaria and also describe the so-lution the u.s. national fungus collections has arrived atusing its extensive nomenclatural database.

orALArchives at the Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History: the anatomy of a university natural history museum and the evolution of science in AmericaDrew, Daniel J.Division of Invertebrate Zoology, peabody Museum of Natural History,Yale University, p.o. Box 208118 New Haven, Ct 06520-8118 UsA

the Peabody museum of natural history has receiveda grant from the council for library and information re-sources (clir) and the a.W. mellon foundation to elec-tronically catalog the archives and special collections ofthe museum and the 11 curatorial divisions. the cata-loging of these archive collections has offered an oppor-tunity to add important value and understanding of mu-

seum’s history and development of its traditional naturalhistory collections. the planning and implementation ofthe project has offered challenges unique to catalogingarchive collections. the divisional archives were assessedfor content and condition and a plan was developed forthe archival handling and storage of the collections. themuseum’s existing collections management system, keemu was evaluated for the cataloging of the archives andprocedures were adopted for the use of encoded archivaldescription (ead) standards in organizing the data. theadoption of ead standards has led to the standardizationof archive cataloging practices across the museum’s divi-sion. the digital records of previously cataloged archiveswere evaluated, standardized and migrated to conform tothe new standards. as the archives are cataloged they willbe available through Yale’s finding aid database to a widerange of researchers and historians.

orAL3d imaging at the Yale University Art galleryffrench, JohnYale University Art Gallery, p.o. Box 208271, New Haven, Ct 06520-8271 UsA

We know more about our collections now than weever have before. twenty-first century documentationtools empower us to act as collection stewards seekinginsight and discovery through novel tools and methods.the Yale university art gallery is exploring a variety ofmethods for three-dimensional capture using a varietyof 3d technologies for collection study. ranging fromquick time Vr to reflectance transformation imaging,the technologies being utilized range in complexity andrequire varied skill sets. in addition to highlighting thesoftware systems being used, discussions will be pre-sented regarding workflow, staffing and file support.

orALResources for preventive conservation and collections careFifield, R.1; Arenstein, R.P.2; Gleeson, M.3

1the Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1000 Fifth Ave., New York, NY10075 UsA

2A.M. Art Conservation, 1 rectory Lane, scarsdale, NY 10583 UsA3emerging Conservation professionals Network of the American

Institute for Conservation, 4236 Campus Ave., san Diego, CA92103 UsA

environmental monitoring, maintenance of collec-tions spaces, integrated pest management, risk assess-ment, disaster planning, and collection policies andprocedures, are some of the methodologies that fosterpreservation of cultural heritage and are a part of re-sponsible stewardship. collections care professionals,especially those working with natural science speci-mens, know the everyday practices of preventive con-servation contribute to greater overall collections

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preservation and prevent damage that requires timeconsuming and expensive interventive treatment. Pre-ventive care projects almost always benefit an interdis-ciplinary approach with input from conservators andthe full range of staff who work with collections inother capacities. the goal of this presentation is to fur-ther the knowledge of preventive care resources devel-oped for other disciplines that may be of use to the nat-ural history community, and create bettercross-discipline collaboration in the realm of preven-tive conservation. the presentation will highlight re-sources for developing an institutional preventive con-servation program, organizing the resources by topic:registration and documentation, emergency prepared-ness, integrated pest management, storage support cre-ation, environmental management and sustainabilityand more. the american institute for conservation’snew collections care network will also be introduced.

orALHerbarium in a public library’s history roomFlannery, Maura C.Center for teaching and Learning, st. John’s University, Bent Hallroom 281, 8000 Utopia parkway, Jamaica, NY 11439 UsA

herbaria are found in a number of different venues,from natural history museums to botanic gardens to edu-cational institutions. libraries are less likely locations forplant specimen collections. however, there is a small, butwell-maintained collection housed at the Wilton libraryin Wilton, connecticut. it is in the library’s history roomwhich is staffed on a part-time basis by the Wilton histor-ical society. the foundation of the collection, which num-bers over 1,000 sheets, was the donation of 200 sheets byanna carpenter (1833-1933) who spent the last 42 yearsof her life in Wilton. she presented the rest of her collec-tion to the connecticut Botanical society herbariumwhich is housed at the Yale university herbarium.

in 1960s the Wilton garden club began its herbar-ium project which resulted in several hundred sheetsbeing added to the collection at the Wilton librarywith the carpenter sheets maintained as a separate col-lection. this project culminated with digitization ofthe information on all the specimens, and publicationof ferns and flowering Plants of Wilton in 1992. alongwith maps, plant illustrations, and essays, the book in-cludes a checklist of all the native and naturalized vas-cular plants growing in Wilton outside of cultivation. itdraws on the Wilton library herbarium collection andseveral others.

admittedly, the Wilton library herbarium is small,but it’s an important ecological document giving evi-dence of what was growing in the area both during thelate 19th to early 20th centuries and during the late 20thcentury. carpenter gave part of her collection to the li-brary because she wanted it to be accessible to Wilton

residents and so it remains. Well maintained in acid-freefolders and boxes, it is an exemplar of a small local col-lection that is prized for its accessibility to students andall who are interested in plants.

orALCollectionSpace: Museums, higher education and community source collaborationForbes, Megan; Spinazze, AngelaMuseum of the Moving Image, 35 Avenue at 36 street, Astoria, NY11106 UsA

collectionspace (www.collectionspace.org) is an open-source, flexible, web-based software application for thedescription, management, and dissemination of museumcollections information that serves a broad range of mu-seum types and sizes. the application can be scaled andconfigured to suit the needs of a single institution or agroup of institutions, but is designed to encourage theuse of field-wide and domain-specific standards.

led by museum of the moving image with the uni-versity of california, Berkeley, information services andtechnology division, and university of cambridge, cen-tre for applied research in educational technologies,collectionspace is a collaborative effort driven by mu-seum and higher education professionals and is guidedby the community source software development ethosthat puts the community at the forefront of definingfunctional requirements as well as development priori-ties. collectionspace is in the midst of a strategic plan-ning process that will result in a business model andplan that will inform how the effort moves away frombeing a project and into becoming an organization dur-ing 2012; as well as a pilot for offering collectionspaceas a service to better understand how services and sup-port around a hosted solution could be efficiently de-signed and delivered.

additional development resources are provided byOcad university, the fluid Project. Our dedicated earlyadopter community includes: museum of the movingimage; Phoebe a. hearst museum of anthropology, theuniversity and Jepson herbaria, and history of art Vi-sual resources collection all on the campus of univer-sity of california, Berkeley; statens museum for kunst(national gallery of denmark), and Walker art center.collectionspace is made possible by the visionary sup-port of the andrew W. mellon foundation.

orALthe use of microfading to manage the risk of light-fading during displayFord, B.1,2; Smith, N.2

1Art and Archival proprietary, Ltd., p.o. Box 4075, Ainslie ACt 2602,Australia

2National Museum of Australia, G.p.o. Box 1901, Canberra ACt 2601,Australia

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microfading is an accelerated light-fading testmethod in which a sub-millimetre spot of very intensevisible light is focused on an object and the resultant (vi-sually undetectable) colour change tracked in real timeusing reflectance spectroscopy. the method is rapid,non-destructive but most importantly specific to the ob-ject tested, because for a colourant the rate and nature ofphotochemical reactions depend substantially on partic-ular circumstances including prior exposure and itsphysical and chemical environment.

the national museum of australia adopted the tech-nique in 2008 because the existing lighting guidelines—which for want of reliable lightfastness data were neces-sarily generalised and conservative—seriously restrictedpublic access to important artefacts and incurred unsus-tainably high light-driven object replacement costs overthe lifetime of the museum’s core “permanent” exhibi-tions. at the same time the most fugitive colourantswere probably overexposed because the “acceptablechange” criteria relied on averaged rates from publisheddata (where available).

as a hedge against uncertainties in the quantitativerelationship between exhibition and test light intensi-ties (reciprocity failure), and to reduce the amount ofmicrofade testing required, the museum also developeda lighting framework in which objects assessed ashighly significant—and therefore more likely to be inregular demand for exhibition over time—are treateddifferently from those unlikely to be in such demandand which are consequently allowed more exposurewhen they are displayed.

the combination of lightfastness testing and a struc-tured significance evaluation of hundreds of objects, in-cluding materials commonly found in natural historycollections, has proved to be a highly cost effectivemeans of more confidently identifying and directing re-sources towards protecting the most vulnerable andmost important items, while improving public access, al-lowing more flexible lighting arrangements and savingon exhibition costs for collection as a whole.

orALintegrated digitized Biocollections (idigBio)Cloud-Based CyberinfrastructureFortes, José; Figueiredo, Renato; Matsunaga, Andréa;Thompson, Alex; Collins, Matthew; Xu, JiangyanAdvanced Computing and Information systems Laboratory,Department of electrical and Computer engineering, University ofFlorida, p.o. Box 116200, Gainesville, FL 32611-6200 UsA

integrated digitized Biocollections (idigBio) has beenfunded as part of the nsf advancing digitization of Bio-logical collections (adBc) program with the mission toorganize all the information contained in vouchered bio-logical and paleontological collections across the usa.idigBio is developing a national resource that supports

the vision of adBc including building and deploying acustomized cloud-based cyberinfrastructure for collec-tions among other activities. the idigBio cyberinfrastruc-ture architecture is forward-looking and adaptable, takingadvantage of (a) virtual appliances to ease the dissemina-tion of existing tools, community standards and best prac-tices, (b) cloud computing and storage services to aggre-gate and process data including not only textualinformation, but also media files from digitization proj-ects, and (c) web technologies and standards to broadendata exchange and dissemination. Virtual appliances areideal to package tools that facilitate the digitization work-flows taking place at thematic collections network(tcns), which involve data capture, georeferencing, opti-cal character recognition, data validation, and quality con-trol, and most important of all, sharing of data with thenational resource. the cloud computing and storage serv-ices based on distributed object and database stores aredesigned to be scalable and reliable in order to support thedata management and information processing requiredby the estimated one billion biological specimens. idigBiorelies on standards, proven solutions and software reusewhenever possible, with programmatic and graphical userinterfaces to interact with different stakeholders (dataproducers, data consumers, domain service providers, in-frastructure providers and other aggregators).

orALOpening access to works in the public domain at Yale UniversityFournier, MelissaYale Center for British Art, p.o. Box 208280, New Haven, Ct 06520-8280 UsA

in may 2011, Yale announced a groundbreaking newpolicy on open access to digital representations ofworks in the public domain. in the spirit of the univer-sity’s mission to advance, disseminate and preserveknowledge, the goal of Yale’s Open access Policy is tomake high quality digital images of Yale’s vast culturalheritage collections in the public domain openly andfreely available in order to facilitate their use in schol-arship, education and inspiration all over the world.Yale’s policy represents a departure from preceding ef-forts in that no license is required for, nor any limita-tions imposed upon, the use of digital images of worksin the public domain. the policy is also notable for itsbreadth across the university’s cultural heritage collec-tions, from its library to its art and natural history col-lections.

this talk will examine how Yale arrived at the cur-rent policy, including the institutional climate andcross-campus collaboration that gave rise to the policy,as well as the challenges of implementing the policyacross collections in the university in the policy’s inau-gural year, from interpreting and communicating the

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policy internally and externally to developing shareddigital infrastructure to support the policy from thetechnical perspective.

posterSupporting old bones, storage jackets for oversize dinosaur bonesFox, Marilyn; Fitzgerald, VickiDivision of Vertebrate paleontology preparation Laboratory, peabodyMuseum of Natural History, Yale University, p.o. Box 208118, NewHaven, Ct 06520-8118 UsA

fossil bone can and does break under its own weightwithout external support. Proper storage of paleonto-logical specimens is as important to their long-termusefulness as is good preparation. One aspect of properstorage is adequate support for fossil bones, which, al-though they appear strong, lack the internal strength ofliving bone. this support can include specimens storedwithin specimen trays, as well as those large or fragilespecimens that require more elaborate bedding jackets.for smaller specimens within trays polyethylene foamcut to fit the bone is adequate support. however storagesupport for large bones, some weighing several hun-dred pounds, require custom-made support jackets ofmaterials able to withstand the stress of such weight.these are usually plaster and fiberglass with additionalsupports of metal pipe and wood, lined with polyethyl-ene foam.

the Yale Peabody museum Vertebrate PaleontologyPreparation lab has made over two hundred supportjackets for the large Jurassic dinosaurs collected underO. c. marsh in the 1870s. this presentation will discussthe design and creation of these jackets, and why thisdesign and these materials were chosen.

orALdeveloping a new national museum of natural history at tel Aviv UniversityFurth, David G.Department of entomology, MrC 165, National Museum of NaturalHistory, smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. 20560 UsA

an introduction to the new steinhardt national mu-seum of natural history based at tel aviv university(israel). it will detail an eight month detail from thesmithsonian institution to tel aviv university to assistin the development of this new museum. some detailsare provided about a collections management coursetaught, the entomological collections as well as gener-alities about all the other collections and the plans andprogress of this first natural history museum in themiddle east.

orALdoing it digitally: A 25-year Peabody perspectiveGall, LawrenceComputer systems office and Division of entomology, peabodyMuseum of Natural History, Yale University, p.o. Box 208118, NewHaven, Ct 06520-8118 UsA

since the late 1980s, the Peabody museum of naturalhistory has employed computing technologies broadlyto help it organize, manage and catalogue its various as-sets. this talk traces the arc and evolution of the mu-seum’s digital activities from inception to the present,from both pragmatic and theoretical vantage points. theoverarching theme will be how Peabody has addressedissues of scale, with focus given to topics such as: sharingsoftware and systems across multiple curatorial disci-plines, tackling different classes of natural history mate-rial (e.g., specimens and archives) harmonizing naturalhistory content with content from other domains (e.g.,libraries and galleries), and the integration of Peabodywith its institutional peers in campus-wide digital initia-tives at Yale university.

posterdr. Robert f. thorne’s botanical collections at Rancho Santa Ana Botanic garden: A legacy of fieldwork to be processed Gardner, Erika M.rancho santa Ana Botanic Garden, 1500 North College Ave.,Claremont, CA 91711 UsA

in 2009 the national science foundation awarded agrant to fund the rancho santa ana Botanic garden(rsa) to process an extensive backlog of 10,000 un-processed botanical specimens from the collection’sof dr. robert folger thorne (curator emeritus). thesespecimens were temporarily housed at an off-site storagefacility awaiting processing. until plant specimens areidentified, labeled, mounted and accessioned, they arenot available for study and thus cannot contribute to ourknowledge of plant diversity. field notes were relocatedand catalogued, labels were transcribed, duplicatessorted and sent to appropriate institutions and speci-mens were mounted for inclusion to the collection.thorne’s botanical interests and publication record arebroad and diverse; he collected globally, thus making hiscollections extremely important to the botanical com-munity. at rsa-POm we faced many challenges with abacklog this large. space inside our collection needed tobe designated for specimens “to be processed” and note-books needed to be matched to the hundreds of bundles.Our greatest challenge was dealing with the specimensfor which we could not identify notebooks with collec-tion information and finding volunteers interested inmounting fragile plant material.

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orALdigital representations: An approach to best practice for data sharingGiere, PeterMuseum für Naturkunde, Leibniz Institute for research on evolutionand Biodiversity, Humboldt University, Berlin, 10115 Berlin, Germany

since digitization of collection material, be it archivalfiles, library volumes or museum specimens, has be-come an invaluable tool over the past years, and sincedigitization is used in various contexts, both in researchand collection management, issues regarding the properuse of digital representations need to be addressed. sim-ple applications of digitization include digital images of2d originals such as backup copies of collection cata-logues or micrographs of histological sections. these canbe produced using standard equipment from flatbedscanners to digital slr cameras or more advanced tech-nology with specialized scanners for library applicationsor book scanning robots for high throughput of scannedobjects. for other applications, high resolution 3d datais produced using advanced technologies that eitherrecord surface structures or internal properties, basedon optics, X-ray or magnetic resonance, respectively. allof these techniques have in common, that they producea digital representation of some of the properties of aphysical object, be it a fully searchable file of a first edi-tion or a volume rendering file of a lizard trapped in am-ber. for rare and fragile objects, the digital representa-tion may be the only object for study, since the originalis not available for research due to preservation con-cerns. however, the link between the object and its digi-tal representation must be maintained, so that an agree-ment between the user and the museum should be inplace that clarifies this issue. this presentation illustratesthe need for such an agreement and provides existingexamples from various museums.

posterfrom the American Museum of Natural Historywith love: Packing fossil specimens for shipmentGishlick, A.; Jurgielewicz, L.; Mehling, C.Division of paleontology, American Museum of Natural History,Central park West at 79th st., New York, NY 10024 UsA

loans from one institution to another are a funda-mental aspect of the research process, but wheneverspecimens are sent out on loan or are returned fromloan there is the risk of damage occurring during transit.the damage may range from a minor break, which canbe easily repaired by an experienced preparator or con-servator, to a complete loss of the specimen in the mostextreme cases.

through our experience with shipping and receivingvertebrate fossils and the feedback received by us fromrecipients of our packing efforts, we have developed a set

of guidelines that we follow whenever we pack verte-brate fossil specimens in the division of Paleontology,amnh.

in this poster, we present a few simple packingmethods following these guidelines that can be appliedto a variety of vertebrate fossil specimens to preventdamage during transport. these methods rely on twokey principles: isolating the individual specimens orparts of specimens from each other and preventingmovement of the specimens in the package duringtransport. also important is ensuring that there is ade-quate space between the contents and exterior surfacesof the shipping container in the event of a puncture ortear in the outer surface.

this poster is meant to serve as a visual guide topacking fossils of three main size categories: small (8cm × 6 cm × 4 cm), medium (26 cm × 22 cm × 5 cm),and large (anything larger in dimension thanmedium). small specimens will generally fit into aplastic box and medium ones into a cardboard tray,while large specimens require a clamshell or largercardboard box. We present the general methods thatwe use to pack specimens in each size class and thesemethods can be modified to accommodate the needs ofthe individual specimen.

orALStreamlining herbarium specimen digitization using optical character recognitionGottschalk, S.D.; Kirchgessner, A.; Watson, K.A.the William and Lynda steere Herbarium, the New York BotanicalGarden, 2900 southern Blvd., Bronx, NY 10458 UsA

the advancement of optical character recognition(Ocr) technology to include batch processing of fileshas modified the workflow for cataloging specimens atthe new York Botanical garden (nYBg). We havefound that Ocr, though not perfect, can be helpful instreamlining the cataloging workflow by making thespecimen labels digitally searchable from the start. la-bels grouped by collector and locality can then be cata-loged more effectively. the workflow currently imple-mented at nYBg begins with an exhaustive curation ofthe plant family and geographic region of interest, fol-lowed by rapid cataloguing and barcoding of everyspecimen. each catalogue record contains only aunique barcode number and the currently acceptedtaxonomic name under which the specimen is filed inthe herbarium. the specimens are then digitally pho-tographed using a 21 megapixel camera and namedwith the barcode number. the image files are croppedusing the photo editing software adobe Photoshoplightroom, converted to grayscale to reduce file size,and uploaded in large batches to be read by aBBYYfine reader. using a Powershell script we extract the

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data from the text files generated by aBBYY and popu-late rows in microsoft excel, checking at the same timefor the accuracy of the Ocr’d barcode. We can thenidentify sets of similar labels based on the Ocr textand parse these data into the appropriate fields whenwe import to our database. more consistent text recog-nition on older labels can often be achieved by usingaBBYY’s pattern training process.

orALProtecting collections: tools to engage climate dialogues with conservators, engineers, collection managers and acilities managersGrzywacz, Cecily M.AFM-sustainability office, National Gallery of Art, AFM-601s, 2000Bsouth Club Drive, Landover, MD 20785 UsA

We are reminded daily of global climate change andthe high cost of energy. Within the conservation fieldwe struggle to maintain the perceived optimum setpoints of 70°f and 50% rh. how do we determinewhat the climatic set points and the appropriate range;is it ± 2%, ±5% or ± 10%? Who decides? there aremany stakeholders in the preservation of cultural her-itage: conservators, scientists, curators, museum direc-tors, building owners, trustees, engineers, facilitiesmanagers, and architects. One of the greatest chal-lenges of any team is effective communication. for col-lections preservation this is complicated by the diversebackgrounds and professional vocabularies of themembers. Because there is an inherent fear of failure,we demand very strict control, which is expensive. asenergy costs soar, we all must work together more andaccept compromise without sacrificing preservation ofcollections. this presentation will identify resourcesavailable through the american society for heating,refrigerating and air-conditioning engineers(ashrae) and the international facility managementassociation (ifma) to museum professionals to en-gage engineers and facilities managers in discussion ofset points, sustainability and energy conservation.

orALfrom organismal- to millimeter-scale:Methodologies for studying patterns in color anddirection of the reflectance from avian organismsHarvey, T.1,2; Bostwick, K.3

1Department of ecology and evolutionary Biology, Yale University,165 prospect st., New Haven, Ct 06520-8106 UsA

2Department of Biomedical sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine,t4-018 Veterinary research tower, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY14853-6401 UsA

3Cornell University Museum of Vertebrates, 159 sapsucker Woodsroad, Ithaca, NY 14850-1923 UsA

avian organisms have evolved plumage of astound-ing beauty and diversity, including brilliant color anddramatic pattern. Plumage is fundamental to howbirds interact with their world; the signaling functionof plumage plays a role in an organism’s social interac-tion and is a determining factor in a organism’s overallvisual identity. the organization of modified plumagestructure over the surface of the bird produces dra-matic variation in appearance both within and be-tween species. Previous case studies have establishedthe vast morphological modifications of individual,specialized feathers, their placement on the body, andthe millimeter-scale topography generated by theshape and orientation of feather sub-structures. Westudy plumage morphology and reflectance to explainits potential function in avian behavior, its develop-ment and evolution. We propose that a change in theform and orientation of a feather, and in turn its sub-structures, changes its interaction with light and thusalters appearance. We began our investigations by ask-ing: for every specific component of the modifiedstructure, is there a corresponding signal function andcan we identify and measure the signal? in this talk wewill discuss two systems of non-destructive tools andtechniques we have developed to study and measureplumage morphology and its reflectance from the or-ganismal- to millimeter-scale; the first captures imageswith high spatial and high spectral resolution and cor-responding organismal-scale geometries, while thesecond obtains high spatial and high directional reso-lution and millimeter-scale geometries. We will showhow plumage morphology at different structural scalesinfluences change in the spectral and directional com-ponents of the reflectance over the surface of the or-ganism. We will also suggest the research and archivalpotential of the large digital data sets acquired in thecourse of our studies.

posterA tale of two systems: Synergy in managing risks to people and to collectionsHawks, C.1; Waller, R.2

1office of the Associate Director for research and Collections,National Museum of Natural History, smithsonian Institution, MrC106, po Box 37012, Washington, DC 20013-7012 UsA

2protect Heritage Corp., 622 simoneau Way, ottawa, oN K4A1p4Canada

the two systems of managing health and safety andof managing preservation of cultural property havemany parallels. When managed from a proactive per-spective, they can be considered goal-directed systems.in the first case, the goal is to maintain health and avoidaccidents to people. in the second case, the goal is toavoid damage and loss to cultural property. Both goalsare clear, widely accepted, and even inarguably nobleand worthy. as a simple example, wearing appropriate

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gloves while handling objects protects the wearer as wellas the collection object/specimen from contamination.there are many such examples of complete correspon-dence of purpose between the health and safety andpreservation systems. in these cases both systems willnaturally be mutually supportive.

however, not all potential intersections of the twosystems align automatically. for instance, an old collec-tion of pharmaceuticals can pose many risks. from ahealth and safety perspective, disposal seems the obvi-ous solution. from a curatorial perspective, keepingcontents intact for future analysis may be important.the exercise of developing a creative solution that pro-tects both people and collections can lead to improvedunderstanding among all parties.

most institutions that care for cultural property con-duct regularly scheduled health and safety inspectionsof all work areas. few institutions have a similar rou-tine comprehensive inspection for collection preserva-tion issues. the management of risks to collectionscould benefit from including a collection care specialistin the team conducting a health and safety inspection.that specialist would be tasked to look for and docu-ment situations that pose, or exacerbate, risks to col-lections. combining the two inspections encouragessynergies that can lead to effective risk managementand resource allocation by custodians of our collectedheritage.

orALdefensible collections: designing a safe exhibit spaceHirsch, J.; Harris, C.ewingCole, Federal reserve Bank Building, 100 N. 6th st.,philadelphia, pA 19106-1590 UsA

a startling number of conservators tell stories aboutmistreatment of collection material by the public. is anexhibit successful if attendance effectively damages deli-cate material? By the way, what makes a teenager throwa french fry onto a Diplodocus? and why would amother attempt to salvage a souvenir from an artifact foran eager toddler?

this oral presentation provides a broad overview ofthe risk to exhibited collection material imposed by thevisitor, starting with evidence of passive damage citedin published studies and moving towards observationsof vandalic behavior at larger institutions. Patterns ofdamage to collections correspond to specific character-istics of the exhibit spaces themselves, suggesting acausal relationship: space design contributes to the wayvisitors interact with collection material. the presenta-tion will draw on corrective ideas from outside the mu-seum world, looking towards design moves that makecivic spaces, stadiums and schools safe and livable. theimplication is that effective galleries that accommodate

the needs of both exhibit designers and collectionsmanagers should consider human behavior and em-ploy multiple, iterative techniques for ensuring the col-lection’s safety.

orALProtecting collections and integrated pest management challenges: A twelve-year perspectiveHites, Roxie R.; Revelez, Marcia A.sam Noble oklahoma Museum of Natural History, University ofoklahoma, 2401 Chautauqua Ave., Norman, oK 73072-7029 UsA

in 2000, the sam noble Oklahoma museum of natu-ral history opened its doors. this new state-of-the-art,190,000 sq. ft. facility was completed to house morethan seven million objects with the commitment ofmaintaining the highest standards and would offer thebest care and preservation of its collections. the devel-opment of a building-wide integrated pest manage-ment (iPm) program was initiated through recom-mendations from a grant-funded assessmentperformed by an outside consultant. these recommen-dations were put into action and modifications con-tinue to be made to keep the collections protectedthrough the use of best practices.

twelve years of pest management data have been col-lected and analyzed. much was revealed, including 1) asuccession of pests based on diet or object material, 2)seasonal pest trends resulting in an atypical cycle forpest activity in the winter months, and 3) the modifica-tion of iPm strategies. to continue the commitment to-ward the highest standards in best practices, a secondbuilding-wide assessment will be conducted in may2012 and results will be presented. it is hopeful thatother collections and museums may use this informa-tion to help define and explore iPm challenges in theestablishment and maintenance of a new facility.

posterHave camera, will travel: interdivisional application of digital imaging best practicesHochgraf, Susanpeabody Museum of Natural History, Yale University, p.o. Box208118, New Haven, Ct 06520-8118 UsA

Best practices, by design, are flexible and must beadaptable to museum-wide concerns. With this in mind,Yale Peabody museum’s digital imaging best practiceswere developed to apply broadly to a variety of imagingprojects. at the Yale West campus, the Peabody mu-seum’s Vertebrate Zoology division established a proto-col for a digital imaging project in the osteology collec-tion. after weeks of trial and error, a smoothly operatingworkflow was in place. On short notice and under a tight

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schedule, equipment and expertise from this ongoing ef-fort were pressed into service for a unique project in thenearby anthropology division. supported by museumstaff from both divisions, a range of on-location prob-lems were solved, existing imaging methods wereadapted and were applied. this is an overview of the os-teology imaging project and the application of the sameconcept to the anthropology project, from decision-making and set-up through successful implementation.

orALMaintaining a mineral collection in an evolving geosciences department: Progress toward preservationHoll, C.M.; Hollister, L.S.; Duffy, T.S.Department of Geosciences, Guyot Hall, princeton University,princeton, NJ 08544-1013 UsA

Princeton university geosciences is nearing the finalstages of the renovation and preservation of an historicmineral collection. like many other university depart-ments, Princeton faces future constraints on fundingand space. We intend to downsize through donationsand long-term loans while preserving the educational,scientific, and historic value, and improving accessibility.digitization of catalog information and reorganizationwill result in a minimal need for curation and upkeep af-ter the conclusion of the project, increasing the likeli-hood the collection will be maintained in the future.

We have a significant advantage over our predeces-sors who constructed the collection in that we have ac-cess to powerful modern electronic databases and cata-logues. two and a half years into the project,information (localities descriptions, donors, etc.) in ourmain catalogue has been entirely digitized, and we arescanning images of original catalogue cards and photo-graphing select specimens. the bulk of the collectionwas assembled about a century ago, when geological col-lections played a central role in university. for such acollection to be viable today, access to it must be greatlyexpanded, both internally and externally. Our main cat-alogue is now online in searchable form, and we con-tinue to supplement it. digital information about thecollection will be freely available to facilitate loans forspecific purposes or donations.

upon successful completion of the project, we hopethat the collection at Princeton will serve as a model forthe preservation of an increasingly uncommon historicuniversity mineral collection using widely available mod-ern tools. earth sciences departments should be encour-aged, when possible, to invest the time to preserve theirunique collections. accessibility as part of a larger, virtual“meta-collection” can help justify their preservation.

orALintegrating paleobiological and archival informatics in the cataloging of the University of CaliforniaMuseum of Paleontology archives

Holroyd, P.A.1; Marshall, C.R.1,2

1Museum of paleontology, University of California–Berkeley,Berkeley, 1101 Valley Life sciences Building, Berkeley, CA 94720-4780 UsA

2Department of Integrative Biology, University of California–Berkeley,Berkeley, 1005 Valley Life sciences Building #3140, Berkeley, CA94720-3140 UsA

the university of california museum of Paleontology,like most natural history museums, is a repository forsignificant collections of archives that represent both sci-entific activities of the museum as well as the intellectuallives of the scientists who have contributed to these col-lections. these frequently relate in direct ways to the mu-seum’s collections and are themselves objects of researchinterest. however, these collections are rarely catalogedin ways that make them accessible to researchers or thatmake explicit the connections between archival objectsand documents and related natural history objects.

With support from the council on library and infor-mation resources hidden collections program fundedthrough the mellon foundation, we are now re-housingand conserving our archives and developing online find-ing aids for the thousands of field notes, personal pa-pers, maps, photographic media, and artwork that spanthe 1880s to the present. using archon open-sourcesoftware, we are creating records that can be output inmarc format for compatibility with standard archivaldocument portals. in addition to creating conventionalfinding aids, we have integrated the archival databasewith existing specimen and digital photographic data-bases to capitalize upon our informatics infrastructuresto enhance accessibility and generate new, added-valueonline content. We are finding it particularly valuablehaving experienced graduate students who know the rel-evant taxa and field areas enter and check data.By estab-lishing reciprocal links between the archival finding aidsfrom our collections databases, we can let researchersknow that more data are available, generate maps thatshow the geographic extent of specific archives or theirrelationships to discipline-specific content, e.g., geologicor taxonomic categories, that are not typically incorpo-rated in finding aids. in doing so, we hope to best serveboth our primary research community and the broadercommunity who were previously unaware of ourarchival holdings.

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posterConsiderations for compact storage of thecollection at a large natural history institution: A case study at the Royal tyrrell Museum ofPalaeontologyHousego, G.C.; Strilisky, B.C.royal tyrrell Museum of palaeontology, 1500 North Dinosaur trail,Drumheller, AB t0J 0Y0, Canada

When available museum storage space is static andmuseum collection grow so does the propensity and pres-sure to move from a stationary stacked cabinet and rack-ing system to a compact storage system. the lure of signif-icant increases in storage capacity (moving to a 60%footprint) without the need to expand the storage perime-ter is appealing, but are there drawbacks? at the royaltyrrell museum of Palaeontology (rtmP) capacity is ap-proaching 95%. a study is ongoing to determine the feasi-bility of retrofitting the collections area with compact stor-age for both the specimen cabinets and the oversizedracking and several conclusions are becoming evident.

the consideration of costs beyond the purchase of acompact storage system is important and will be highlyvariable. at the rtmP large portions of the fossil collec-tion will need to be temporarily re-housed in a separatelocation, leading to space and labour costs; moving thecollection puts the specimens in jeopardy of damage sospecialized packing materials will be required. if retro-fitting the existing furniture, the stability, dimensionsand weight capacity will need to be considered, poten-tially requiring new furniture. retrofitting oversizedstorage racking and cabinets adds an additional heightwhich may put the furniture exceedingly close to theoverhead sprinkler system, lights and ceiling whichmeans that the overall height of specimen cabinets andracking will need to be reduced to accommodate thenew carriages, diminishing the increase in capacity pro-vided by the compactor system.

While compact storage increases capacity it can limitaccessibility depending on collection use and access re-quirements. at times there is upward of five researcherssimultaneously working in different aisles in the collec-tion. compact storage will limit that access and will putmore of a strain on the collections team to ensure all re-searchers’ needs are met. these aspects need to be con-sidered as a whole before attempting the large undertak-ing of switching over to compact storage.

orALConservation and digitization of Compendiumindex of North American Mesozoic and Cenozoictype fossil Plants at the Peabody MuseumHu, Shusheng1; Hickey, Leo J.1, 2

1Division of paleobotany, peabody Museum of Natural History, YaleUniversity, p.o. Box 208118, New Haven, Ct 06520-8118 UsA

2Department of Geology and Geophysics, Yale University, p.o. Box208109, New Haven Ct 06520-8109 UsA

the compendium index of north american meso-zoic and cenozoic type fossil Plants is a collection ofapproximately 12,000 8x10 inch cards, in which eachcard contains illustrations and description of an individ-ual occurrence of a fossil plant species. the com-pendium index (ci) presently covers fossil floras fromnorth america, including greenland. the ci was begunin 1937 by erling dorf, paleobotanist in the departmentof geology at Princeton university. in 1984 the ci wastransferred to the division of Botany (then including pa-leobotany) at Peabody museum of natural historywhere it has been substantially updated and reorgan-ized. it now covers 248 references extending from 1866to 2010. the ci is a unique and invaluable resource forfossil plant identification that has no counterpart any-where else in the world. however, use of the ci has beenlimited because it exists as a single card collection at onelocation. in addition, many of the cards had begun toshow signs of deterioration and wear. therefore, thepresent division of Paleobotany started a project to con-serve and digitize this collection three years ago. Be-cause several attempts to secure funding for this projectproved unsuccessful, much of this work was carried onby volunteers, supplemented by Peabody museum re-sources on an as available basis. When the work was fin-ished in the spring of 2012, over 3300 cards had been re-paired using archival-quality materials. simultaneouslywith the conservation work, volunteers and part-timestudent workers digitized, compiled, and edited all ofthe cards in the compendium index. the electronic ver-sion of the ci in a searchable database was published inapril of 2012. this project not only serves as an exampleof the conservation and digitization of a physical cardcollection, but also shows the importance of volunteersin the current economic and funding contexts.

orALthe Smithsonian’s pan-institutional frozen collectionsHuddleston, C.1; Mullins, P.2

1Biorepository, Collections program, National Museum of NaturalHistory, smithsonian Institution, Museum support Center, 4210silver Hill rd., suitland, MD 20746 UsA

2pan-smithsonian Cryo-Initiative, smithsonian Conservation BiologyInstitute, National Zoological park, smithsonian Institution, 1500remount rd., Front royal, VA 22630 UsA

smithsonian museums, research centers and individ-ual researchers have been collecting genetic resources onan ad hoc basis for decades. in 2005, the national mu-seum of natural history (nmnh) began designing anew facility for cryopreserved collections. the goal wasto bring nmnh genetic resource collections into one fa-cility for improved management purposes. this facilityopened for use in september 2011 and faced several

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challenges: equipment reliability, informatics, accesscontrol and cultural change. first, our mechanical freez-ers experienced problems, mainly due to inadequatepower supply. second, we’ve purchased inventory con-trol software, but have difficulty linking it with our mu-seum catalog database. third, to prevent problems withinventory control, we must limit physical access to ourgenetic resource collections even as we ensure intellec-tual access. fourth, we continue to address resistance tochange from ad hoc “personal” tissue collection to a mu-seum standard collection.

the smithsonian institution as a whole took an inter-est in frozen collections while the Biorepository was be-ing built. in 2006, the Pan-smithsonian cryo-initiative(Psci) began as a project between nmnh, national Zoo-logical Park, smithsonian environmental research cen-ter, and smithsonian tropical research institute to ad-dress similar issues across units with cryopreservedmaterials. a baseline assessment evaluated the status ofthe frozen collections. this survey highlighted neededimprovements in each unit’s collection management.currently, Psci is streamlining frozen collections man-agement into a pan-institutional process with standard-ized database. this collaborative collections managementapproach requires balancing institutional needs with unitoperations, such as incorporating individual unit meta-data into a shared schema. Our collaborative initiativeadvantage is the ability to leverage resources for effi-ciency. We will describe the data management projectunderway at Psci and address the considerations to in-stitutional integration of cryo-collections management.

together, we present challenges and solutions tobuilding a modern biorepository with intra-institutionalcollections and data management considerations.

orAL21st century approaches to 17th centurycollections: Aspects of access to, conservationand security of the early botanical collections of the Natural History Museum, LondonHuxley, R.Natural History Museum, Cromwell rd., London sW7 5BD, UnitedKingdom

early botanical collections pose a variety of chal-lenges to access, security and conservation. the naturalhistory museum houses its “treasures” in a purpose-built room in its new darwin centre building. the col-lections comprise the 265 bound volumes of plant speci-mens of sir hans sloane (1660–1753). along with boundand single sheet collections from other significant earlycollectors. there is also a collection of 12,000 smallboxes of seeds, fruits and curios known as sloane’s “Veg-etable substances” collection. the herbarium collectionscontain linnaean types and represent many of the firstcollections made in newly opening up parts of the ex-

panding world. they have great scientific, historical andalso potential monetary value creating particularly chal-lenging issues of security and conservation. swipe cardslimit access but challenges remain and trials with rfidtags and other technologies aim to reduce the risk ofunauthorised removal. the demand for access is in-creasing due to their value as records of past environ-ments and their role as a focus for a number of historicalresearch projects. although stabilization and repair tothe collection reduces risks of mechanical damage thereis a drive to reduce handling through digitization includ-ing specialised digital access to the sealed boxes of the“Vegetable substances” through ct scanning for exam-ple. the collections are in great demand for the generalpublic offer and also “ViP” tours and functions addingadditional risks to be managed. in addition, the self-guided tour of the darwin centre allows visitors to lookthrough windows into the collection space and view se-lected objects and interpretation of their significance.

orALThe Molecular Collections Facility at the Natural History Museum, LondonHuxley, R.; Mackenzie-Dodds, J.A.Natural History Museum, Cromwell rd., London sW7 5BD, UnitedKingdom

the natural history museum, london has opened acentralised storage facility to accommodate its expand-ing and dispersed collections of dna and tissues for mo-lecular studies offering advantages of scale and consis-tency of best practice. a molecular collections policyrequires that all “molecular collections” no longer ac-tively being used by a research project be archived in thefacility and that all transactions are ethical, legal and inline with the requirements of cBd’s access and Benefitsharing policies.

storage methods are currently a mixed economy offreezers, liquid nitrogen (ln2) vessels and ambient tem-perature systems with a mid to long term aim to reducethis to ambient and ln2; a strategy driven by cost-effi-ciency, robustness in emergency situations and futureaccess to molecules beyond dna. the equipment pro-vides the opportunity for research on these storage tech-nologies and in particular in how the many methodsavailable can ensure optimum storage appropriate to thematerial and its future use.

data management is crucial and an integrated dual-system has been developed from the ke emu collectionsmanagement system used by the nhm and the specialistbiorepository inventory management system Freezer-Pro® the system ensures compatibility and efficientcommunication with existing and new global moleculardatabases such as genBank.

state-of-the–art equipment will ensure that all mate-rials stored and loaned/gifted to users are the highest

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purity possible, including high molecular weight“genome ready” products.

the facility is targeting collections from external col-laborators and working in partnerships to develop “dis-tributed” networked collections worldwide.

it is becoming increasingly possible to evaluate dam-age to dna extracted from museum specimens, repair itand store the material and the facility offers the opportu-nity to pioneer these methods.

orALdeveloping a flexible collections competency system for europe Huxley, R.; Maldar G.J.Natural History Museum, Cromwell rd., London sW7 5BD, UnitedKingdom

the requirements of european natural history mu-seums to manage, care for and use their collections arealmost identical but there is a heterogeneous approachto the delivery of best practice. this is exacerbated byvariations in staff structures and responsibilities. com-petency frameworks offer a defined structure for thedevelopment of job specifications and encourage a con-sistent approach to the delivery of quality collectionscare and interpretation using the framework devel-oped by the natural history museum, london as astarting point this project will develop a common set ofcompetencies that can be arrayed to match staff rolesin a wide variety of size and structure of museums. forexample the competencies required by a staff memberin a small to medium-sized museum with responsibili-ties for management of collections but also their dis-play and educational use will draw from the same coreset as a specialised collections manager in a large insti-tution. these building blocks will be in clear languageand readily translated into local languages. Phase 1 ofthe project funded by the eu sYnthesYs project willidentify existing frameworks and compile a set of stan-dardised core competencies that can be selected andarrayed to suit the needs of museums of varying size,focus, culture and governance. Phases 2 and 3 willtranslate these and link them to a series of new and ex-isting learning tools to assist staff and trainers in cus-tomising training to meet their competency needs withthe overall aim of increasing mobility of collectionspersonnel across europe.

orALUsing terrestrial laser scanning to construct 3dimagery and models of a Eubrontes trackway atdinosaur State Park, Rocky Hill, ConnecticutHyatt, James A.1; Rosiene, Joel2

1Department of environmental earth science, eastern Connecticutstate University, 83 Windham st., Willimantic, Ct 06226 UsA

2Math and Computer science Department, eastern Connecticut stateUniversity, 83 Windham st., Willimantic, Ct 06226 UsA

dinosaur state Park (dsP) in rocky hill connecti-cut hosts an impressive collection of ≈600 Eubrontestrace fossils, related dioramas, and associated displayswithin a domed visitor center that commonly attracts≈50,000 patrons annually. this study reports on pre-liminary efforts to map, image, and model the maintrackway at dsP using terrestrial laser scanning (tls),low-level pole photography, and 3d printing technolo-gies. We used a trimble VX spatial station tls to col-lect ≈ 380,000 survey points. the VX is a versatile line-of-sight instrument capable of conventional totalstation data collection, robotized and wireless pen-controlled surveying, and relatively low speed (15points per second) scanning. data were collected from4 scanning stations that used unique markings on sur-rounding dioramas as resection points to re-enter thesame survey space. the resultant point cloud was, seg-mented, decimated, and slightly smoothed to generatea 3d mesh of the trackway. high resolution spatiallyregistered images collected with the VX were used totexture the mesh. a significant challenge at dsP is thatside-lighting of the trackway, which enhances in-per-son viewing, confounds the quality of VX imagery. tocompensate a series of overlapping, low-level (8 m),and nearly vertical pole photographs were collected us-ing 50 mm and 35 mm focal length dslr camera.these images were enhanced in Photoshop and pro-jected onto the 3d mesh based on VX calculated cam-era positions and angles. the resulting retexturedmodel, much improved, was used to create high qualityorthorectified image maps of the trackway. in additionto 3d imagery, we are experimenting with rapid proto-typing (3d printing) to build physical models for edu-cational and promotional purposes. the latter has in-cluded building fda-approved rubber models to castchocolate dinosaur tracks, an unanticipated and curi-ous outcome that illustrates the range of opportunitiesthat can arise when working with 3d data sets.

posterSalvage and restoration activity for the bird specimens destroyed by tsunami in the tohoku earthquake, JapanIwami, Yasuko1; Kumagai, Masaru2; Tomioka, Naoto3;Yamasaki, Takeshi1

1Yamashina Institute for ornithology, 115, Konoyama, Abiko, Chiba270-1145, Japan

2rikuzentakata City Museum, 56 Aza-Nitano, Yahagi-chorikuzentakata City, Iwate, 029-2201, Japan

3Laboratory of Archaeology, Department of Biosphere-Geospherescience, Faculty of Biosphere-Geosphere science, okayamaUniversity of science, 1-1 ridai-cho, okayama City, okayama, 700-0005, Japan

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in Japan, the local museums make great contributionsto the conservation and education of biology by collect-ing specimens of natural history. some of the local mu-seums in the tohoku district suffered catastrophic dam-age through the tsunami caused by tohoku earthquake,march 11, 2011. the rikuzentakata city museum estab-lished in 1959, which is the oldest public museum in thetohoku district, had been housing more than 150,000important collections for study and education. thetsunami took these collections into the muddy saltwaterand spoiled them. then many organizations that includeuniversities, museums, institutes and board of educationcooperate for salvation and restoration of damaged spec-imens and artifacts. concerning more than 500 dam-aged specimens, Yamashina institute for Ornithologyand Okayama university of science are mainly in chargeof identification for bird species and restoration of skinsand stuffed birds. however, we had not experienced atall to restore the bird specimens damaged by thetsunami. so we observed conditions and devised suit-able methods for restoration. most of the salvaged speci-mens were stuffed birds, therefore it was necessary towash and take into pieces. stuffed birds have compli-cated structure. moreover, it is indispensable to applythe knowledge of taxidermy for restoring these damagedbirds. We introduce the situation of damaged specimensby the tsunami and the methods of restoration in thiswork.

orALintegrating biodiversity distribution knowledge:toward a global map of lifeJetz, Walter1; Guralnick, Rob P.2

1Department of ecology and evolutionary Biology, Yale University,165 prospect st., New Haven, Ct 06520-8106 UsA

2Department of ecology and evolutionary Biology and CU Museumof Natural History, eBIo, ramaley N122, Campus Box 334,University of Colorado, Boulder, Co 80309-0334 UsA

global knowledge about the spatial distribution ofspecies is orders of magnitude coarser in grain thanother geographically structured environmental datasetssuch as topography or land cover. museum-basedrecords represent a critical source of species geographicdistribution knowledge, but on their own are limited inutility due to inherent sampling biases. Yet such knowl-edge is critical in deciphering ecological and evolution-ary processes and in managing global change risks. i amlaying out a conceptual and cyber-infrastructure frame-work for refining species distributional knowledge thatis novel in its ability to mobilize and integrate diverseforms of data such that collective strengths of differentdata types overcome individual weaknesses. the ulti-mate aim is an online, publically accessible, quality-vet-ted “map of life,” that for every known species on earthtransparently integrates and optimally visualizes avail-able distributional knowledge, while promoting user

feedback and facilitating dynamic biodiversity synthesesand change assessments. a demo version of this tool isnow online. i will illustrate and discuss the potential of“map of life” as a collaborative research platform andthe different possible uses of the by the museum andbiodiversity science community.

postertraining in natural history conservation: An intern’s perspectiveJones, NatalieHorniman Museum and Gardens, 100 London rd., Forest Hill,London se23 3pQ, United Kingdom

natural history conservation as a specialism is stillrelatively rare in the uk and tends to be overlooked inthe standard syllabus in many conservation courses. assuch on completion of a master’s degree in the conser-vation of historic Objects, i undertook an internship innatural history conservation the focus of which was theconservation of taxidermy. Over the course of the yearin-house training was provided as well as external short-term courses. the internship has been fundamental inthe development of my conservation specialism and hasserved to highlight the available technologies which canenhance the preservation of zoological specimens suchas X-radiography, endoscopy and X-ray fluorescence.the availability of such technologies can be utilised bythe conservator to make more informative decisions re-garding treatment plans and determine health andsafety concerns.

posterthe University of Colorado Museum’s fossils in the Classroom ProjectKarim, T.S.1; Culver, T.1; Hakala, J.S.H.1; Eberle, J.1,2

1University of Colorado Museum of Natural History, HendersonBuilding, 15th and Broadway, Boulder, Co 80309 UsA

2Department of Geological sciences, University of Colorado, UCB399, Boulder, Co 80309-0399 UsA

the aim of the fossils in the classroom Project is toengage elementary students and teachers in communi-ties across colorado in the study of the ancient prehis-tory of colorado through hands-on experiences withfossil animals and plants that once lived in the state, andto get students turned on to science through paleontol-ogy. in 2009, the colorado department of educationadopted new state academic standards that, for the firsttime, specifically included the study of fossil organisms.unfortunately, there were very few resources available toaddress this new standard, and teaching resources werelimited.

the goals for the fossils in the classroom project di-rectly addressed the new colorado state curriculumstandard related to fossils for 4th grade students

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through the following. Our team (with the assistance ofcu undergraduates and graduate students) built 25 kitscontaining real and cast fossils, tools, and five detailedlesson plans with associated student exercises and teach-ing instructions, which were then distributed to five toschool districts across the state, reaching more than1,300 students. lesson topics ranged from how fossilsform to interpreting climate change, vertebrate toothanatomy and diet, and fossil footprints and trackways.Our project targeted districts with a high proportion ofstudents on free and reduced school lunch programs, asdata indicates that these schools have lower rates of sci-ence literacy. On-site training provided to teachers onhow best to use the kits in their classrooms was a criticalstep in getting teachers to actually use the materials andexercises as intended with their students. lastly, a posterfeaturing sites of paleontological interest plotted on a ge-ologic map of colorado is being distributed to 4th gradeclassrooms throughout the state in a broad scale effort toincrease science literacy and promote paleontology inthe classroom.

orALShared digital infrastructure—An institutional approachKing, Louisoffice of Digital Assets and Infrastructure, Yale University, 234Church st., 7th Floor, New Haven, Ct 06510 UsA

the Yale digital commons (Ydc) is a campus-widecollaboration to develop shared infrastructure for thecreation, management and dissemination of the expan-sive digital asset collections at Yale. this talk will showhow Yale’s Office of digital assets and infrastructure hasused a programmatic approach to collaboration to de-fine and build a robust digital content infrastructure. itwill provide an architectural view of the system as a plat-form and review the core digital services—mass storage,digital asset management, cross collection discovery,content delivery, Persistent linking and Preservation.

posterthe bird collection and the management at theYamashina institute for Ornithology: OverviewKobayashi, Sayaka; Yamasaki, Takeshi; Saitoh, Takema;Asai, Shigeki; Iwami, YasukoYamashina Institute for ornithology, 115 Konoyama Abiko, Chiba270-1145, Japan

the Yamashina institute for Ornithology (YiO) main-tains approximately 69,000 bird specimens includingskins, spread wings, skeletons, fluid-preserved, eggs andnests. the YiO collection is the largest ornithologicalcollection in Japan, and one of the largest in east asia.the collection consists of specimens that dr. YoshimaroYamashina and other leading Japanese ornithologists

collected, purchased, or exchanged with the other or-ganizations. the oldest specimen was collected in the1700s, whereas some other specimens were collected inthe 1800s, the dawn of ornithology in Japan. the YiOcollection includes extinct and rare species in additionto approximately 200 type specimens, which are all aca-demically valuable. We keep on collecting specimenssince 1932 when the institute was founded.

We routinely register donated bird carcasses. Becausebird carcasses provide not only the material for pre-served stuffed specimens but also tissue we can takefrom it, we began collecting muscle and liver tissue sam-ples for molecular biological studies in the 1990s. thespecimens and tissue samples are used for dna barcod-ing. along these efforts, we began building an electroniccollection database in 2001. in developing a database, wetook digital photographs of both specimens and their as-sociated labels, and then entered the information in tothe database by reading data from the digitized labels.We disclosed the database in 2009 and made its englishversion available in 2011. currently, you can see most ofthe over 60,000 specimens and their labels in the collec-tion online (http://decochan.net/). We will also reporton the registration system for specimens and materialsadopted at YiO.

orALHerbarium collections and dNA barcode reference libriaries:Complementary benefits and hidden dangers Kuzmina, Maria (Masha)University of Guelph, Biodiversity Institute of ontario, CanadianCentre for DNA Barcoding, 50 stone road east, Guelph, oN N1G2W1 Canada

dna barcoding was proposed as a way of using ge-netic markers for the rapid and efficient identification ofliving organisms. despite earlier skepticism of the utilityof dna barcoding for plants, recent results provide clearevidence that dna barcode reference libraries based onconsensus of several chloroplast markers alone (rbcl,matk, psba-trnh), or in combination with ribosomaldna region (its) can be used for rapid identification ofspecimens, at least to generic level, which is especiallyimportant in the species rich floras. the exhaustive col-lections of sequences from local floras based on correctidentifications can significantly increase resolutionpower of the plant barcodes applied to incompletelyidentified material. herbaria play an important role inlong-term accumulation of specimen records for plantspecies, especially for rare species and those fromunique locations at their range limits. the possibility touse herbarium collections can significantly improve therepresentation of the reference barcode library, and helpto accomplish projects in shorter term, and at greatercost-efficiency. additionally, the cross-reference with the

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herbarium vouchers annotated by experts allows in-creasing quality of the reference sequence database. as afeedback, beneficial to the collections, wide screeningand analysis of the dna barcodes help in indication oferrors and proper annotation of the herbarium speci-mens. We demonstrate a cost-efficient algorithm to cre-ate an exhaustive sequencing reference library(churchill, manitoba) based on 40% herbarium material(Win, mmmn), and using it as a sensitive tool to im-prove quality of the herbarium collections. using sum-mary of the collaborative dna barcoding projects of thecanadian centre for dna Barcoding (university ofguelph, guelph, canada) with the researchers acquiringthe herbarium material from costa rica, Peru, australia,nederland, finland, etc.(2009–2012) we show that theherbarium samples can generate from 80% to 20% suc-cessful barcodes depending on the sampling approachand material preservation. a critical success factor isclose coordination between the participants of the proj-ect representing collections and molecular laboratoryand cross-reference between a herbarium specimen andmolecular data.

posterReality check: Our experience integratinginvertebrate paleontology and paleobotanycollection databasesLandis, M.1; Lupia, R.1; Burkhalter, R.2

1sam Noble oklahoma Museum of Natural History, Department ofpaleobotany, Micropaleontology and Mineralogy, 2401 ChautauquaAve., Norman, oK 73072-7029 UsA

2sam Noble oklahoma Museum of Natural History, Department ofInvertebrate paleontology, 2401 Chautauqua Ave., Norman, oK73072-7029 UsA

digitization is intended to capture electronically thedata about collections, help preserve the information,enhance informational integrity, and improve access tothe collections. in science museums, the need to sharespecimen data across collections or disciplines, withinand beyond a single institution, is paramount. identi-fying and building toward explicit common goals arethe keys to navigating challenges and resolving con-flicts while constructing an integrated, cross-discipli-nary database.

as part of a recently completed nsf grant, we wereinvolved in integrating the databases of the paleobotanycollection with the invertebrate paleontology collectionto provide a single point-of-access collection database.however, we realized that even within the paleobotanydepartment’s collection we had an “integrated” database.as the paleobotany collection contains not only plantfossils, pollen, and spores, but also other microfossils(predominantly ostracods). therefore, we needed ourdatabase to handle the requirements of recordkeepingfor both plants and animals with the added dimensionsthat the information-rich and integrative field of paleon-

tology contains. some similarities in database fieldneeds exist (e.g., stratigraphic age assignments), but wealso learned some of the needed fields, and even theways we treated fields, were not the same. many of thesedisparities arose due to differences in plants versus ani-mals. We found challenges like: differences in format-ting/naming according to the botanical and zoologicalcodes; the taxonomic categorization challenges of fossilplant part names and trace fossils; and the differing di-mensional and categorical fields. We found that parsingof the data allowed setbacks to be overcome, althoughsome challenges remain to be solved.

orALUsing herbarium databases to deduce plantassociationsLandrum, L.R.; Lafferty, D.; Baker, M. Arizona state University, school of Life sciences, 427 east tyler Mall,tempe, AZ 85287 UsA

specimen databases provide an enormous source ofdata on organism distributions. We have been able touse the ca. 485,000 arizona herbarium specimenrecords in the seinet database to investigate plant asso-ciations in that state using two strategies. strategy 1uses the associated species field that lists the additionalspecies observed by the collector when collecting aspecimen. for instance, if species X is commonly foundin the associated species field of species Y, then we sus-pect that X and Y belong to a similar vegetation typeand have similar ecological requirements. strategy 2uses georeferenced specimens. if species X and Y oftengrow close to each other (e.g., within 0.005 degrees oflatitude and longitude), then it is possible that they havesimilar ecological requirements and constitute mem-bers of a vegetation type. the results of these investiga-tions are what we call “proximity charts” that linkspecies to each other in networks based on their relativefrequency of association based on strategies 1 and 2. Wehave mainly used the more common woody species forthis research because they are frequently mentioned as“associated species” and because they are commonlycollected. the “proximity charts” clearly show how veg-etation changes in species composition from high tolow elevations and how particular groups of speciestend to have multiple links within a group. the chartscan be used to confirm concepts of vegetation type (e.g.,chaparral, mixed conifer forest), or can be used todemonstrate how vegetation changes gradually as acontinuum over the landscape. Once a chart has beenmade, any additional species (e.g., a rare or endangeredspecies) can be added to discover where it falls on thecontinuum of vegetation.

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posterStabilizing special collections for high-densitystorage at the Library of CongressLewis, Jennifer; Greek, Ashley Conservation Division, Library of Congress, James MadisonMemorial Building, Independence Ave. se, Washington, DC 20540UsA

most libraries, archives and museums find them-selves dealing with growing collections and decreasingavailable storage space. as many facilities plan for off-site or alternative storage solutions for their special col-lections, they will need to improvise new approaches tohousing collections for transport and long term storage.this poster addresses strategies employed by the libraryof congress to ensure the long-term preservation of spe-cial collection materials being moved to a high-densityoff-site storage. this poster will be of interest toarchivists, preservation specialists and other collectionspecialists responsible for the long-term storage of spe-cial collections such as architectural records, posters,photographs, 3-dimensional objects, textiles, globes, re-lief maps, etc. it will also be of interest to anyone respon-sible for preparing collections for a move.

orAL3d imaging of the structural and geometrical properties of avian nestsLill, G.1; Zyskowski, K.2; Bertrand T.3; Shattuck M.4;Prum, R.5; O’Hern, C.S.3

1Yale College, Yale University, 367 elm st. Apt. 503, New Haven, Ct06510 UsA

2Division of Vertebrate Zoology, peabody Museum of Natural History,Yale University, p.o. Box 208118, New Haven, Ct 06520-8118 UsA

3Department of Mechanical engineering and Materials science, YaleUniversity, p.o. Box 208267, New Haven, Ct 06520-8267 UsA

4Benjamin Levich Institute and physics Department, steinman Hall1M-16, City College of CUNY, 140th st. and Convent Ave., New York,NY 10031-9198 UsA

5Department of ecology and evolutionary Biology, osborn MemorialLabs, Yale University, p.o. Box 208105, New Haven, Ct 06520-8105UsA

to engineers and biologists, avian nests are a remark-able engineering and evolutionary feat. stick nests repre-sent naturally occurring stable packings of long rods, andit is of fundamental and technological interest to under-stand why avian nests are so stable and strong. We haveemployed two imaging methods to uncover the mechani-cal and structural properties of avian nests. the firstmethod is nondestructive x-ray computer-aided tomog-raphy scans that allow complete 3d reconstructions ofthe nests, which allow us to calculate the number of con-tact points, the angles between sticks, and the overall de-sign of the stick nest. the second method has involveddeconstructing sample birds’ nests by hand and measur-ing the properties of the individual sticks such as the arc

length, center of mass, degree of branching, and aspectratio. in this presentation, i will give an overview of ourprogress in this research project as well as discuss thecomplications associated with 3d imaging of avian nests.

orALResearch on energy savings opportunities:System shutdowns and cultural institutionsLinden, Jeremy1; Reilly, James1; Herzog, Peter2

1Image permanence Institute, rochester Institute of technology, 70Lomb Memorial Dr., rochester, NY 14420 UsA

2Herzog/Wheeler & Associates, LLp, 2183 summit Ave., st. paul, MN55105 UsA

this paper will introduce the methodologies andearly results of investigations into a promising methodto achieve significant reductions in energy use in cul-tural institutions without compromising the preserva-tion quality of collections environments through a care-fully monitored and risk-managed shutdown of airhandling units during unoccupied hours. researchshows that environmental conditions (temperature andrelative humidity) are the most significant factors thatimpact the lifespan of cultural materials held by institu-tions. mechanical systems in cultural environments aretherefore frequently designed to run continuously in or-der to maintain the desired environmental conditions,often resulting in a high cost both monetarily and in en-ergy consumption. altering these conditions throughchanges in hVac operating schedules is a risk many in-stitutions are hesitant to take.

the specific research question investigated in thisproject is whether energy usage can be significantly re-duced by carefully monitored and risk-managed shut-down of air handling units (ahus) during unoccupiedhours in selected spaces without compromising thequality of the preservation environment. in addition,this research involves several subsidiary questions:—What are candidate collections spaces for shutdownsand what are the best ways to identify them?—What tools are needed to measure energy use and theeffects of changes on the conditions of collections?—What procedures and processes for collaborationamong facilities and library/preservation staff are re-quired?

in addition to methodology and early results, the pa-per will also discuss lessons learned to this point in theresearch process, unexpected findings, and the potentialimpact in cost-savings of these practices.

this three-year experiment is federally funded in theunited states by the institute for museum and libraryservices, and conducted by the image Permanence insti-tute (iPi) at the rochester institute of technology andtheir partner Peter herzog, principal of herzog/Wheeler& associates, a minnesota-based energy consulting firm.

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posterfragile creatures: Reboxing Blaschka jellyfishLowe, Mirandathe Natural History Museum, Zoology Department, Cromwell rd.,London sW7 5BD, United Kingdom

in 2008, there was an opportunity to exhibit some ofthe natural history museum’s (nhm) Blaschka marineinvertebrate glass model collection at and the nationalglass centre, uk and tring museum. it was the firsttime they had travelled to and been displayed at exter-nal venues since 1881. although more famously knownfor the making the glass flowers exhibited at the har-vard museum of natural history, the father and sonpartnership of leopold (1822–1895) and rudolf (1857–1939) Blaschka also made numerous marine inverte-brate glass models. some of the first models they madewere sea anemones in the early 1860’s and the nhm,london purchased their first set around 1865. this col-lection currently holds over 185 Blaschka glass modelsconsisting of anemones, sea slugs, jellyfish, octopus,squid, protozoans and corals representing their entiremodel making career. the models were made in a vari-ety ways with many formed over wire skeletons (knownas armatures) with the glass fused together or glued.therefore the process for making bepoke boxes out ofcorrex sheets with Plastazote linings for the jellyfish inparticular and sourcing correct travel cases was an im-portant part of this collection’s care prior to exhibitiondisplay.

in the past these models were of scientific importancein teaching but as trends change their significance asworks of art are also being highlighted. each glass modelis a unique blend of art, science and craftsmanship look-ing more life-like than real specimens whose naturalcolours may fade when stored in jars of preservationfluid over time. recently the style and the materials usedfor the jellyfish models boxed storage back in 2008 hasbeen reassessed and new procedures for creating storagefor them is evolving.

posterPlanning an ApplePie network based on filteredPush technology to connect botanical collectionsMacklin J.A.1; Dou, L.2; Hanken, J.3; Kelly, M.3; Lowery,D.B.3; Ludaescher, B.2; Morris, P.J.3,4; Morris, R.A.4

1Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Wm. saunders Building, ottawa,oN K1A 0C6, Canada

2UC Davis Genome Center, University of California–Davis, 451Health sciences Dr., Davis, CA 95616 UsA


4Harvard University Herbaria, 22 Divinity Ave., Cambridge, MA01238 UsA

We introduce applePie, an instance of a filtered Pushnetwork configured for botanical collections. applePie isbased on the applecore guidance for the use of darwin-core in herbaria. applePie has two primary functions.first, increasing digitization efficiency through rapid dis-covery of potentially duplicate specimens and delivery ofconsensus records. secondly, fostering the accumulationand communication of botanical knowledge through dig-ital annotation; brokering, for the first time, two-wayflow of information from aggregators to the sources ofthe primary object records (herbaria). applePie will con-sist of a set of filtered Push clients and network nodes.each node represents an access point applePie providingclient access to network functions such as messagingservices to distribute annotations. the network will con-tain a knowledge store providing a history of annotationsand a cache of data harvested from network participants.Of special relevance to botanical collections, analyticalcapabilities will be provided for the detection and cluster-ing of potential botanical duplicates, and provision ofconsensus data will increase data capture efficiency fornetwork members. a web interface will also allow au-thorized users to view annotations. several clients will beconnected to this network, including morphbank, sym-biota, and a set of specify6 collection databases. annota-tions collected from morphbank and symbiota will bedelivered to an annotation processing interface linked tospecify6 collection databases or the web interface to thenetwork, where data curators can review and filter them.specify6 databases, through implementation of softwarethat maps annotations expressing applecore-compliantdarwincore assertions onto specify’s schema, will beable to directly ingest annotations accepted by the datacurator. We will describe the core components involvedin applePie, including the central technology for many ofthe activities of the network, the annotation, and how thetechnologies are configured into a functioning network.supported by nsf dBi-0960535.

orALHazard identification and exposure assessment ofconservation occupational work tasks associatedwith anthropological collection objectsMakos, Kathrynoffice of safety, Health and environmental Management,smithsonian Institution, 600 Maryland Ave. sW, suite 7106, MrC514, Washington, DC 20024 UsA

the national museum of natural history departmentof anthropology prepared 389 objects for loan to the an-chorage museum at rasmuson center, anchorage,alaska, to be used for research and exhibition in collabo-ration with native tribal groups and other researchers. in-strumental analysis results and archival records indicatedmany objects may contain potentially hazardous sub-stances such as arsenic, mercury, lead, and organic chem-ical residues. sources may be from inherent construction

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materials (glass beads, pigments, dyes), past pesticideand preservative applications acquired during collectionand storage, and/or chemicals used in conservation treat-ment and preventive care. in keeping with smithsonianinstitution safety Policy, the department sought both tominimize potential health and safety risks to its staff andto provide hazard information data to the loan recipients.a comprehensive occupational exposure assessment wasconducted between 2007 and 2010, utilizing industrialhygiene personal sampling methods to determine inhala-tion, dermal and biological dose. Worker inhalation ex-posures to mercury particulate and vapor, and arsenicand lead particulate, were significantly below current u.s.occupational exposure limits. results of biological moni-toring samples were within clinically normal ranges forthese metals, not exceeding respective Biological expo-sure indices. risks were minimized through use of de-partment-established safe work practices, including aera-tion of cases prior to accessing; local exhaust ventilation,use of personal protective equipment and high-effi-ciency Particulate air (hePa)-filtered vacuum cleanersduring work tasks and routine surface cleaning, stafftraining and hazard communication.

posterPlanning an effective workflow for digitalphotography of collections Mansfield, S.; Willard, S.; DeMouthe, J.Department of Invertebrate Zoology and Geology, CaliforniaAcademy of sciences, 55 Music Concourse Dr., san Francisco, CA94118 UsA

capturing high quality photographs of collections isbecoming easier and more affordable thanks to thegrowing accessibility of digital photography equipment.however, the prospect of starting an imaging projectfrom scratch can be overwhelming and subject to a hap-hazard start. adopting a workflow based on the follow-ing key steps will help to ease the process and create op-timal practices for utilizing photographs of collections:1. Prioritize parts of a collection to be photographed. 2. create a work area with dedicated space and equip-ment for shooting. 3. standardize photographic procedures and equipmentsettings.4. edit settings such as exposure, color correction, andcropping of each image file, if necessary. 5. add important collections information to the meta-data of each image, including copyright. 6. save and store high resolution and downsized files foreach image. Be aware of file sizes and formats in regardsto storage space and future use. 7. Put images to use both within your institution andpublicly.

each step of an imaging workflow has multiple op-tions, accommodating a range of needs and means with

little compromise to quality. Well thought-out decisionswill achieve an efficient working procedure while ensur-ing the consistency and usefulness of specimen images.digital images of collections not only have archival ad-vantages, but also are an easy and sustainable way toreach out to researchers and the public. it is well worththe effort to put together a digital imaging project toprotect and also share collections.

orALvirtualization and the democratization of natural historyMaschner, Herbert D.G.1; Betts, M.2; Schou, C.3;Schlader, R.1; Clement, N.1; Holmer, N.1; Holmes, J.3

1Idaho Museum of Natural History, Idaho Virtualization Laboratory,Idaho state University, 921 s. 8th Ave., stop 8096, pocatello, ID83209 UsA

2Canadian Museum of Civilization Corporation, 100, rue Laurierstreet, Gatineau, QC K1A 0M8, Canada

3Informatics research Institute, Idaho state University, 921 s. 8thAve., stop 8332, pocatello, ID 83209 UsA

the idaho museum of natural history has been de-veloping the virtualization infrastructure to democratizescience by placing complete natural history collectionson-line using newly enhanced techniques in virtualiza-tion and hyperplastic database development. this proj-ect began with the multi-year nsf funded VirtualZooarchaeology of the arctic Project (VZaP), that hassuccessfully virtualized every bone from 160 arcticmammals, birds, and fish in 2d and 3d formats, in asearchable and flexible database system. this is not sim-ply online imaging, but rather, these virtual collectionsare accurate to 0.001 mm, can be measured and ana-lyzed on screen with 0.01 mm accuracy, and have cre-ated the opportunity for scientists around the world toconduct research from wherever they happen to be lo-cated. far beyond the virtual museum, the virtual scien-tific repository is the foundation for a truly open-accessnatural history science that has implications for all ob-ject-based collections use. the database structure, 3dand 2d imaging techniques, and on-screen measure-ment and analysis tools will be demonstrated and re-viewed, and our translation of these techniques to all ar-eas of natural history including anthropologicalcollections and herbaria, will be presented as a modelfor the future of education and scientific outreach fornatural history repositories.

orALthe American Museum of Natural HistoryArchive ProjectMathé, B.; Lee, I.; Morgan, R.American Museum of Natural History, Central park West at 79th st.,New York, NY 10024 UsA

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faced with the enormity of the task of identifyingand managing its vast archival collections, the ameri-can museum of natural history library solicited sup-port from the council for library and information re-source’s hidden collections program to create minimallevel records for its manuscripts, department records,photographic print and photographic slide collections.about the same time, amnh natural science conser-vation and the library applied to imls for funding fora risk assessment project for the libraries and archivesin the science departments, the first phase of whichwas to identify and catalog these archives, held outsidethe library. Both projects were funded. at the begin-ning of 2010, two project archivists were hired to su-pervise scores of student interns to work in teamsgathering data to create catalog records and repurposeit to allow for online discovery of the resources. Whilethe library began working with spreadsheets to reviewand enhance existing data for approximately 1,400 col-lections, the science department archives were in vari-ous states of arrangement and description with no ex-isting documentation. With the same methodologythat the library had developed for the clir project,using teams to create records by collecting data onspreadsheets, it became possible to have the archivescontent described and made accessible quickly and ef-ficiently. so far, after one year of work, over 1,300records for archival collections in the amnh sciencedepartments have been created. this is in addition tothe 1400 documented in the library. Both projects willbe completed this year. currently, the extent of amnharchival collections is estimated at 25,000 linear feet.more data will be developed to create complex author-ity records for individual and expedition names. usingthese records with the emerging web technology oflinked open data will allow linking archival records tospecimen, publication and field book records.

orALinnovative educational and collectionmanagement tools for natural history museums Mavrogianni, S.; Marianos, N.; Gkinis, S.;Maroudas, A.; Tsilivigkos, G.Greek research and technology Network, Mesogeion 56, 115 27,Athens, Greece

natural europe project refers to museum educators,science teachers and museum visitors who wish to be in-formed about how to efficiently design learning activi-ties that will incorporate aspects both from the sciencecurriculum as well as aspects from the exhibits/collec-tions/material of the natural history museums.

the idea is to investigate the pedagogical considera-tions arising out of the project’s intension to design in-novative educational pathways, scenarios or fieldtrips tobridge formal and non-formal education of natural his-

tory and the environment, by an explicit focus on anhm visit. hands-on objects tend to be rather reactive,expressing predetermined responses. the uniquestrength of nh museums is that they can provideschools with the real world context and the exploratoryexperiences that constructivists are advocating. Withthese in mind and technology becoming increasingly so-phisticated, the natural europe project will be using nu-merous tools to enhance learning, such as the specialmultilingual software tool that will allow museum edu-cators and visitors to create educational pathways usingthe existing digital collections. moreover, europeanaportal shall be used, hosting the project’s pathways alongwith the project’s portal.

natural europe aims to provide the educational andcollection management tools in the form of software asa service to small museums who do not have the re-sources and the expertise for hosting educational toolssuch as the educational Pathway authoring tool and thecollection management tool. to this end, the cloud serv-ice of okeanos (https://cms.okeanos.grnet.gr) will beused to create virtual machines with pre-installed thesoftware tools. museums will be able to get their owneducational or collection management tool following asimple procedure and without the need of maintaininghardware resources. software tools that will be “con-tained” in the virtual machine will allow the exposure ofmetadata to cultural and educational networks such aseuropeana and ariadne, respectively.

orALRiding the World Wide Web to fame and fortune Mayer, P.S.; Grant, S.D.the Field Museum of Natural History, 1400 s Lake shore Dr., Chicago,IL 60605 UsA

museums have traditionally shared knowledge of col-lections through exhibits of specimens and dioramas. astechnology has evolved images, sounds, videos, andmany forms of interactivity have been incorporated toprovide the visitor with a more enriched experience. tostay modern and relevant, museums have had to workharder and harder to capture the imagination of their au-diences. radio, television, and print have been traditionalways to reach our audiences in their homes, however in-creasingly, these have been replaced by the World WideWeb through the home computer and mobile technolo-gies. as internet and social media developments impactthe museum community at an amazing rate, can we ridethis digital wave to success or will it scour us away?

the field museum is reaching out digitally in severalnew ways using our new content management drivenwebsite. Open access gives staff the ability to add theirown content and publish directly to the live site. forexample, the fossil invertebrate intern was able to posthis own video on digitizing silurian reef fossils (http://

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fieldmuseum.org/explore/multimedia/silurian-reef-database) to the divisional page. the museum has alsolaunched a weekly video series, the field revealed(http://fieldmuseum.org/explore/the-field-revealed) thathighlights staff research and collections including oneon the tully monster (http://fieldmuseum.org/explore/multimedia/video-tully-monster). an iOs app,specimania (http://fieldmuseum.org/about/specimania)was recently launched and features specimens and artifactsfrom the field museum’s collections in several games.

the collections home page is in the top ten mostvisited pages on our website and nearly half of the top 25science webpages visited are collection focused. thecollections and research newsletter (http://fieldmuseum.org/explore/crnewsletter) is online andthrough social media (http://www.facebook.com/fieldmuseum) has become one our most popular pages.People are interested in what we do, the challenge is howwe package it, market it, and build up audiences onsocial networks.

orALConservationSpaceMcCarthy, Christine E. sterling Memorial Library, Yale University, p.o. Box 208240, NewHaven, Ct 06520-8240 UsA

the conservation community realized many yearsago that a digital solution for managing documentscould increase access, expand research opportunities,support workflow procedures, and reduce the loss ofdocuments. the mellon foundation astutely recog-nized that a coordinated effort would improve successand reduce the costs for developing a software applica-tion to address this need. so in 2006 the foundationorganized a series of community and stakeholdermeetings to characterize the challenges of conserva-tion documentation in the digital age and to brokeropportunities for collaborative solutions. to createmomentum for the concept of a coordinated approachto open source software development, the foundationfunded a second initiative in 2009 (the “design Phaseof conservationspace”) that was led by the Office ofdigital assets and infrastructure (Odai) at Yale uni-versity. two community-design workshops were or-ganized that included sixty-four conservation profes-sionals from the united states, europe, andaustralia—representing forty-nine institutions andorganizations. these meetings generated a set of com-mon workflows and technical needs laying thegroundwork for the development of a conservation-specific software system.

With the work of the 2009 “design” Phase as theirblueprint, the national gallery of art in Washingtond.c. assumed a leadership role for the conservation-space project in 2010. seven other institutions, the den-

ver art museum, the indianapolis museum of art, themetropolitan museum of art, the statens museum forkunst, and Yale university, joined the nga as projectpartners for the ‘Planning” Phase of conservationspace.With the continued support of the mellon foundation,the nga and their partners reviewed the workflows andbegan fleshing out the technical requirements. most im-portantly, the nga and partners developed a proposaldetailing the costs and process needed to finally realizean open source software application specific to the needsof conservators and the scholarly community.

the “Build” Phase of conservationspace was begunin January of 2012 with a week-long workshop andmeeting of the partners. the ambitious project plan forthe system build calls for the development of a prototypecapable of being tested by the partners by the end of2012. as has been the case in all phases of conservation-space, the participants include conservators and infor-mation technology specialists from both the us andabroad and represent a wide range of conservation spe-cialties and collection contexts. the goal of all involved,partners and the mellon foundation, is create a 21stcentury system that will be useful to the conservationcommunity at-large across specialty and collection lines,and in laboratories large and small.

posterA high volume production method for wedge-type storage mounts used to house ceramic potsMcGrew, T. Ashley Consultant, 3749 2nd Ave., La Crescenta, CA 91214 UsA

the nature of high object-volume projects althoughsuperficially intimidating can often result in the multi-plication of opportunities due simply to economies ofscale when combined with thoughtful design.

this presentation describes and illustrates one ap-proach to the manufacture of wedge-type storagemounts for housing large quantities of ceramic pots. theidea was to retain the best characteristics of the wedgeand counteract to a large degree its disadvantages. alsothe end result in this case provides a unique function notnormally found in either wedge or ring type mounts.

the method shown utilizes a traditional storagemount technique applied to inexpensive and widelyavailable materials employing common tools and massproduction techniques borrowed from the commercialcrating profession to result in a product that is less ex-pensive and more effective than even the best wedgescommonly made.

the resulting design allows relatively inexperiencedworkers to produce wedges that conform perfectly to theshape of each vessel in a fraction of the time that eventhe most skilled mountmaker would need to achieve thesame result. as well the system results in a degree of

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consistency across the entire collection that is not nor-mally found with multiple workers making mounts allwhile minimizing the amount of wasted materials.

technically the design features improved distributionof surface contact as well as a superior quality of contactallowing the wedge to conform to slight surface irregular-ities and enabling the wedges to actually mitigate vibra-tion—a feature not found in standard wedges or rings.

orALNew approaches to combat an old infestation:Webbing clothes moths at the Natural HistoryMuseum, a case studyMendez, Armando; Ryder, Suzanne; Smith, David A.Natural History Museum, Cromwell rd., south Kensington, LondonsW7 5BD, United Kingdom

regular trapping and periodical inspections alertednatural history museum’s iPm group of the rise in thenumber of webbing clothes moths, Tineola bisselliella,in the museum’s public galleries in late 2010.

aware of the problem created in a major museum inthe area where moths had established a large colony, thenhm combined the use of pheromone lure traps and thenew visual display of trapping data provided by the inte-gration of this information into the ke-emu collectionsmanagement system to closely follow the evolution ofthe infestation.

at the time, a rodent infestation was discovered in theback stage of one of the museum most popular themedgalleries, far away from the mammals corridor were themoths were occurring.

the same species of moths were discovered harbour-ing in textile materials contaminated by the rodentsthere. the use of pheromone traps and digital camerasproved that both infestations were linked and that therewas a strong possibility that the moths were thriving inthe welcoming environment created by the rodents.

also using the under floor ventilation ducts to movearound the museum’s public galleries, posing a danger-ous threat to the mammal specimens on display in thosegalleries.

While the rodents were being dealt with, the mu-seum’s iPm group coordinated the efforts of severalteams to apply remedies based on iPm principles andbest practice.

housekeeping, design & installation and estatesmaintenance teams worked together coordinated by theiPm group in controlling this infestation.

a trial of a new pheromone distraction product is alsounderway.

orALCatherine Parr traill and Adam White:Challenges met and discoveries made while conserving their historical botanical scrapbooksMetsger, D.; Cowan, J.; Dickinson, T. royal ontario Museum, 100 Queen’s park, toronto, oN M5s 2C6,Canada

the green Plant herbarium of the royal Ontariomuseum (trt) maintains a special collection of histor-ical scrapbooks, botanical artwork, seed necklaces andhandicrafts. many of the scrapbooks date to the mid19th century and exemplify the Victorian era of naturalhistory collecting. among them, two scrapbooks com-piled by canadian pioneer and authoress catherineParr traill, and three compiled by adam White, an en-tomologist at the British museum in london, all histor-ically significant, were in ill repair and deemed to be atrisk. collaboration between rOm botanists and therOm’s paper conservator led to the development ofprotocols for the cleaning and repair of the scrapbooksthat could be carried out by second year university proj-ect students and casual staff. radical measures were re-quired for some of the scrapbooks including disassem-bly of the artefact and remounting of its pages asindividual mounts so that they may be safely handled.cataloguing of individual specimens and digital captureof pages facilitated the development of web pages toprovide access to specimens and historical informationwhile reducing the handling of them. the documenta-tion process led to the discovery of type material col-lected by J.d. hooker in the kerguelen islands, andhighlighted Parr traill’s connections to the botanicalelite of north america at the time.

posterCollection improvement and expansion feasibility studies: An essential planning tool for many collectionsMitrow, G.1; Catling, P.1; Macklin, J.A.1; Cayouette, J.1;Weatherston, J.2

1Vascular plant Herbarium (DAo Herbarium), Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Wm. saunders Building, Central experimental Farm,ottawa, oN K1A 0C6, Canada

2AWeatherstonBruer Associates, 514 Crawford street, toronto, oNM6G 3J8, Canada

many collections exist today in buildings that were notplanned to house them. this has led to insufficient spaceand inadequate protection. in order to respond to theseproblems various scenarios are considered includingboth renovation of existing facilities and new, fit for pur-pose builds. typically, unknowns and complications re-sult in a lack of action and the situation worsens. this can

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lead to unfortunate decisions regarding the collectionand even the loss of irreplaceable specimens. an effectiveway to deal with such a situation is to engage in a feasibil-ity study. this action was recently taken by the canadiannational collection of Vascular Plants (daO) in Ottawa.a professional consultant was hired and the goal was todetermine a working footprint for the collections, associ-ated resources (e.g., library, digitization room, etc.), andtheir staff. the objective was to provide the level of com-fort and detail that would allow prompt and sensible de-cisions and timely next steps. this important exercise ne-cessitated a broad analysis of current and futurerequirements based on both internal and external knowl-edge. the internal knowledge included number of speci-mens, growth rate, types of shelving, water and fire dam-age risks, security, and temperature and humidityrequirements. Building site restrictions and renovationlimitations due to heritage status were among the kindsof external knowledge required. conceptually, the foot-print we developed could then be placed into the frame-work of existing or potential new facilities and allow coststo be calculated to aid decision makers. although not allinstitutions would be able to pay for an extensive study,there is value in making an effort to document collectionrequirements for quick reference when opportunities arepresented. We share some of our methodology and find-ings as they may be generally valuable to all caretakers ofnatural science collections.

orALAn overview of the global Plants initiativeMozzicato, C.; Tulig, M.C.the William and Lynda steere Herbarium, the New York BotanicalGarden, 2900 southern Blvd., Bronx, NY 10458 UsA

the global Plants initiative (gPi) is an internationalcollaboration to develop a digital database of botanicaltype specimens and supplemental materials. funded bythe andrew W. mellon foundation since 2003, the proj-ect began as the african Plants initiative with the aim ofelectronically repatriating type specimen data. it thenexpanded in scope, first to incorporate type specimensfrom latin america, and later all type specimens. gPinow includes more than 220 participating herbaria inover 60 countries on 5 continents. high-resolution scansof type specimens are produced using herbscan equip-ment designed specifically for the project. digitizationmethods have been adjusted to accommodate cumber-some collections, such as cryptogams and bulky speci-mens. all type specimen data and images from collabo-rating institutions are added to the JstOr Plant sciencedatabase. in the project’s ninth year, the resource nowincludes over a million type specimen records and anadditional 250,000 digital objects including paintings,drawings, correspondence, and supporting materials.the JstOr Plant science online environment has be-come an invaluable resource for plant-related research.

it is also a platform for participating institutions to up-date their content as users provide feedback. the projectis nearing completion, but herbaria may still apply forfunding if they wish to participate.

orALthe physicochemical characteristics and conservation of fossil resins (amber) Nascimbene, Paul C.1; Bisulca, Christina2; Elkin, Lisa3;Grimaldi, David A.1

1Division of Invertebrate Zoology, American Museum of NaturalHistory, 79th st. at Central park West, New York, NY 10024 UsA

2Department of Materials science and engineering and Arizona stateMuseum, University of Arizona–tucson, p.o. Box 210026, tucson,AZ 85721-0026 UsA

3office of the registrar and Natural History Collections Conservation,American Museum of Natural History, 79th st. at Central park West,New York, NY 10024 UsA

fossil resins recovered from deposits around theworld are each chemically and physically distinct, re-flecting their disparate botanical origins. the oldermesozoic resins are invariably produced by conifers(gymnospermae), while many of the cenozoic resinsderive primarily from two distinct families of floweringplants (angiospermae: dipterocarpaceae and legumi-nosae). amber is a natural polymer, and it becomesharder (often also more friable) over millions of years(nascimbene et al, 2010). it beautifully preserves fossilorganisms (arthropods, botanicals, even occasional ver-tebrates) in subcellular detail, making these fossils of ex-ceptional scientific value, since they can be meticulouslycompared to living species. When removed from anoxicsediments, however, all ambers, regardless of age orbotanical affinity, react to exposure from light, heat andfluctuating humidity by darkening, crazing, and eventu-ally cracking or disintegrating (Bisulca et al, 2012). suchdeterioration threatens the integrity and survival of anyinclusions, requiring specific steps to conserve speci-mens in natural history collections. historical preserva-tion methods, for instance mounting amber pieces inwells of canada Balsam, or coating them with varnish,have proved to be less than adequate, and in some casesdetrimental.

chemically, most ambers are categorized as class ia,ib or ic (anderson et al, 1992; anderson and crelling,1995); these include resins from both conifers and flow-ering plants. in contrast, significant new amber depositsin india and arkansas (produced solely by angiosperms)are class ii (dammar-type) resins (rust et al, 2010;dutta et al, 2011) – they are less polymerized, softer, andexhibit ‘stickiness’ on freshly exposed surfaces. a set ofprotocols has been developed to conserve both types offossil resins to stabilize and protect specimens for long-term study and housing in museum collections. this in-cludes embedding individual pieces of amber in a high-

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grade epoxy under vacuum, as well as creating anoxicstorage conditions.

orALCommon and effective digitization practices in biological and paleontological collectionsNelson, G.; Paul, D.Institute for Digital Information (iDigInfo), room 216 Louis shoresBuilding, Florida state University, 142 Collegiate Loop, p.o. Box3062100, tallahassee, FL 32306-2100 UsA

staff of idigBio (integrated digitized Biocollec-tions), the u.s. national science foundation’s nationalresource for advancing digitization of Biological col-lections, recently visited 28 active biological and pale-ontological collections digitization programs in 10 u.smuseums for the purpose of documenting and assess-ing current digitization practices and tools. using agrounded theory research approach, our observationsidentified five task clusters common to efficient and ef-fective practices in the digitization of biological speci-men data and media: (1) pre-digitization curation andstaging, (2) specimen image capture, (3) specimen im-age processing, (4) electronic data capture, and (5) geo-referencing locality descriptions. examples of theseclusters come from the observation of diverse digitiza-tion processes leading up to data publication. Whilenot all institutions are completing each of these taskclusters for each specimen, these clusters describe acomposite picture of the digitization of biological andpaleontological specimens. in successful digitizationprograms, these clusters are underpinned by institu-tional support, effective biodiversity informatics man-agement, written workflows, and productive digitiza-tion personnel. We offer an overview and introductionto idigBio and its activities, describe the five task clus-ters we identified and the importance of the infrastruc-ture that supports them, and offer a set of workflowpatterns for digitization programs.;

posterMaximizing space: Wall mounted storage for long narrow objectsNewberry, R.1; Anderson, G.2

1science Museum of Minnesota, 120 W. Kellogg Blvd., saint paul, MN55102 UsA

2Carnegie Museum of Natural History, 4400 Forbes Ave., pittsburgh,pA 15213 UsA

long, narrow objects like spears, lances and arrowspresent storage challenges. they are too long to fit instorage cabinets. if stored horizontally on open shelves,they can be difficult to retrieve. the science museum ofminnesota capitalized on an 8 inch wide gap betweencabinets on compactors and an interior wall to create awall mounted storage system for long narrow objects.standard wall mounted shelf uprights are attached to the

wall every 16 inches. a narrow shelf made from one-half-inch thick corrugated polypropylene supported bylight duty shelf brackets runs along the lowest part of theuprights. the objects are supported vertically on thenarrow shelf and secured to the uprights through a vari-ety of custom ties and clasps. Bows are stored horizon-tally, supported by custom wire hooks stretched acrossseveral uprights. the affordable system is flexible andthe objects are easy to see and to retrieve.

posterkrypto-S: A user friendly collection database interfaceOhlsson, Elinthe swedish Museum of Natural History, p.o. Box 50007, se-104 05stockholm, sweden

the department of cryptogamic Botany at theswedish museum of natural history in stockholm hasdeveloped a web interface to access the information inthe botanical collection database called krypto-s. to-gether with the Phanerogamic department krypto-s isone of the largest on-line databases for botanical speci-mens in the world and currently holds over 1 322 000registered specimens, all accessible via the web inter-face.

there are several benefits for the herbarium in hav-ing a quick and easy to use web interface. One is thatloan handling has been made easier. all species repre-sented in our general herbarium and 32 % of the speci-mens are registered including all of the 50 276 typespecimens kept in the cryptogamic department. thetwo botanical departments together make it possible tosearch and access nearly 100 000 type specimens di-rectly on-line. the requests for loans are thereforemore specified now, often with the collection numberfor particular specimens.

Over 48 000 of the specimens have photographs at-tached to their database record. You can view highquality images at a millimeter level. We have noticed adecline in the number of loans from the department.this is most likely because of the access to the high res-olution images. sometimes it is enough to look at apicture of the specimen. the search options providedin the web interface also give the user good query pos-sibilities with many options of sorting the search re-sult.

the new dina database project, a collaborative ef-fort involving institutions hosting major natural his-tory collections in sweden, denmark and estonia, or-ganized from the swedish museum of natural historyis adopting the krypto-s structure and interface for thepurpose of displaying and accessing natural historycollections.

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posterA textile hanging system composed of readily available hardware materialsOpitz, CindyMuseum of Natural History, the University of Iowa, 11 MacbrideHall, Iowa City, IA 52242 UsA

Best practices for long-term storage of flat textiles callfor rolling them and suspending the rolls, to avoid dam-age to textile fibers caused by folding and stacking. asimple wall rack for hanging textiles can be built usingmaterials that are available at most home-improvementor hardware stores.

the multi-row system installed at the university ofiowa museum of natural history consists of wall-mounted shelf standards, brackets, closet poles, J-bolts,and nuts from our local big-box home-improvementstore. We attached two heavy-duty, 78-inch powder-coated steel shelf standards to the wall above a cabinet,six feet apart; 18 powder-coated steel shelf brackets werearranged to accommodate nine rows (nine brackets oneach standard). each row holds three or four six-foot,powder-coated-steel closet poles, each of which is sus-pended from the shelf bracket by two steel J-bolts thatrun through the poles at each end, secured by nuts. to-day’s cost for materials is $553 (about $60 per four-polerow, plus tracks).

textiles in the uimnh collections were rolled withacid-free, lignin-free, unbuffered tissue paper on three-inch-diameter archival tubes and tied with twill tape.the poles run through the tubes to suspend them.tubes, rolled tissue paper, and twill tape were pur-chased from an on-line archival supply vendor ($933plus s/h). cheaper, non-archival tubes are available butare generally acidic and must be covered with a protec-tive barrier before rolling.

With multiple textiles of varying width on each pole,the uimnh textile rack accommodates 77 textiles, withsome room for expansion, in a previously underutilized,68 cubic foot space above a cabinet. systems using simi-lar hardware can easily be modified to fit the needs ofother institutions.

orALUsing specimen collections databases to highlight significance of animal pollinators: A case study from east AfricaOtieno, N.E.; Muchai, S.M.; Oyieke, H.National Museums of Kenya, Zoology Department, p.o. Box 40658,Gpo 00100, Nairobi, Kenya

the national museum of kenya’s (nmk) zoologicalspecimens collection has for more than a century beenrecognized as an important source of information oneast africa’s natural history because of its representa-tiveness of the region’s biodiversity heritage. Of late, this

reputation has been enhanced even more as a result ofnmk’s adoption of modern collections managementtechniques, consolidation of disparate database compo-nents into one system (sPecifY) and initiating aprocess to develop a functional bioinformatics platform.as a result, we recently achieved an important milestoneby tapping into our new informatics system to obtainpractically applicable region-wide natural history infor-mation relating to animal pollination as an ecosystemservice. specifically, we sought to draw a list of 100 mostimportant animal pollinators in east african countries(kenya, uganda and tanzania) mainly to for the benefitof farmers, scientists and pollination entrepreneurs inthe region. information was derived chiefly from our zo-ological collections (and observation records) specifydatabase at nmk with supplements from technical pub-lications, direct contact with pollination experts, fieldobservations and online resources. data capture wasthree dimensional: taxonomic (identification); temporal(collection/observation date) and spatial (geo-refer-ence). 100 most important pollinators for east africawere determined by ranking using a function incorpo-rating total number of plants they pollinate in the re-gion; number of countries the pollinator occurs in; val-ues of plants (for food, for ecosystem or market-value)they pollinate. class insecta (arthropoda) accounted for79% of the pollinators while avea and mammalia (chor-data) accounted for 15% and 6% respectively. insect pol-linators were from four orders and 77 families. Overall,Apis mellifera (hymenoptera, apidae) was the most im-portant pollinator in the region, pollinating the mostplants of diverse domestic, socio-economic and ecologi-cal significance. Our collections database has similar po-tential for spatial and temporal modeling for pests, inva-sives and climate change scenarios.

posterfleshing it out: New methods of taxidermyrestoration with conservation-approved materialsPalumbo, B.; Sybalsky, J.; Nunan, E.; Levinson, J.;Elkin L.American Museum of Natural History, 79th st. at Central park West,New York, NY 11024 UsA

the habitat dioramas in the hall of north americanmammals at the american museum of natural historyare well known for their expertly crafted and naturalistictaxidermy. these mounts, fabricated by master taxider-mists such as robert rockwell and the Jonas Brothersinc, have been on continuous display at the museum forapproximately 70 years. during that time, exposure tounusually high light levels and environmental fluctua-tions have caused the deterioration of many specimens.in addition to fading and discoloration of their fur, ex-posed fleshy surfaces on these specimens had becomedesiccated, cracked, discolored, and sometimes visiblydistorted in form. these accumulated damages had af-

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fected their appearance and anatomical accuracy, com-promising the overall effect of the dioramas.

Between 2010 and 2012, the museum undertook anambitious project to renovate nearly all of the northamerican mammal dioramas, including the restorationof approximately 100 taxidermy mounts. in one aspectof this project, conservators worked alongside artistsand a master taxidermist to develop methods for restor-ing gross contour and fine texture to deteriorated skinaround the eyes, nostrils and lips of these mounts. thisposter will focus on two examples of that work: restora-tion of the snouts of the Bison and collared Peccaryspecimens.

the aim was to create a removable attachment thatcould easily be fit over areas of distorted skin, adhered,and inpainted. BeVa® 371, a commercially availablethermoplastic, elastomeric polymer mixture, wasbulked with glass microballoons and dry pigment, andthen cast in silicon molds created from anatomically ac-curate models of the areas to be restored. Once theBeVa had set, the result was a soft, pliable imitation ofnatural skin. the cast Beva was attached to the mountusing a heat-spatula. this method developed at theamnh offers a new, reversible solution to one aspect oftaxidermy conservation.

posterSnowmaking at AMNH: New methods in the restoration of winter landscapes in natural history dioramasPalumbo, B.; Sybalsky, J.; Nunan, E.; Levinson, J.;Elkin, L.American Museum of Natural History, 79th st. at Central park West,New York, NY 10024 UsA

in January of 2012, the american museum of natu-ral history completed a year-long renovation of thedioramas in the hall of north american mammals.after seventy years on continuous display, unusuallyhigh light levels, thermal damage, environmental fluc-tuations, and dust accumulation had all contributed tothe deterioration of the diorama components. amongthe many specialized problems tackled in the courseof this project was the dingy and discolored appear-ance of the snow in several of the winter scenes, par-ticularly the Wolf, kaibob squirrel and canadian lynxdioramas.

having become so discolored that it no longer tiedit with the background paintings, the snow’s appear-ance in these dioramas undermined their illusionism.museum conservators and exhibition preparatorssought new materials to replace the cotton batting andshaved acrylic that was used in their original con-struction. research focused on inert and inorganicmaterials that could be used to simulate the original

effect with a minimal likelihood of future discol-oration.

numerous types of crushed stone, glass products, andceramic and silicate fibers were gathered for testing,alongside a selection of relatively stable organic materi-als such as polyethylene foams. due to the timeframe ofthe project, opportunities for materials testing were lim-ited, and samples were evaluated based upon their re-sponse to real-time exposure to heat and direct sunlight.a subset was selected for use and further experimenta-tion. all three dioramas were successfully restored usinga palette of inorganic materials alone or in combinationwith archival plastics and stable adhesives. the tech-nique developed at amnh offers a new approach notonly for the restoration of existing examples, but also forthe construction of new winter landscape dioramas,while prioritizing their longevity.

orALA names-based cyberinfrastructure—What can names management offer to collection management?Patterson, David J.Marine Biological Laboratory, 7 MBL st., Woods Hole, MA 02543UsA

the global names architecture is a concept for anames-based infrastructure that can be used to index,manage and organize information about organisms.the nsf-funded global names project is now assem-bling elements of that infrastructure in collaborationwith other initiatives around the world. these compo-nents include ZooBank—the environment that willchange how new animal names are introduced to sci-ence, and citeBank—that part of the Biodiversity her-itage library with special interest in articles. a numberof web-based names services are now available or areunder construction. they include tools that read docu-ments and create a list of names that occur in them.this allows the documents to be indexed taxonomically.name finding tools can be used to add hyperlinks to thenames so that the documents, if web-compatible, canbe used to access additional information at specified lo-cations. reconciliation services address the “many-names-for-one-taxon” problem by mapping alternativenames against each other. While still under develop-ment, such tools can correct entries for minor varia-tions in spelling such as might arise from transcribinghand-written notes, by poor quality Ocr, or simply be-cause of the differing conventions of institutions andcurators. later, reconciliation will include managementof synonymies and taxonomic changes, so allowingusers to “resolve” names, replacing the original namesin document with names in current use. We wish to un-derstand what services would best meet the needs ofmanagers of collections of biological materials.

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orALiCBUg: the Peabody’s collections in nature’s classroomPiel, William H.; Gall, Lawrence; Pickering, Jane;Shyket, Harry; Sweeney, Patrickpeabody Museum of Natural History, Yale University, p.o. Box208118, New Haven, Ct 06520-8118 UsA

the scientific community stands to benefit directlyfrom the acceleration in efforts to digitize museum col-lections, but can these efforts also leverage public out-reach and education? the interactive connecticut But-terfly utility and guide (icBug) is a web applicationdesigned for mobile smartphones that exposes thePeabody museum’s large collection of scientific imagesof butterflies and herbarium sheets to the public.growing out of the community-based connecticutButterfly atlas Project (cBaP), icBug deploys thePeabody’s digital assets to assist the public in identify-ing butterflies and caterpillar host plants in nature, andinterfaces with social media resources and mapping re-sources to allow participants to build butterfly life-listsand record and share butterfly sightings. this productintegrates museum specimen records with technolo-gies that come built-in with smartphones—such ascameras, gPs coordinates, and date information—torank candidate butterfly species by the likelihood ofseeing them at a given point in time and space. the in-tention is to create a digital product that greatly tran-scends the limitations of traditional nature guidebooksby integrating the museum’s digital assets and speci-men locality metadata with the gPs, social web, andmapping technologies.

orALA ticking time bomb: Acid-caused decay of mammal skinsQuaisser, C.; Giere, P.; Willborn, D.; Bartsch, P.Museum fuer Naturkunde, Invalidenstrasse 43, 10115 Berlin,Germany

Over the past years, several mammal collections incentral europe have identified a problem that affectslarger skins: these skins contain and accumulate acidsresulting from an unfinished tanning process and inmany cases from alum. in a slow reaction involving ex-posure to light, warmth and a high relative humidity thealum used during tanning and remaining in the skinproduces sulphuric acid that—when the concentrationincreases—starts destroying the skins. the damage is ir-reversible.

in the mfn mammal collection ca. 80% of the skinswere treated with alum or even directly with acids. aticking time bomb: Without any action, it is a matter oftime and climate before even good-looking skins willshow first signs of decay.

similar problems of acid-caused decay are well-known for paper. here, great effort has made to developmethods for neutralization and stabilization the paper.several companies have specialized in this and devel-oped methods for mass de-acidification of archives andlibraries, e.g., papersave® (Zentrum für Bucherhaltungleipzig/germany) and Bookkeeper® (Preservation tech-nologies cranberry township, Pa/usa).

On the basis of their expertise, our project aims at de-veloping a similar method for skins. this will only suc-ceed as common approach of partners facing the sameproblem.

Our presentation will give an introduction into thesubject. By raising awareness for this issue, we hope toget a clearer overview of number and location of affectedcollections. that will help us to clarify whether thisproblem is tied to a certain tanning method, period orarea and to find potential project partners for the devel-opment and evaluation of possible methods for (mass)de-acidification of skins.

posterBroken bones and dirty stones: Preparing paleontological collections at the Museum of Comparative zoology (Harvard University) for a major collection moveRenczkowski, M.; Cundiff, J.Department of Invertebrate paleontology and Department ofVertebrate paleontology, Museum of Comparative Zoology, HarvardUniversity, 26 oxford st., Cambridge, MA 02138 UsA

the museum of comparative Zoology’s departmentof invertebrate Paleontology began, in 2007, a renova-tion project to prepare over one million specimens for amove to new collection storage space in harvard’s neigh-boring northwest Building. the goal of this project wasto identify and resolve conservation issues in hopes tominimize the negative effects that may be imposed dur-ing the physical relocation process. as the project nearedcompletion in 2011, it was expanded to incorporate over100,000 specimens from the department of VertebratePaleontology.

the workflow for the project included visually in-specting each drawer and noting any conservation con-cerns. the problematic drawers were then pulled andaddressed individually. specimens therein were cleaned,rehoused, and repaired as necessary. the project proveduseful in upgrading the paleontological conservationprotocols to the common and unique demands that existwithin each collection, and will also help to standardizefuture collection management activities within each ofthose collections. in addition to customizing protocols, anew method for utilizing Paraloid B-72 as a clean gap-filling matrix was developed and employed.

One of the most challenging aspects of the renovationproject for both departments involved the repair and

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stabilization of over 1000 specimens from the fragilesolnhofen limestone. the majority of these specimenswere imbedded in an unstable sandy matrix, severelybroken, and housed in century-old wooden boxes. theconservation methods used on this special collection arehighlighted as a case study.

posterMoving Rocky top to Oklahoma: integration of the University of Memphis Mammal Collectionto the Sam Noble Museum of Natural HistoryRevelez, Marcia A.; Braun, Janet K.; Mares, Michael A.;Hites, Roxie R.sam Noble oklahoma Museum of Natural History, University ofoklahoma, 2401 Chautauqua Ave., Norman, oK 73072-7029 UsA

the university of memphis mammal collection(msumZ) was the largest collection of tennessee mam-mals anywhere and contained ca. 23,000 specimens col-lected over the past 50 years. the collection grew underthe care of dr. michael l. kennedy and represents nearly40 years of his life’s work. in august 2011, the msumZcollection was orphaned and transferred to the collec-tion of mammals (Omnh) at the sam noble museum ofnatural history (snmh). the incorporation of themsumZ collection is supported by a nsf Biological re-search and collections grant “curation, digitization, andintegration of the Orphaned university of memphis col-lection” (1057439). Protocols and procedures will be dis-cussed that involve the renovation of the snmh collec-tion space, the packing and moving of the msumZcollection, and the curation of the specimens. the mem-phis collection will increase the snmh collection tomore than 65,000 specimens and elevate it to the 8thlargest university-based collection in the Western hemi-sphere and the 15th largest overall.

posterdigitization at the Chicago Academy of Sciences’museum collection and archivesRoberts, Dawn R.Chicago Academy of sciences, peggy Notebaert Nature Museum, 2430North Cannon Dr., Chicago, IL 60614 UsA

as part of its strategic plan, the chicago academy ofsciences sought to expand accessibility to its museumcollections and archives. to attain this goal, the institu-tion began projects that incorporated digitization of itsholdings in 2008. digitization has included all aspectsof the museum’s collections, from digital photographyof specimens and artifacts to digital scanning of publi-cations, photographs, paper archives, and specimens.

digital photography of our scientific specimens be-gan with type specimens as part of a grant supportedinventory and has since expanded to photographing allthe catalogued specimens in the oology and mammal-

ogy collections. Other specimens and items arescanned to create digital records. specimens from thebotany collection are being digitally scanned and thosefrom midwestern localities will be added to theVPlants Project for broader online use, a project organ-ized by the morton arboretum, the chicago Botanicgarden, and the field museum. Paper documents,such as field notes and the academy’s publication se-ries, are being scanned and converted into searchablePdfs with Ocr software. additional grant support al-lowed the academy to start scanning its 35mm slidephotography collection containing images of plantsand animals from the midwest.

having digital images of items in the academy’s col-lections provides a visual record of our holdings thatcan be attached to collection management databasesoftware and used for identification purposes or track-ing preservation issues. in the case of a photographycollection, digital images also enable greater preserva-tion of the original as direct handling is reduced. im-ages may be utilized by researchers to do precursorywork with the collection before an on-site visit or inter-nally for educational programs or exhibits. this posterwill explore some of the digitization projects in thecollections department at the academy, the estab-lished processes and techniques, as well as the use ofthese image files.

posterRevitalizing a natural history collection: An institutional commitment to the public trustand the scientific legacy of the Chicago Academyof SciencesRoberts, Dawn R.Chicago Academy of sciences, peggy Notebaert Nature Museum, 2430North Cannon Dr., Chicago, IL 60614 UsA

accessibility to materials in museum collections ishampered by inconsistent record systems, poor physicalorganization, or inappropriate storage. museums withcollections spanning a significant period of time are of-ten faced with these issues and with how to implement asystem that enables effective use and management oftheir collections.

the chicago academy of sciences’ collections holdspecimens from many natural science fields, includingentomology, malacology, ornithology, and paleontology.manuscript and photography collections in the archivescontain supplemental information for the scientific col-lections. these collections provide base-line data impor-tant to environmental studies. however, utilization ofthese materials proved difficult for internal and externalgroups—the collections had suffered from prior moves,and records about the collections were not organizedand existed in many formats. completion of informationrequests required a significant amount of time and effort

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from staff to fulfill and often only partial informationcould be gathered.

to revitalize its natural history collections and makethem more readily accessible for scholarly research andexhibition, the academy initiated its collections inven-tory Project in 2008 with support from the institute ofmuseum and library services. the inventory providedphysical control of the collection. a digital catalogueconstructed from specimen label data during the inven-tory is being merged with information from otherrecords, improving intellectual control. to date, the proj-ect team has inventoried over 250,000 specimens and ar-tifacts and is on target to complete a comprehensive in-ventory of its object collections by the end of august2012. support from the gaylord and dorothy donnelleyfoundation helped begin the organization, rehousing,and processing of the academy’s archives. as a result ofthe collections inventory Project, the academy has ac-curate information about its holdings, and is seeing anincrease in the number of information requests, and areduction in the time necessary to respond.

posterfrom seeds to dugout canoes: Methods for the long-term care of macrobotanical andmegabotanical archaeological remains from 500- to over 5000-year-old archaeological sitesRuhl, Donna L.; LeCompte, Elise V.Florida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida, sW 34th st.and Hull rd., p.o. Box 112710, Gainesville, FL 32611-2710 UsA

the archaeobotanical collections at the florida mu-seum of natural history (flmnh) consist of dry, wet/wa-terlogged, and conserved plant specimens. macrobotani-cal and megabotanical collections at the flmnh includenumerous specimens of charred seeds and wood (e.g.,posts, bowls, planks, paddles), waterlogged seeds, woodand other plant parts, and conserved wood chips, masks,cordage and dugout canoes and fragments. collectionshave grown as the result of 19th and 20th century tradi-tional excavations where no or limited considerationswere given to plant remains collected, donations, crmwork, salvage projects, as well as carefully planned re-search initiatives where archaeobotanical plant remainswere factored into both analysis and curation. it was thelatter that enabled us to better address the orphaned, ex-tant collections that clearly required further attention.typically excavated collections of the 19th and 20th cen-turies lacked carefully planned research designs, adequaterecovery techniques, and no plans for curation of plant re-mains. thus, facilities where such archaeobotanical speci-mens were housed were left with poorly curated and inac-cessible collections. recently, a major initiative at theflmnh has focused on improving the long-term care,condition-reporting, and management necessary for theproper long-term curation of these important and highly

variable types of remains. Project methods and proce-dures developed follow national standards and best prac-tices, are inexpensive, and can be performed by in-housecollections staff. the focus of the poster will be on this re-cent initiative, and will especially highlight the museum’smonitored programmatic plan for the preservation of thewaterlogged specimens, including approximately 2000-year-old papaya and chili pepper seeds and dugout canoesand fragments that are 500 to over 5000 years old. ulti-mately, this project and continuing research will improvethe long-term stability and accessibility of these rich andrare, archaeobotanical collections, while offering some in-sights to their collections management, curation and fu-ture research potentials.

orALLarger collection yet smaller location: Moving the ichthyological and herpetological alcohol collections of NCB NaturalisRuiter, R. deNetherlands Centre for Biodiversity Naturalis, postbus 9517, 2300 rALeiden, the Netherlands

ncB naturalis, the netherlands centre for Biodiver-sity, was launched on 28 January 2010. the centre is theresult of cooperation between the Zoological museumamsterdam, the branches of the national herbarium ofthe netherlands, and the national museum of naturalhistory naturalis. the partners’ collections will come to-gether at ncB naturalis into a collection totaling over 37million objects. Because of this all collections had to bemoved to the leiden, where they would be merged withthe naturalis collection.

in this presentation i will focus on the process of mov-ing and merging the ichthyological and herpetological al-cohol collections. the almost 60,000 objects from the Zo-ological museum amsterdam had to move to leidenwhere approximately 95,000 objects had to be rearrangedto make room. during this process we had to tackle twobig challenges. first, there was the strict deadline, sincethe Zma buildings had already been sold and had to beempty by the end of 2011, and second, we had to fit in theZma collections in the existing naturalis accommoda-tions, while the accommodation available in leiden atthe same time had to be reduced by 30% for the herpeto-logical and 20% for the ichthyological collections.

We managed to move and rearrange the entire ichthy-ological and herpetological alcohol collections within 4months. i will describe the process of moving and merg-ing these collections, the way we dealt with the challengesand the consequences of the choices we made. i will alsoindicate some of the aspects we will be focusing on in thecoming years as the operation is not finished yet.

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orAL3d and hyperspectral scanning at the Yale graphics LaboratoryRushmeier, HollyDepartment of Computer science, Yale University, p.o. Box 208285,New Haven, Ct 06520-8285 UsA

We describe ongoing work with Yale museums andcollections to capture object form and appearance.three projects will be described. first, we describe asystem for capturing data for bird specimens from theYale Peabody museum that includes a 3d laser scannerand a hyperspectral scanner using compressive sensingto measure reflectance in from the ultraviolet to nearinfrared in 12 nm wavelength bands. second, we de-scribe the 2d imaging of a medieval manuscript fromthe Yale Beinecke with a 5 wavelength band imagingsystem for pigment identification. third we show theresults of using several different imaging modalities in-cluding 3d laser scanning, rti imaging and multispec-tral imaging to document the conservation of a fif-teenth century relief from the Yale art gallery. Weclose with the description of an open source softwaresystem being developed to examine and make use ofthe data from all of these projects.

orALBuilding a service centre for outsourcing large-scale digitisationSaarenmaa, H.1; Tegelberg, R.1; Pajari, M.1;Mononen, T.1; Hyvönen, T.1; Shah, M.2; Haapala, J.3

1Digitarium, Joensuu science park, Länsikatu 15, FI-80100 Joensuu,Finland

2school of Computing, University of eastern Finland, p.o. Box 111,FI-80101 Joensuu, Finland

3Botanic Garden and Herbarium, Finnish Museum of Natural History,University of Helsinki, p.o. Box 7, FI-00014 Helsinki, Finland

digitarium is a joint initiative of the finnish mu-seum of natural history and the university of easternfinland. supported by the eu structural funds avail-able in peripheral areas of europe, it was establishedin 2010 as a dedicated shop for large scale digitisationof natural history collections. digitarium offers cus-tomers service packages, based on a well-defined digi-tization process, which includes receiving, tagging,imaging, data entry, georeferencing, filtering, valida-tion, publishing, and archiving. special features of theproduction process at digitarium are imaging of allmaterial, a distributed workflow that can employ dis-tance workers in interpreting the images, and Xml-based data management. automation of imaging isbeing pursued for so that large quantities of materialcan be produced for a backlog of data entry that cantake place much later. remote access to images allowsemployees to work from home or library, but also is anopportunity to build on crowd-sourcing. it also en-

ables reaching out to remote experts for species iden-tification, handwriting recognition, foreign languages,georeferencing expertise, etc. every specimen receivesa two-dimensional barcode containing a globallyunique uri to access the specimen details. Primarycopy of data is managed in versioned Xml docu-ments, one for every specimen. a custom-built digiti-sation workbench manages the Xml documents anddrives the workflow. customer receives the imagesand Xml documents of the specimens. after filteringand validation, the data from the latest Xml docu-ment version and images are being copied to digitar-ium’s morphbank database service and digitarium’sgBif iPt service. from there they will be published, ifso agreed with the customer, or if publication has notbeen agreed, retained for digitarium’s internal use.different service packages connecting these steps canbe customised, responding to the specific needs of thecustomer.

orALthe Barneby Legume Catalogue: An integration of specimen data and published textSantos Lorenzo, B.; Tulig, M.C.the William and Lynda steere Herbarium, the New York BotanicalGarden, 2900 southern Blvd., Bronx, NY 10458 UsA

cataloguing and sharing information on the taxon-omy, ecology and distribution of plants is a fundamentalstep to achieve global biodiversity conservation. Whencompleted, the Barneby legume catalogue, based at thenew York Botanical garden herbarium, will provide on-line not only information from plant specimens held inthe herbarium but also content from the scientificmonographs of 33 genera of leguminosae that rupertBarneby (1911–2000) and his collaborators, h.s. irwinand J.W. grimes, published in “the memoirs of the newYork Botanical garden.”

the project team is currently creating a database ofspecimen label information with ke emu software,taking high-quality digital images of representativeplant specimens of each taxon, and georeferencing asignificant number of the specimens using hard-copyitineraries and maps and online maps and gazetteers.We are using optical character recognition software(aBBYY finereader 11, Professional edition) to con-vert the already scanned monographs into editabletext, where corrections are made and the species de-scriptions copied to the database. these descriptionswill appear as species pages in the online Barnebylegume catalog. future enhancements include usingPlazi’s goldengate editor to mark up the text in Xml.

the Barneby legume catalogue will consist of twointegrated parts: the electronic, searchable cataloguewith data from ca. 88,700 plant specimens and the dig-

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ital monograph including keys and genus and speciesdescriptions. it will also have images and distributionmaps (generated upon request), as well as supplemen-tary photos and illustrations. Once completed, theBarneby catalogue will be a very useful tool with appli-cations in conservation, ecology, and taxonomy.

orALNetworking nature: Building cybercabinets of digital curiositiesSargent, R.John F Kennedy University, 100 ellinwood Way, pleasant Hill, CA94523-4817 UsACalifornia Academy of sciences, 55 Music Concourse Dr., Golden Gatepark, san Francisco, CA 94118 UsAUniversity of California–Berkeley, school of public Health, 50 University Hall #7360, Berkeley, CA 94720 UsA

natural history continues to be deeply important toa wide range of human endeavors, yet access to naturalhistory is at an all-time low for the general public. inthe age of the internet, engaging the public online iscritical to building audiences and broadening supportfor natural history. While collections managers havebeen providing online access to collections for the re-search community through specialized search sites, lit-tle effort has been made to present these resources in apublic-friendly framework. some museums are begin-ning to think in terms of networked online knowledgeand radically shift the way they broker their digitalcontent. this research examines ways natural historycan be effectively presented online to the public by re-viewing relevant literature, analyzing six model siteswith an heuristic evaluation tool and a user survey, andexploring three case studies in depth by interviewingkey project personnel. the heuristic analysis was de-signed using trends identified in the digital collectionsliterature, as well as incorporating ideas from internetepistemologists which are often overlooked in museumdialogue. user survey data was drawn from threegroups: high school students, teachers, and profes-sional adults and reveals their preference patterns. thecase studies range from a well-established online col-lections portal to an in-progress pilot data mash upproject and reveal how superficially disparate projectscan share underlying philosophies and borrow lessonsfrom each other. findings summarize importantstrategies for building online access to natural historydigital resources and culminate in offering best prac-tices for initiating or participating in such projects.the public needs access to natural history as much asever, presenting collections online is supported by agrowing body of research, and natural history muse-ums can take advantage of the new networked knowl-edge ecology on the internet to create “cybercabinets”of digital natural history specimens.

orALdNA barcoding for collection management and QA/QC: USNM birds case study Schindel, D.E.1; Trizna, M.1; Graves, G.R.2; Milensky, C.2

1Consortium for the Barcode of Life, National Museum of NaturalHistory, smithsonian Institution, p.o. Box 37012, MrC-105,Washington, DC 20013-7012 UsA

2Division of Birds, National Museum of Natural History, smithsonianInstitution, p.o. Box 37012, MrC-116, Washington, DC 20013-7012UsA

since it was proposed in 2003, dna barcoding hasgained wide acceptance as a standard tool for species-level taxonomy and for identifying species in a regula-tory and legal context (e.g., agricultural pests in quar-antine, endangered species in international trade, foodproducts in the marketplace). to date, most barcodinghas been done in “project mode“ by researchers withthe goal of adding a layer of standardized dna data tothe morphological, behavioral, ecological, geographicand other character data used for their research. Otherresearchers have conducted barcoding in “habitatmode” by gathering barcode data from all taxa presentin one place in the tradition of an all-taxon biodiversityinventory. in recent years, “collection mode” barcodinghas emerged as the practice of obtaining barcodes forthe species and specimens in a biorepository collec-tion, especially frozen tissue and dna collections. Bar-code data collected in this way can be used to verifyspecies identifications and confirm that tissues havenot been degraded. submitting the barcode data ingenBank is also a registration system that increasesthe collection’s visibility.

the consortium for the Barcode of life (cBOl), theusnm division of Birds, and the museum’s laboratoriesfor analytical Biology generate barcodes for 2808 frozentissue samples representing 1403 species. the data havebeen released on genBank and a public notificationpublished (see http://goo.gl/agWhv). in addition tothese confirmed records, barcode data revealed 143samples that failed to amplify/sequence and 166 thatmay have been mislabeled in the field or switched dur-ing lab procedures.

orALfederal interest in scientific collections: A status report on two interagency working groupsSchindel, D.E.1; Miller, S.E.2; Bartuska, A.3; Jones, F.R.4

1Consortium for the Barcode of Life, National Museum of NaturalHistory, smithsonian Institution, p.o. Box 37012, MrC-105,Washington, DC 20013-7012 UsA

2office of Collections and Interdisciplinary support, smithsonianInstitution, p.o. Box 37012, MrC 009, Washington, DC 20013-7012UsA

3research education and economics, U.s. Department of Agriculture,1400 Independence Ave. sW, Washington, DC 20250 UsA


4office of science and technology policy (ostp), executive office ofthe president, Washington, DC 20504 UsA

approximately 20 federal departments or agencies ei-ther own scientific collections or provide federal sup-port to scientific collections. an interagency Workinggroup on scientific collections (iWgsc) has been activesince 2005, led by co-chairs from usda and the smith-sonian institution. iWgsc issued a first report in early2009 (http://goo.gl/XPhqe). the report included sevenrecommendations for improving the impact, sustain-ability, and accessibility of federal collections. threerecommendations (clarifying policies, improving budg-eting practices, and establishing an online informationclearinghouse) were targeted for near-term implementa-tion by OstP and in the america cOmPetes act. twoiWgsc task groups are now compiling information onagency policies and budgeting practices with the goal ofidentifying effective practices and proposing govern-ment-wide guidelines and tools. a third task group isassembling metadata elements that could be used as col-lection-level descriptors for a government-wide databaseof scientific collections.

the interagency microbial forensics advisory Board(imfaB) was chartered under the national science andtechnology council in 2010 to coordinate implementa-tion of the 2009 national research and developmentstrategy for microbial forensics (http://goo.gl/uma9q).the goals of the strategy are to create a research agenda,promote interagency coordination, and develop educa-tion and training activities in microbial forensics. tosupport the research agenda of the strategy and the needfor reference material for microbial forensics, the im-faB conducted a survey of more than 40 federal micro-bial collections including those in the departments ofagriculture, defense, health and human services,homeland security, interior, and others. data collectionand analysis are nearing completion.

poster Mount making at the UBC Museum of AnthropologySchlichting, Carl; Swierenga, Heidi; Toutloff, MaurayUBC Museum of Anthropology, 6393 NW Marine Dr., Vancouver, BCV6t 1Z2, Canada

in 2004 the university of British columbia’s museumof anthropology (mOa) began the collections researchenhancement Project (creP), a six-year venture that in-cluded the re-housing of over 30,000 artifacts. One im-portant aspect of the re-housing initiative was the cus-tomized mounting of fifteen thousand objects frommOa’s diverse collection. the mounts, which were builtat mOa, had to fulfill very specific criteria. they had toprotect the object from physical vibration, be supportiveyet unobtrusive and be constructed from materials thatwere inert, sturdy and visually streamlined. finally, the

mounts had to be designed not only to serve the needsof researchers, but also the whishes of community mem-bers. after several successions of material testing, proto-typing and community consultations, a number ofadaptable mounting systems were devised. this posterwill present a selection of mOa’s most successful designsincluding black trays used for drawer installation, han-dling sleds for large masks, “whistle mounts” and sus-pended rigid supports for two-dimensional objects.

orALAdvances in the computational photographytools: Reflectance transformation imaging (Rti)and Algorithmic Rendering (AR)Schroer, C.; Mudge, M.Cultural Heritage Imaging, 2325 3rd st., suite 323, san Francisco, CA94107 UsA

We will present an overview of recent developmentsin rti and ar technologies.

reflectance transformation imaging (rti) createsscientific digital representations from image sequenceswhere the light illuminating the photo’s subject is movedto a new location for each photograph. the lighting in-formation from this image sequence is mathematicallysynthesized into an rti image. the subjects shape andcolor is examined in an rti by interactively re-lightingthe subject from any direction and applying mathemati-cal enhancements.

We will show preliminary work applying rti to wetcollection materials, captured in alcohol, discuss rti ac-quisition of small subjects under magnification usingmacro and microscopic optics and show new develop-ments in multi-spectral rti.

new developments in the related technology algo-rithmic rendering (ar), which uses the same data setsas rti, will also be presented. the development of newar technology by Princeton university and culturalheritage imaging is supported by a significant grantfrom the national science foundation. the end-productwill be an open-source tool which will extract and mergevisual information available only under certain lightingconditions, certain wavelengths, or certain imagingmodalities. users will be able to generate high quality,comprehensible illustrations for documentation, scien-tific study, and sharing with colleagues, collection visi-tors, and the public.

new software tools to better collect and manage themetadata surrounding the creation of rti and ar willalso be discussed. this “digital lab notebook” is an es-sential element in the generation of scientifically reliableand reusable digital representations. the notebook en-ables: data reuse for novel purposes; the information’slong-term digital preservation; and aides the collectionmaterial’s physical conservation.

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orALthe field Book Registry: Bringing consistencyand cohesion to distributed collectionsSheffield, Carolyn; Russell, RustyNational Museum of Natural History, MrC-166/Botany, smithsonianInstitution, p.o. Box 37012, Washington, DC 20013-7012 UsA

the field Book Project is a collaborative initiative be-tween the smithsonian institution archives (sia) andthe national museum of natural history (nmnh) toimprove access to biodiversity field books. With fundingfrom the council on library and information resources(clir) under the hidden collections program, the fieldBook Project is developing a field Book registry whichwill serve as one online location for accessing field bookcontent.

many successful and innovative projects have beenimplemented to improve access to field books. however,these are generally being developed independent of oneanother and, without a set of community best practicesavailable to support these efforts, it becomes challeng-ing to replicate on a larger scale. the field Book Projecthas developed a descriptive approach which can pro-vide the foundation for bringing these resources to-gether in a more integrated way. natural collectionsdescription (ncd) and metadata Object descriptionschema (mOds) were selected based on their simplicityand their ability to easily map to other commonly usedlibrary, archive, and museum standards. authority filesare created for persons, organizations, and expeditionsusing encoded archival context (eac). consistencyand controlled terminology in named entity entries willbe especially important as the registry expands to ac-cept records contributed by multiple institutions. thefield Book registry will bring these metadata schemastogether in the open-source islandora environment.

this presentation will describe the need for and bene-fits of a large scale collective field Book registry; the ap-proach that is being developed and implemented;progress in cataloging, conserving and digitizing si col-lections; and the roadmap for opening the field Bookregistry to accept content from other natural historycollections.

orALApplication of preventive conservation to solvethe coming crisis in collections managementSimmons, John E.Museologica, 128 Burnside st., Bellefonte, pA 16823 UsA

estimates of the total number of species range from 3million to 30 million, but the number of taxa describedto date is just 1.8 million, about 60% of the low estimate,or about 6% of the high estimate. the 1.8 million speciesnamed thus far are represented by about 2,500,000,000voucher specimens in museum collections; at this rate,

naming 30 million species will result in approximately35,000,000,000 voucher specimens in collections (in ad-dition to specimens for other research use). during thepast 25 years, increased collection growth has not re-sulted in a proportional increase in trained collectionscare personnel to manage this resource; in fact, far morefunding has been directed towards naming new speciesand acquiring additional voucher specimens than in car-ing for collections. if the oft-stated goal of naming mostspecies is achieved, how will the very large collections ofvoucher specimens be managed with even more lop-sided ratios of collections care workers to specimens? tomanage very large collections, new methodologies mustbe developed based on the application of the principlesof preventive conservation, with particular emphasis oncollections storage environments and the factors that af-fect the long-term stability and useful life of individualspecimens. new designs and standards must be devel-oped for collection storage furniture to achieve maxi-mum efficiency in monitoring specimen condition andconducting regular inventories; economy-of-scalemethodologies must be implemented to control the stor-age environment; the functionality of collection data-bases must be greatly expanded to make them bettercollections management tools rather than mere datastorage systems by incorporating preservation histories,integrated pest management, specimen use records, andstorage environment data.

orALBiodiversity information Serving Our Nation(BiSON): the national resource for discovery,linkage and re-use of organismal occurrence dataSimpson, Annie; Martín, Elizabeth; Masaki, Derek;Guala, Geraldeco-science synthesis, CsAs, Core science systems, U.s. Geologicalsurvey, 12201 sunrise Valley Dr., Mail stop 302, reston, VA 20192-0002 UsA

the tide of biodiversity data is rising. sensor net-works, handheld field observation units, and high-throughput museum digitization efforts are all produc-ing massive stores of data describing the species thatcomprise the biological heritage of the united states. inan effort to improve on our current capacity to aggre-gate, normalize and visualize the massive accumulationof species occurrence data, the newly-formed core sci-ence analytics and synthesis Program of the us geolog-ical survey (usgs) is developing the Biodiversity infor-mation serving Our nation (BisOn) project, as anintegrated and permanent resource for biological occur-rence data from the united states. BisOn leveragesusgs assets such as the full mirror and us node of theglobal Biodiversity information facility (gBif), theusgs national map, and the accumulated human andinfrastructure resources of the survey’s long-term in-vestment in research and data management and delivery

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in biological and geospatial data. BisOn currently con-tains more than 80 million occurrence records of speciesfound in the united states and integrates dozens of envi-ronmental layers for visualization and spatial analysispurposes. additional data sources are being recruited,with emphasis on a) federal data sources and b) an intialinvasive species theme. BisOn’s infrastructure is underdevelopment through a partnership with Oak ridge na-tional laboratory on their massive computing infra-structure which includes large amounts of storage, highcapacity servers, and access to some of the world’s fastestsupercomputers.

orALfrom Acris to Xenopus: Recuration ofamphibians at Yale Peabody MuseumSmith, C.A.; Watkins-Colwell, G.J.; Skelly, D.K.Division of Vertebrate Zoology, peabody Museum of Natural History,Yale University, p.o. Box 208118, New Haven, Ct 06520-8118 UsA

the Yale Peabody museum’s division of VertebrateZoology boasts an extensive collection of over 13,000fluid-preserved amphibian specimens representing ap-proximately 590 taxa from around the world. in January2012 museum staff began the re-curation of these speci-mens as part of the division’s larger nsf-funded curator-ial project. the general process of re-curating specimensincluded changing storage fluids, replacing old labelsand jars, verifying species-level identification and devel-opmental stage,and updating specimen records in thedatabase. the entire collection was then reorganized in amanner that reflected over 1,000 recent updates in am-phibian taxonomy. in addition to the catalogued hold-ings, there was also a substantial number of unprocessedfrogs from a variety of sources including expeditions tocameroon and the Philippines. after identification andcataloguing, these “new” specimens greatly added to thediversity of the collection as a whole.

posterWhat’s underfoot? ke eMu’s new iPMfunctionality identifies new moth habitatSmith, David A.; Kelly, Claire; Mendez, ArmandoNatural History Museum, Cromwell rd., south Kensington, LondonsW7 5BD, United Kingdom

as the lingering effects of the now banned pesticide—dichlorvos—fade away, museums and cultural institu-tions are seeing a marked increase in the numbers ofwebbing clothes moths (Tineola bisselliella). these tinymoths have a voracious appetite for natural fibres, fur,skins and feathers and thus pose a risk to natural historyand cultural collections alike. in the absence of chemicaldeterrents the natural history museum, london (nhm)has developed a holistic approach to integrated pest man-agement (iPm) that utilises consistent data capture andspatial technologies to inform decision makers.

at the heart of these strategic decisions is the raw in-sect trapping data captured into two new moduleswithin ke software’s collections management system(ke emu). the proximity of this data to specimen infor-mation means that the risks posed by insect populationsin certain areas can be appraised against the susceptibil-ity of insect damage to specimens in those areas. spatialtechnologies have been employed as a visualisation toolto explore and analyse the data, captured from across theinstitute, for readily identifying patterns and trends ininsect pest populations over time.

following migration of over 12 years of pest trappingdata, a marked increase in the occurrence of webbingclothes moths at traps in the galleries since 2008 wasnoted—putting mammal and bird specimens at risk.throughout the summer of 2011 the numbers escalated.Visualisation of the data at monthly intervals, using keemu’s iPm mapper tool, pinpointed hotspots that werefurther resolved by increasing the density of traps in thearea. focussing in on the risk in this way identified acommunity of webbing clothes moths thriving in anatypical habitat in the under-floor ducting.

posterRevitalization of the Recent invertebratesCollection of the Sam Noble MuseumSohl-Smith, Laura; Menard, Katrina; Yuri, Tamaki;Braun, Janet K.; Hites, Roxie R.sam Noble oklahoma Museum of Natural History, University ofoklahoma, 2401 Chautauqua Ave., Norman, oK 73072-7029 UsA

the sam noble museum (snm) is a non-profit, edu-cational, and scientific organization that is the desig-nated museum of natural history for the state of Okla-homa and an Organized research unit of the universityof Oklahoma (Ou). as part of a multi-phased long-termcollections plan, revitalization efforts to date have fo-cused on cataloging specimens and digitizing their asso-ciated information. in 2010, the department of recentinvertebrates was awarded a museums for americagrant from the institute of museum and library sci-ences to catalog and digitize at least 50% of the over500,000 invertebrates specimens in the collection duringa 3-year period (2010–2013), including most of the in-sects. One particularly important collection of insectsfor the museum is the collection of Byrrhoidea (anaquatic beetle superfamily), collected by dr. harleyBrown. this collection contains perhaps the largest andmost comprehensive collection of Byrrhoidea in theworld, focused primarily on the americas (mexico andthe united states) but includes representatives from over60 countries. the collection contains >100 type speci-mens for new genera and species as well as many hun-dreds of paratypes. approximately one-third of the col-lection was preserved as pinned material, the rest invials of alcohol. despite previous and cursory assess-

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ments of the specimens that initially suggested that theywere threatened due to their being too crowded to inves-tigate, or in discolored solutions or dried, respectively,the integrity of the collection is very good. We presentour efforts in maintaining dr. Brown’s legacy of thislarge and significant collection with our cataloging, re-curation, and preservation efforts.

orALthe ecosystem of the archive: Scholarly and publicinteraction with natural history collectionsStinson, Timothy L.Department of english, North Carolina state University, 221tompkins Hall, Campus Box 8105, raleigh, NC 27695-8105 UsA

this presentation will report the outcomes of astudy focusing on how scholars, curators, andarchivists interact when using archival materials andspecimens in natural history collections. the studydraws data from institutions funded by the council onlibrary and information resources (clir) through thecataloging hidden special collections and archivesprogram, and is affiliated with clir’s Observations onscholarly engagement with hidden special collectionsand archives, a large-scale study that seeks to con-tribute “to the development of a better integrated,more potent scholarly environment” by “identifyingand describing current practices, while also encourag-ing substantive conversation between librarians,archivists, and expert users about those practices.”

“the ecosystem of the archive” reports the findingsand outcomes of site visits to the american museum ofnatural history library, the university of california mu-seum of Paleontology, and the Yale Peabody museum ofnatural history. this group represents the first cluster ofnatural history collections funded by clir’s cataloginghidden special collections and archives program, andthus presents an opportunity to broaden the scope ofclir’s scholarly engagement initiative. the study fo-cuses on three goals, which will also be the topical foci ofthe presentation:

1) to learn how the organization of natural historycollections—which may include specimens as well as as-sociated archival materials—differs from or resemblesthat of other special collections archives.

2) to facilitate and study communication betweenteams of archivists and scholars engaged in work withspecial collections materials.

3) to study outreach and interaction with the public,including exhibitions, publications, and web presence.

topics to be discussed include the linking of archivalmaterials to specimen collections, the lack of awarenessthat many researchers have of the presence and value ofarchival documents related to natural history, and the

enormous diversity of materials included in natural his-tory collections.

posterWest virginia mammals onlineStrait, Suzanne; Hamden, JosephDepartment of Biological sciences, Marshall University, one JohnMarshall Dr., Huntington, WV 25755 UsA

West Virginia has a rich and diverse mammalianfauna, with over 60 species representing seven out of theten north american Orders. many taxa are common andfound throughout the state; however, four species arenow federally protected under the endangered speciesact. the West Virginia division of natural resources(WVdnr) recognizes another eighteen species as rare,very rare, or vulnerable to extirpation. despite the factthat West Virginia has so many species whose conserva-tion status warrants concern, literature and web contenton West Virginian mammals is seriously lacking.

as part of a larger nsf grant to re-curate and up-date the natural history collections at the West Vir-ginia Biological survey museum (WVBsm) at mar-shall university, a website is being developed todeliver to both the public and professionals basic dataon West Virginian faunal diversity. species-level natu-ral history accounts, taxonomic photographs, and fieldidentification keys have been developed by undergrad-uate students in systematic and mammal courses of-fered at marshall university.

additionally, as there are no county-level distributionmaps available, our project sought to rectify this defi-ciency by finding and compiling county-level data fromthe 17,023 specimens of West Virginian mammalshoused in natural history collections throughout theunited states. these data come from 35 museums, withthe majority of specimens (8,171) being housed inWVBsm or the carnegie museum of natural history(5,970). these museum records were then augmentedwith field data from the WVdnr, Wildlife resourcessection, Wildlife diversity unit and from the literature.county-level distribution maps were produced for allrare, threatened, and endangered taxa. use of theWVdnr records, in combination with museum records,has revealed some significant differences in historicaland recent distributional records.

orALBiSciCol—A community effort and toolkit to link-up, tag and track biological collectionsdata more effectively.Stucky, Brian1; Ziemba, Lukasz2; Deck, John3;Guralnick, Rob P.1; Beaman, Reed4; Cellinese, Nico4,5

1Department of ecology and evolutionary Biology, University ofColorado, Boulder, Co 80309-0265 UsA

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2University of Florida, po BoX 110570, Gainesville, FL 32611-0570UsA

3Berkeley Natural History Museums, 3101 Valley Life sciencesBuilding, Berkeley, CA 94720-3070 UsA

4Florida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida, 354Dickinson Hall, Museum rd. and Newell Dr., Gainesville, FL 32611UsA

5Department of Biology, 220 Bartram Hall, p.o. Box 118525,University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611 UsA

the ability to survey and assess biodiversity on aplanetary scale using modern tools and technology pres-ents a curatorial and informatics challenge to the biolog-ical research collection community. collections generatea cascade of downstream data products, including ge-nomic dna sequences, as well as taxonomic and ecolog-ical annotations crucial for urgent societal policy, e.g.climate change assessment. as biological research col-lections continue to grow along with new ways to gener-ate digital data from these collections, the complexity ofcustody and ownership tracking, curation, data manage-ment and information archiving increases as well. to-day, much of the information derived from biological re-search collections resides indifferent databases,managed by different entities, with different data storagestructures, platforms and protocols. in current distrib-uted data systems, information is typically passed one-way from data providers to users. no mechanism cur-rently exists for these disparate, largely independentsystems to report changes to, or absorb changes from,each other. Biscicol takes the appropriate next steps toaddress a community-wide challenge facing the biologi-cal collections community-linking and tracking scien-tific collection objects(specimens, sequences, images,etc.) and their digital metadata across multiple institu-tional collections with heterogeneous information man-agement systems. Biscicol works from both ends of theproblem; it provides tools to track collections data acrossthe web and provides the means for data to be importedinto appropriate linked data andsemantic web formatscalled triples. as of now, the applications that are cur-rently available to create triples are either difficult touser not geared towards biological collections and theirsemantics. in this presentation we focus on a tool wehave developed, the “triplifier,” that assists users withthe conversion of spreadsheets,darwin core archives,and databases to triples using classes and terms in thedarwin core standard as main basis. the implementa-tion relies on d2rq (http://d2rq.org/ ) to translate fromthe source data to the triples, while using the d2rqmapping file format to preserve state.central to the ap-plication is the ability to easily step through the processof describing entities and attributes using darwin coreclasses and properties, and describing relations usingthe dublin core “relation” (non-directional) and“source” (directional) properties.When the user has con-verted their data to a triple format, the triplifier givesthe option to publish the triples as a sParql endpoint

or load the triples directly into the Biscicol interface(http://www.biscicol.org/ ) for visualization or furtherexploration.

orALConsortium of Northeastern Herbaria: A regional, data-sharing collaborationSweeney, PatrickDivision of Botany, peabody Museum of Natural History, YaleUniversity, p.o. Box 208118, New Haven, Ct 06520-8118 UsA

the consortium of northeastern herbaria (cnh, ne-herbaria.org) is a group of herbaria in northeasternnorth america whose main goal is to provide online ac-cess to specimen data housed in member institutions, es-pecially from regional collections. since cnh was offi-cially formed in 2008, the group has focused mainly onorganizational and community development tasks,reaching a number of important milestones: establish-ment of a formal governance structure; development of amission statement; holding annual meetings that includeworkshops and demonstrations; establishing a collabora-tive website; and increasing membership. two recent de-velopments will allow the consortium to more com-pletely realize its goals. One of these developments is thecreation of a data-sharing portal, a symbiota instance,where over 400,000 specimen occurrence records are be-ing shared (neherbaria.org/cnh). a second importantdevelopment is the award to a group of cnh member in-stitutions of a national science foundation advancingdigitization of Biological collections Program grant tocreate a thematic collections network that will electron-ically catalog and image their new england holdings. thecollaborative grant will enable the digital capture of spec-imen data and images from about 1.3 million vascularplant specimens from 15 large to small herbaria acrossnew england. the resulting dataset is specifically de-signed to support the study of the consequences of cli-mate and land-use change in new england.

orALinnovation through interdisciplinary exchange:Restoration of the North American mammalhabitat dioramasSybalsky, J.; Palumbo, B.; Nunan, E.; Levinson, J.;Elkin, L.American Museum of Natural History, Central park West at 79th st.,New York, NY 10024 UsA

in 2010–2012, the american museum of natural his-tory (amnh) undertook renovation of one of its pre-mier diorama halls, the hall of north american mam-mals. On continuous display since the 1940’s, many ofthe taxidermy specimens had become damaged to thepoint of scientific inaccuracy. as a result of the mu-seum’s participation in a citywide effort to decrease en-

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ergy consumption, funding was provided to replace thediorama lights with more energy-efficient fixtures, thusproviding the impetus for a fuller renovation of the dio-ramas.

the habitat dioramas are among the most popularand iconic exhibits at the amnh. in exacting detail,they depict specific geographic locations from aroundthe world, in some cases, documenting significant envi-ronmental change to habitats and locales occurring overthe past 70 years. each diorama is composed of three el-ements: taxidermy specimens, background paintingsand foreground materials. the original fabrication of thedioramas at the amnh was a collaborative effort, com-bining the talents of numerous artists and scientists torepresent the complex inter-relationships between ani-mals and their environments.

the current renovation revisits this spirit of collabo-ration with a team of conservators, taxidermists, artists,and curators assembled to document, clean, and restorethe illusionism of the dioramas. familiar conservationmaterials were successfully employed in new and inno-vative ways to achieve the required results, particularlyin the adaptation of contemporary taxidermy restorationmethods to ensure longevity and re-treatability. addi-tional challenges included the restoration of color totaxidermy specimens; cleaning and restoration of highlyembrittled plants and paper foreground materials; andresearch and testing for replacement of discolored snowin winter scenes. this paper will examine the nature ofthe collaboration between amnh conservators andnon-conservation specialists, as well as some of the in-novative techniques that were developed in the course ofthe project.

posterthe use of Orasol® dyes for in-situ recoloring of taxidermy specimensSybalsky, J.1; Palumbo, B.1; Pollak, B.2; Nunan, E.1;Levinson, J.1; Elkin, L.1; Rogge, C.2

1American Museum of Natural History, Central park West at 79th st.,New York, NY 10024 UsA

2Art Conservation Department, Buffalo state College, 1300 elmwoodAve., rockwell Hall 230, Buffalo, NY 14222 UsA

By december of 2010 when the american museum ofnatural history began its renovation of the hall of northamerican mammals, the iconic habitat dioramas in-stalled there during the 1940s and 50s had begun toshow their age. deterioration was evident in the back-ground paintings, foreground elements, and especiallythe faded taxidermy specimens. in many dioramas, dis-colored mounts no longer reflected the animals’ naturalappearance.

conservators on the renovation team sought a meansof recoloring the faded specimens, with attention to sev-eral key considerations: high light levels in the dioramas

necessitated use of a colorant with excellent lightfast-ness; most mounts could not be removed from the dio-rama floor and had to be treated in-situ without rinsingof excess colorant; the colorant should not alter physicalcharacteristics of the hair in a way that would hindergrooming and future re-treatment of the specimen. re-versibility was also a key concern.

initial tests with a selection of materials indicated that1:2 metal complex azo-dyes (Orasol®) held promise forthis project. the dyes were applied to proteinaceous sub-strates including wool and bison fur and examined usingpolarized-light and scanning electron microscopy to vi-sualize changes in fiber morphology. the lightfastness ofeach dye color was evaluated using microfadometry withuV-filtering and light-aging with a uV component. sub-sequent analyses investigated the effects of solventchoice on lightfastness and dye penetration.

good lightfastness, non-aqueous application, limitedeffect on hair morphology, and easy removal recom-mended the Orasol® dyes for recoloring the north amer-ican mammal taxidermy. through a variety of applica-tion techniques, complex and subtle visual effects weresuccessfully achieved, revitalizing the mounts. the ini-tial promise of this approach recommends it for furtherresearch to better understand its benefits and limitationsin restoring color to faded natural science specimens.

orALeffectiveness of entomological collection storagecabinets in buffering environmental fluctuationsin a historic museum buildingSzczepanowska, H.1; Hawks, C.2; DePriest, P.T.1; Furth, D.G.2; Gentili-Poole, P.2; Bell, B.2; Shockley, F.W.2;Mecklenburg, M.1

1Museum Conservation Institute, smithsonian Institution, 4210 silverHill rd., suitland, MD 20746 UsA

2National Museum of Natural History, smithsonian Institution, MrC106, p.o. Box 37012, Washington, DC 20013-7012 UsA

maintaining appropriate building environmental con-ditions is critical to safeguarding museum artifacts andcollections. the smithsonian’s museum conservationinstitute, in collaboration with the national museum ofnatural history, conducted a preliminary survey of envi-ronmental conditions inside museum storage cabinets inthe national insect collection. this collection includesover 35 million specimens making it one of the largestentomological collections in the world.

the survey was an interdepartmental and multistageproject initiated in 2008 in response to concerns thatlarge fluctuations of relative humidity (rh) were occur-ring within the collection storage space. the first phaseinvolved comparing environmental data collected in dif-ferent locations within the museum and within storagecabinets. this was correlated with meteorological read-ings obtained from nOaa for the same time-frame of

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this study. environmental monitors, elsec 764s, wereused to record the interior temperature and humidity ofthe cabinets while the conditions in the building weremonitored by the building automated systems. Whilerh in the rooms ranged from 15% to 60%, inside thecabinets it was only 40% to 45%, demonstrating thatmodern museum cabinets can be highly effective in pro-tecting collections from changes in rh.

in the second phase of the project, metal cabinetswere meticulously selected, their air tightness tested us-ing an ultrasound leak detector, and their interior envi-ronments measured over six months. the metal cabinetshoused an equal number of wooden drawers storingpinned insects; all drawers were closed with glass tops.the construction of the cabinets had an impact on airtightness and consequently, on the interior environ-ment. Our findings support the museum’s approach ofimproving cabinet designs, testing cabinet seals, andmonitoring temperature and rh within the cabinets as amajor focus in protecting sensitive natural history col-lections rather than emphasizing constant room condi-tions in the collection storage.

orALA shift in strategy for digitizing a large herbarium: implications for managing the collectionTarnowsky, NicoleWilliam and Lynda steere Herbarium, New York Botanical Garden,2900 southern Blvd., Bronx, NY 10458 UsA

the new York Botanical garden herbarium begancataloguing and imaging its collection of 7.3 millionplant specimens in 1997. in 15 years we have digitized1.3 million specimens, using roughly 130,000 hours ofstaff time. to continue at this rate, it would take an addi-tional 68 years to complete the remaining 6 millionspecimens.

With the launch of the national science foundation’snew advancing digitization of Biological collectionsprogram, we have the opportunity to digitize larger por-tions of the herbarium at a fraction of the cost and time.to accomplish this we have shifted our strategy for digi-tization. Our original workflows created complete data-base records with all label data, manually entered fromthe specimen at a rate of just under 10 specimens perhour. With our new workflow strategy, we create skeletalrecords with images at a rate of 53 specimens per hour.these records will be completed from the specimen im-age with the help of several automated processes.

With proper funding, at this improved rate we couldpotentially digitize the rest of the herbarium in another15 years. this exponential growth of the digitized por-tion of the herbarium will have implications in manag-ing both the physical collection as well as the virtual col-lection we have created.

posterIndex Herbariorum, a directory to the world’s herbaria and indicator of worldwide trends in natural history researchThiers, B.M.the William and Lynda steere Herbarium, the New York BotanicalGarden, 2900 southern Blvd., Bronx, NY 10458 UsA

Index Herbariorum contains information about theworld’s herbaria and the plant and fungal scientists andcollections professionals associated with these collec-tions. Between 1952 and 1990, eight hardcopy editionsof Index Herbariorum were published. the Index isnow available only in electronic form, and is edited con-tinually. comparison of current statistics with thoseavailable in the published editions affords the opportu-nity to summarize trends is collection management andcollection-based research.

currently there are 2885 active herbaria in 150 coun-tries. Of these, 30% are located in europe and the formeru.s.s.r., 26% are in north america, 23% in asia, 15%are in latin america, 5% are in africa, and 2% are inaustralasia and Pacifica. collectively the world’sherbaria contain an estimated 325,000,000 specimensthat document the earth’s vegetation for the past 400years. there are approximately 11,000 staff members as-sociated with these collections.

comparison of current data in Index Herbariorumwith those published earlier indicates that the world’sherbaria have shown steady growth over the years. cur-rently, herbaria hold almost 96 million more specimensthan they did in 1990, representing a growth rate of al-most 5 million specimens per year. the strongest growthin both number of herbaria and specimens has been inasia and latin america, whereas the number ofherbaria in europe, australasia and north america hasdecreased through consolidation. the number of staff(scientists and collections managers) has grown byabout 2500 since 1990. the highest number of staff perherbarium is in australasia, the smallest in north amer-ica and europe. the age distribution of staff has notchanged much since 1990, except that the proportion ofyounger staff (39 years or younger) has increased.Worldwide, approximately 58% of staff associated withherbaria are men, 41% are women.

orALdigitizing North American lichen and bryophyte specimensThiers, B.M.1; Gries, C.2; Nash III, T.H.3; Gilbert, E.4

1the William and Lynda steere Herbarium, the New York BotanicalGarden, 2900 southern Blvd., Bronx, NY 10458 UsA

2 University of Wisconsin–Madison, 223A Center For Limnology,A.D. Hasler Laboratory of Limnology, 680 North park st., MadisonWI 53706-1413 UsA

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3 University of Wisconsin–Madison, Department of Botany, 430Lincoln Dr., Madison, WI 53706 UsA

4Arizona state University, p.o. Box 874501, tempe, AZ 85287-4501 UsA

this thematic collections network (tcn), fundedthrough nsf’s advancing digitization of Biologicalcollections (adBc) program, aims to digitize ca. 2.3million north american lichen and bryophyte speci-mens in four years. these specimens are held by about60 herbaria, or 80% of the u.s. institutions with signifi-cant holdings of these organisms. although not relatedphylogenetically, lichens and bryophytes share impor-tant traits that make them sensitive indicators of envi-ronmental change. the specific goal of this project is toprovide high quality data to address how species distri-butions change or may change in the future in re-sponse to major environmental events. large scale dis-tribution mapping will support management decisionsthrough identification of biodiversity hotspots, areas ofmost imminent environmental change, and greatesthuman impact.

key to the success of this project are efficient work-flows for digitization and data transcription. images ofspecimen labels are captured at digitizing institutionsand are then transferred to a central repository for textrecord creation. to create darwin core specimenrecords we will process specimen label images with Ocrand then expose the resulting text to customized naturallanguage processing (nlP). also, we will leverage exist-ing digital specimen records for creating records for not-yet-digitized duplicate specimens; rates of duplicationamong large collections can exceed 30 percent. follow-ing these automation steps, the digitized informationwill be available online for review, adjustment, and keystroking, where necessary. for key stroking and recordcorrection, we are planning on developing a vibrant vol-unteer community who in return for their help withrecord completion will be offered live and online lec-tures, local field events and workshops that will deepentheir knowledge and hopefully interest in these organ-isms and biodiversity in general.

orALWhat Henderson saw: extracting observationsfrom century-old field notebooksThomer, A.1; Vaidya, G.2; Guralnick, R.P.2; Bloom, D.3;Russell, L.4

1Graduate school of Library and Information science, University ofIllinois at Urbana-Champaign, 501 e. Daniel st., MC-493,Champaign, IL 61820-6211 UsA

2Department of ecology and evolutionary Biology and CU Museumof Natural History, eBIo, ramaley N122, Campus Box 334,University of Colorado, Boulder, Co 80309-0334 UsA

3Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, 3101 Valley Life sciences Building,University of California–Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720-3160 UsA

4Biodiversity Institute, University of Kansas, 1345 Jayhawk Blvd.,Lawrence, Ks 66045-7593 UsA

Part diary, part scientific record, field notebooks con-tain details necessary to understanding environmentalconditions during collecting events. despite their clearvalue in global change studies, the text-mining outputsfrom field notebooks have been idiosyncratic to specificresearch projects, and impossible to discover or re-use.Best practices and workflows for digitization, transcrip-tion, extraction, and integration with other sources arenascent or non-existent. here we demonstrate a modelworkflow to generate structured outputs while alsomaintaining links to the original texts. the first step inthis workflow was placing already digitized and tran-scribed field notebooks from university of coloradomuseum of natural history founder, Junius henderson,on Wikisource, an open manuscript editing platform.next, we adapted Wikisource-specific templates for doc-umenting places, dates, and taxa to facilitate annotationand wiki-linking. We then requested help from the pub-lic through social media. after three notebooks werefully annotated, content was converted into Xml andannotations contained within individual entries andpages were extracted and placed into darwin core com-pliant record sets. finally, these record sets were vetted,specifically to provide valid taxon names, via a processwe call “taxonomic referencing.” the result is the identi-fication and mobilization of 1087 observations fromthree of henderson’s thirteen notebooks and a publish-able darwin core record set. although challenges re-main, we demonstrate a feasible approach to unlock ob-servations from field notebooks to enhance theirdiscovery and interoperability without losing the narra-tive context from which those observations are drawn.

orALdigitizing the thera frescoes: Practical 3dacquisition methods for museum conservationToler-Franklin, CoreyUniversity of California–Davis, 3015 Kemper Hall, 1 shields Ave.,Davis, CA 95616 UsA

digital capture techniques are powerful tools for doc-umenting, and disseminating information about theworld’s cultural and natural history treasures. advance-ments in 3d imaging techniques and low-cost capturesystems allow researchers and curators to analyze arti-facts with greater scientific accuracy. in this session, iwill demonstrate how we can combine several acquisi-tion and processing tools recently developed in the com-puter graphics field into a system suitable for large-scalearchaeological documentation and reconstruction. i willshow how archeologists use the system to archive andreassemble fragments of wall paintings in situ at theakrotiri excavation on the volcanic island of thera(modern-day santorini, greece).

Our system overcomes several challenges related tothe practical acquisition of archeological artifacts. tra-

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ditional 3d scanning methods are costly, cumbersometo operate, and often lack sufficient levels of detail foraccurate analysis. many 3d scanners are not suited foron-site conditions and do not scale to the large vol-umes of data at some excavations. Our novel 2d acqui-sition pipeline uses high resolution color images offragments, obtained from a flatbed scanner, to com-pute high quality normals (surface orientation). thesystem was deployed at akrotiri, where the archaeolo-gists themselves digitize several fragments per hour.the method combines 3d geometry from affordable3d laser scanners with robust normal maps generatedwith photometric stereo algorithms. Our system is in-tuitive, requiring minimal supervision without inter-ruption of the user’s work flow.

the digitized artifacts have higher color and normalresolutions than 3d scans generated on-site, and are wellsuited for archival and preservation applications. uniquesurface markings provide cues for matching fragmentswhen erosion has rendered traditional cues (like colorand contours) unreliable. moreover, these techniques areadaptable to biological specimens in natural history col-lections where close examination of surface detail is alsoimportant for scientific analysis.

orALSam Mitchel Herbarium of fungi: A case study in the future of collectioninformation in a digital worldToner, MeghannDenver Botanic Gardens, research and Conservation Department,909 York st., Denver, Co 80206 UsA

the sam mitchel herbarium is an example of a small,well curated herbarium helping to lead the way in thedigitization of collection knowledge consisting of labelinformation, critical ancillary items, as well as digitizingthe actual three dimensional macrofungal specimens.this process could be applied to a range of three dimen-sional natural history specimens. many small macrofun-gal herbaria from around the united states act as ware-houses of information not readily available to thescientific community. to this end, the sam mitchelherbarium has partnered with 35 other institutions tocreate the macrofungi collection consortium (mcc),which will strive to provide digitized collection knowl-edge to the public. this consortium helps the dissemi-nation of knowledge throughout the mycology commu-nity as well as linking this community with otherscientific disciplines. the sam mitchel herbarium facesmany issues in digitizing this information for the mccportal, but when this process is completed these solu-tions can be applied to various types of small natural his-tory collections that have limited resources. a brief his-tory and significance of this unique collection and theongoing digitization of the collection, is used to illustrate

what type of information is locked away in natural his-tory collections, such as macrofungal collections, whatmay be digitized and made publically available, and howas a community, the mcc portal hopes to address theseissues and make solutions that can be used broadly.

posterA review of materials and techniques used for feather cleaning and reshaping at theWinterthur/University of delaware Program in Art ConservationTorok, Elena; Pack, Crista; Pouliot, Brunothe Department of Art Conservation, 18 e. Main st., 303 old College,University of Delaware, Newark, De 19716-2515 UsA

a wide variety of materials and techniques have beensuccessfully employed by museum conservators in thepast decade to clean and reshape feathers. at the Win-terthur/university of delaware Program in art conser-vation (WudPac), a number of these materials andtechniques have been implemented in recent conserva-tion treatments involving feathers in avian taxidermyspecimens, ethnographic objects, and works of decora-tive art. this poster presents a review of feather cleaningand reshaping methods that are currently used at Wud-Pac and in the field of conservation, and also includesthree case studies involving recent treatments on aviantaxidermy specimens. the first case study involves thetreatment of a mounted blue hen chicken, a bird fromthe collections of the university of delaware that wasprepared in 1985 for an exhibition on the state bird andflower at the delaware museum of natural history. theother two case studies involve the treatment of mountedsmall birds, all of which are displayed inside antiquebirdcages in different period rooms at Winterthur mu-seum. the avian taxidermy specimens in these casestudies were in different states of preservation and pre-pared during different time periods with differentmounting techniques. these factors subsequently af-fected the decisions made during their conservationtreatment.

orALtHe Big Chill: A framework for the conversion of the Museum of vertebrate zoology geneticresources collection from ultra-cold to liquidnitrogen storageTrápaga, A.; Spencer, C.L.; Cicero, C.; McGuire, J.Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, 3101 Valley Life sciences Building,University of California–Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720-3160 UsA

the museum of Vertebrate Zoology (mVZ) geneticresources collection is one of the largest museum verte-brate tissue collections in the world, with over 100,000tissues vials representing approximately 95,000 individ-ual specimens, collected since 1965. With nsf funding

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we are converting our tissue collection from ultra-coldto liquid nitrogen (ln2) storage. We based this conver-sion on: 1) preventing catastrophic loss and needing toreplace the aging bank of ultra-cold freezers that cur-rently house the collection, 2) ensuring long-term viabil-ity and maximum research utility of genetic samples, 3)reducing carbon footprint and improving cost efficien-cies, and 4) increasing opportunity for growth and stor-age. We created a new cryogenic laboratory facility, im-plemented a new tissue barcode labeling system for fieldand curatorial practices, and integrated the barcodedvials and their location into our arctos database. thisconversion provides a unique opportunity to re-inven-tory and consolidate the collection, discover and correcttissue issues, and to record both the volume of tissue perspecimen and the exact location of each vial. all vials,boxes, rack slots, racks, and freezers are barcoded andexist as hierarchical containers in arctos. We also exam-ined existing curatorial practices related to data manage-ment and handling of tissue specimens for loans and cu-ratorial workflow. the conversion was warranted interms of cost/benefits, collection preservation, andgrowth. such a conversion could be beneficial for manycollections but requires dedicated resources and over-sight. challenges that arose during the conversion willalso be discussed.

orALPlants, herbivores, and parasitoids: A modelsystem for the study of tri-trophic associationsTulig, M.1; Naczi, R.1; Rabeler, R.2; Magill, R.3; Schuh, R.T.4

1New York Botanical Garden, 2900 southern Blvd., Bronx, NY 10458UsA

2University of Michigan Herbarium, 3600 Varsity Dr., Ann Arbor, MI48108-2228 UsA

3the Missouri Botanical Garden, p.o. Box 299, st. Louis, Mo 63166-0299 UsA

4American Museum of Natural History, Central park West at 79th st.,New York, NY 10024 UsA

data on plant taxa, insect herbivores, and their para-sitoids are currently not accessible in a uniform manner,nor are comprehensive data on their relationships avail-able online. the chief goal of the tri-trophic tcn (the-matic collections network) is to solve these problemsthrough specimen digitization and online integration.this tcn, funded in July 2011, is utilizing the combinedresources of 32 museums (14 herbaria, 18 insect collec-tions) in an effort to capture and make available ca. 4million specimen records, including ca. 2.6 millionplants. One of the challenges of digitizing such a vastnumber of botanical specimens is streamlining theprocess to maximize digitization efficiency. We are usingthe high rate of duplication in plant collections as an op-portunity to increase efficiency by 1) imaging specimensand creating skeletal records at all collaborating

herbaria, 2) assembling the images and records in onedatabase, 3) reconciling duplicates, 4) databasing thecondensed records. a steering committee comprised ofprincipal investigators, co-Pis, and project managersfrom seven collaborating institutions coordinate theproject. By assembling and coordinating data on geo-graphic distributions, host associations, and phenolo-gies, our tri-trophic approach will benefit a wide rangeof research questions and practical applications in suchfields as agriculture, systematics, conservation, ecology,climate change studies, and biogeography.

orALCreating serendipity: How collaboration and a shared database can lead to eureka momentsUtrup, Jessicapeabody Museum of Natural History, Yale University, p.o. Box208118, New Haven, Ct 06520-8118 UsA

for decades the divisions within the Yale Peabodymuseum operated as isolated units—they developedtheir own in-house systems for cataloging specimens,and they operated autonomously. they shared a roof, aninstitutional name with the other divisions, but fre-quently that was all. the museum’s history extends backwell over a century. early curators and staff of the mu-seum were not compartmentalized like we are today.they were gentlemen scholars; they had an interest inthe natural world, and this interest extended beyond justfossils or fungi to birds, minerals, plants, and cultures.Over the last 20 years, the Peabody museum has beenworking to integrate its divisions into a more cohesiveunit through a single database with shared files. now weare connected through shared accession records, sharedconstituents, and shared archives. these archives, inparticular, are the threads that can lead us, modern mu-seum staff, to discover so much about our collectionsthat would otherwise be unknown.

this presentation will discuss some examples thathighlight the importance of collaboration, and thevalue that can be found when links are made at variouslevels within a museum database. it will also touch ona recent push at the Peabody museum to catalog all ofthe archive records. currently, the archives are housedwithin divisions—accessible through constituent or ac-cession links, but not nearly as accessible as they willbe once the individual objects and groups of objectsare catalogued.

postergeoreferencing the pastUtrup, Jessicapeabody Museum of Natural History, Yale University, p.o. Box208118, New Haven, Ct 06520-8118 UsA

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most of the specimens in natural history collectionswere collected prior to the widespread use of gPs units.how then to best georeference these localities? With alittle bit of work on our part, we can provide much moreaccurate georeferences for localities by looking at thearea as it existed at the time the specimen was collected.Batch georeferencing may often overestimate the areafrom which these specimens were collected. for modernmobile organisms, a wider range is certainly plausible.however, for a fossil the locality is very much a singlepoint fixed in space (and as we need to consider) fixed intime. additional information (such as stratigraphic in-formation) can help narrow down the original locality.the ‘hills north of cincinnati’ is a very broad statement,but knowing that the specimen was collected frommaysvillian rocks in the 1920s can help narrow downwhat hills were actually collected. similarly, some locali-ties may seem completely lost to us, but through a bit ofwork, old place names can be rediscovered and mappedon to current maps. localities that are long since de-stroyed or buried under subdivisions can be rediscov-ered through the plethora of online map resources.

posterA comparison of packing methods for shipping human remains internationallyUtrup, Nathanpeabody Museum of Natural History, Yale University, p.o. Box208118, New Haven, Ct 06520-8118 UsA

in 2011 Yale university agreed to return the artifactsfrom machu Picchu to the country of Peru. the first twoshipments of artifacts were sent in march and decemberof that year. the first shipment consisted of the museumquality pieces, as well as all of the metal objects, 1,000pottery sherds, and one nearly complete human skele-ton. the second shipment consisted of the remaininghuman skeletal remains from 175 individuals and faunalmaterial. the quantity and quality of the remains of eachindividual ranged from a few bones to nearly completeskeletons and from very poor condition to excellent con-dition. this poster examines the packing methods forthe shipments of human remains, and the reasons forthe differences.

orALLarge volume digitization: How to spend 18 million dollarsvan der Mije, S.D.Netherlands Centre for Biodiversity Naturalis, postbus 9517, 2300 rALeiden, the Netherlands

ncB naturalis started in January 2010 as a mergerbetween the major biodiversity research centre’s in thenetherlands, resulting in a collection of 37 million ob-jects. for the integration of their collections and re-search activities a special onetime grant was awarded

covering the move, integration and digitization. fordigitization in particular $18 milion became available,for which we aim to digitize 7 million objects beforeJune 30, 2015, have a high level inventory of the restand have a Permanent digitisation infrastructure(Pdi) in place.

Primary goal of digitization is: disclosure of scientificrelevant collection objects; not all associated data. sincethe target is only a fraction of the total combined collec-tions prioritization is crucial.

for digitization on a detailed level digistreets weredesigned, production lines for digitization with a staff of65. in the digistreets the aim is to process 2 million ob-jects in-house. these production lines are not organizedaccording to taxonomic group, but follow the handlingcharacteristics of the objects, for instance one digistreetwill cover all alcohol collections, there is one for ento-mology, herbarium specimens etc. gradually the workin the digistreets will be taken over by museum staff,leaving the infrastructure in place, ensuring a continua-tion of the process.

orALdeveloping methods for the use of pulped paper in archival fossil repairVital, DemetriosDivision of paleontology, American Museum of Natural History,Central park West at 79th st., New York, NY 10024 UsA; and NewYork Academy of Medicine Library

Vertebrate fossil preparators access a wide array oftechniques in their work, developed as a result of practi-cal exigencies, availability of materials, physical dimen-sions of specimens, and the idiosyncratic history of thefields of vertebrate paleontology and natural history col-lection. the modern field of conservation of historicalobjects has developed a related but separate system fortreating and preserving objects with attention to the useof tested, archival materials.

conservators use pulped paper in the repair andrestoration of a variety of both paper and non-paperobjects. the peer-reviewed literature includes uses ofcellulose in the repair of stone objects. Of the diversetechniques used in conservation, specific methods us-ing admixtures of pulped paper with Paraloid B-72have been applied in vertebrate fossil preparation.stemming from the use of fibrous and granulated cel-lulose as adhesive thickeners, pulped paper impreg-nated with adhesive is beneficial for use in cracks, fills,and manifold other structural repairs. this is an intro-duction to the use of pulped paper in fossil prepara-tion, disseminating the methods thus far developed,and discussing the future possibilities for paper pulptechniques in fossil preparation.

these techniques are simple, archival, cost-effective,and are beneficial in diverse scenarios faced by prepara-

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tors. along with a review of the uses of pulped paper at-tempted thus far, this talk will include a brief survey ofthe published references to similar techniques in conser-vation literature.

posterAmphibiaWeb: 7000 species and counting!Wake, D.B.1; Blackburn, D.C.2; Bloom, D.A.1; Cannatella,D.C.3; Gross, L.J.1; Koo, M.S.1; Spencer, C.L.1; Vredenburg,V.T.4; Whittaker, K.1; Wittsche, J.1; Zhuang, M.1

1Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, 3101 Valley Life sciences Building,University of California–Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720-3160 UsA

2California Academy of sciences, 55 Music Concourse Dr., GoldenGate park, san Francisco, CA 94118 UsA

3texas Natural History Collections, University of texas–Austin, 10100Burnet rD, prC 176/r4000, Austin, tX 78758-4445 UsA

4Department of Biology, san Francisco state University, Hensill Hall,rm. 538, 1600 Holloway Ave., san Francisco, CA 94132 UsA

since 2000, amphibiaWeb (www.amphibiaweb.org)has served as an online resource for information on theworld’s amphibian species and their status. amphibi-aWeb will highlight this resource with the celebration ofthe description of the 7000th amphibian species in 2012.amphibiaWeb has become an increasingly vital resourcewith accurate and current information for educators, re-searchers, and managers. every species has a webpageand steady progress is being made in producing speciesaccounts, which are accompanied by photographs, audiorecordings, videos, and maps. Browse functions facilitatetaxonomic, photographic, geographic and othersearches. unique services include a list (updated daily)of the number of valid amphibian species, mapping oftype localities for recently described species, and readyaccess to the largest amphibian photo collection (nearly25,000). literature on amphibian declines is summa-rized monthly. On average, amphibiaWeb receives15,000–20,000 unique queries per day from visitorsaround the world. the mapping functions of amphibi-aWeb continue to evolve and currently integrate shapefiles from iucn with mapped point locality data fromscientific collections. an iPhone app enables searchingand browsing of amphibian data, including locality-spe-cific searches. a recent overhaul of amphibiaWeb’s tax-onomy is based on increasingly stable phylogenetic hy-potheses. taxonomy is monitored by a subcommittee ofamphibian specialists from multiple institutions and isupdated as species are described and published revisionsare evaluated. amphibiaWeb is a community-con-tributed resource; volunteers produce the vast majorityof species accounts and photos. amphibiaWeb serves asa useful educational resource and we encourage integra-tion of the website into herpetology courses.

orALCultural property risk analysis: A report on the state of the art as revealed at the 2011 international SymposiumWaller, Robertprotect Heritage Corp., 622 simoneau Way, ottawa, oN K4A 1p4,Canada

an international symposium on cultural Propertyrisk analysis, in association with the internationalcouncil of museums–committee for conservation–Pre-ventive conservation working group and sponsored bysociety for risk analysis (sra), was held at the univer-sidade nova de lisboa in lisbon, 2011 september 14–16. the symposium offered 34 papers by presentersfrom 14 countries dealing with all aspects of risk assess-ment and management to better preserve cultural her-itage. Papers presented addressed cultural property inthe form of sites, monuments, architecture as well as col-lections in museum, libraries and archives. the presen-tations included case studies, methodological develop-ments, advances in balancing energy demands forpreservation with pressure for energy conservation, andperspectives of management and educators. case studiesranged from applications to large (ten million object)collections to simple guidance on general priorities insmall museums. methodological developments includedexamples of detailed risk modeling, modeling from dif-ferent perspectives, and integration of risk descriptionsand vulnerability assessments. the issue of balancingsustainability issues with energy requirements forpreservation was addressed as a planning and commu-nication issue and as a standards issue, critical knowl-edge gaps were identified, and risks were evaluated incontrolled, uncontrolled, and intentionally intermit-tently controlled situations. management and educationissues were addressed from institutional, national andinternational perspectives. this presentation providesan outline of the historical development of culturalproperty risk analysis as well a review of the state of theart in the field as documented by the symposium pre-sentations.

postergeo-visualizing a meteorite collection: UsingArcgiS 10 and WorldMap to create an onlinemap for the Harvard Mineralogical Museum Warmington, Tracy L.Harvard Mineralogical Museum, Harvard University, 24 oxford st.,Cambridge, MA 02138 UsA

assigning a geographic location to a specimen in ageological collection significantly impacts how thatspecimen is interpreted and understood by curators, re-searchers, and the public. given the considerable effect alocation can have on the scientific and historical value of

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a specimen, museums are looking for meaningful waysto share and display such information. One way to com-municate the importance of the connection between aspecimen and its place of geographic origin is throughthe use of geographic information systems (gis).

to initiate the use of gis at the harvard mineralogicalmuseum (hmm), a map of the meteorite collection wascreated. coordinates for meteorites in the collectionwere compiled and mapped in arcgis 10. data layershave been uploaded onto Worldmap, an open sourceweb-mapping platform developed by the harvard cen-ter for geographic analysis, to geo-visualize the collec-tion online. the interactive map features an attributetable containing name, fall/find, and classification infor-mation for each meteorite and currently consists of fourlayers. the first layer represents all meteorites found inthe hmm’s collection. the subsequent three layers sepa-rate the meteorites by type: iron, stone, and stony-iron.

the map will be made public when it is linked to themuseum’s new website in 2012. using gis andWorldmap to visualize the collection online broadenscollections access capabilities and offers a unique wayfor viewers to discover which meteorites are housed atthe hmm. the map additionally provides museum staffwith valuable information, such as indicating areas ofcollection strength and weakness, which can be used inacquisition decisions and in the overall management ofthe collection. moreover, this work has established thebaseline for future gis projects at the hmm and revealsthe advantages of geo-visualizing geological collections.

orALManaging a collection of studentsWatkins-Colwell, Gregory J.peabody Museum of Natural History, Yale University, p.o. Box208118, New Haven, Ct 06520-8118 UsA

museums at academic institutions have a history ofstudent interaction. the interactions could be in theform of students using museum specimens for coursework or independent research. students also are fre-quently collectors of new material and valuable mem-bers of the collection staff. at the Peabody museum ofnatural history undergraduate students serve as mu-seum assistants participating in all aspects of collectionmanagement as well as specimen-based research. stu-dents frequently take lead roles in some aspect of thecollection that is often related to their own academic in-terests. at Peabody museum all recent mammal speci-men preparation has been done by students, includingthe preparation of three adult black bears and severaldozen lemurs. mixed lots of fish specimens are rou-tinely identified, sorted and cataloged by students andstudents help design some exhibits. the Peabody mu-seum maintains a summer intern program for Yale un-dergraduates who conduct research that utilizes the col-

lections. the Yale department of ecology and evolu-tionary Biology offers an annual course for new fresh-men on the Peabody museum collections in which stu-dents conduct two independent projects in differentdivisions of the museum and present written and oralpapers on the results. inspiring student involvement inmuseum collection management, as well as ways to co-ordinate group projects, will be discussed.

orALthe PBi Miconieae project: A complete web-based monograph of the tribe Miconieae (Melastomataceae)Watson, Kimberly A.; Tiernan, Nichole T.;Michelangeli, Fabian A.; Tulig, Melissa C.the New York Botanical Garden, Institute of systematic Botany, 2900southern Blvd., Bronx, NY 10458 UsA

With 1800 species in 19 genera, the tribe miconieaeconstitutes the largest group within the plant familymelastomataceae. having a strictly neotropical distribu-tion, the tribe is ecologically important due to the diver-sity and number of individuals in forest understories, aswell as for being an important food source for birds andmammals. additionally, the miconieae includes two ofthe worst invasive species in the hawaiian and south Pa-cific islands (koster’s curse [Clidemia hirta] and purpleplague [Miconia calvescens]). the collaborative nsf-funded Planetary Biodiversity inventory (PBi) mi-conieae project will comprehensively monograph allspecies within the tribe, combining studies conducted inthe field, herbarium, and laboratory. all informationgenerated will be available online through a dedicatedweb interface hosted by the new York Botanical gar-den’s Virtual herbarium [http://sweetgum.nybg.org/melastomataceae /index.php]. stored within nYBg’scontent management system, ke emu, online data willinclude: complete species descriptions with current tax-onomic status, nomenclature, protologue citations, andtype information; images such as field photos, botanicalillustrations, scanning electron micrographs of seedsand other taxonomically significant characters; keys forspecies identification; catalogued and digitized nYherbarium specimens; distribution maps for eachspecies; and an exhaustive bibliography of relevant liter-ature. this website will be instrumental in determiningthe large back-log of specimens of neotropical melas-tomataceae held at herbaria throughout the world. it willalso support the first phylogenetically congruent, char-acter-based taxonomy for the tribe. Providing a modelframework for presenting the tools of modern mono-graphic treatments, the PBi miconieae project will makethese tools available for postdoctoral associates, gradu-ate students, and citizen scientists in the u.s. and aroundthe world. most importantly it will serve as a model forresearchers studying other groups of organisms.

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orALBuilding a 21st century natural history museum Watson, W.A.National Museum of Natural History, smithsonian Institution, 10thand Constitution Ave. NW, p.o. Box 37012, MrC 158, Washington,DC 20013-7012 UsA

as centers for both collections-based science re-search and informal learning, natural history museumsare uniquely equipped among informal science educa-tion providers to promote public understanding, en-gagement and participation with the pressing scientificissues of our time, such as climate change, biodiversityloss, and how to nurture global cultural understanding.natural history museums have vast collections that pro-vide historical perspectives essential to addressing thesechallenges and active scientists whose expertise andpassion for the natural world could inspire the same en-thusiasm among a public eager to participate in authen-tic experiences.

despite many excellent examples of innovation andcollaboration that link audiences with researchers andcollections, there is a growing consensus that we shouldplay a greater role in engaging audiences in critical sci-entific issues. to do so requires innovative, collaborativestaffing models and thoughtful use of emerging scien-tific and communications technologies. Building the21st century natural history museum will requirecloser and more authentic collaboration among scien-tists, collections managers, exhibition developers, edu-cators, administrators, learning researchers, and evalua-tors within and across museums.

at the smithsonian’s national museum of naturalhistory, a range of onsite and digital projects are beingbuilt and integrated under the umbrella of an Open mu-seum initiative. the core of the initiative is a 10,000square foot hub of science learning that links physicalcollections, fully interactive online tools for using digi-tized collections to ask and answer questions, and men-toring from science and education staff. the initiative islinked to the 21st century learning in natural historysettings Project, which seeks to link natural history mu-seums worldwide into a network for learning researchand program innovation to enhance our public valueand maximize our potential for the millions of visitorswe serve each year.

orALillumination and preservation of museum exhibitions: tempering the beast with new technologyWeintraub, StevenArt preservation services, 44-45 Vernon Blvd., Long Island City, NY11101 UsA

a significant portion of objects on exhibition withinnatural history museums are susceptible to damagefrom light. the purpose of this talk is to review past,current and future practices for the protection of mu-seum collections on exhibition from light. One of thekey points is the distinction between preservation andexhibition concerns for natural history collections rela-tive to art museums, particularly with respect to illumi-nation requirements.

looking backward, it is important to understand thebasis of current lighting recommendations. looking for-ward, it is essential to know how to evaluate and utilizenewly emerging technologies for illumination and con-trol, and how these developments can be merged with anew interest in energy sustainability. for example, ledsare energy efficient, but are they cost-efficient? is daylighta viable solution for museum illumination? can new con-trol technologies provide more efficient means for reduc-ing light-induced damage to collections and yet enhancethe visitor’s viewing experience of the exhibition?

these new technologies and new opportunities pro-vide the means to achieve successful solutions and avoidpainful and costly mistakes.

posterthe Harvard embryology Collection: A case study on archival histology slidesWilliston, A.D.Ichthyology Collection, Museum of Comparative Zoology, HarvardUniversity, 26 oxford st., Cambridge, MA 02138 UsA

extensive embryology and histology slide collectionsare rare or unnoticed in natural history collections. col-lections focused on keeping alcohol preserved and skele-tal whole animals may overlook histological slides andother micro-slides. still, slide collections have the poten-tial to be valuable museum resources.

the harvard embryology collection is an example ofa historic, archival histological embryology collection.the hec was started in 1890 by notable americananatomist charles sedgewick minot. the collection wasdesigned to be broadly systematic, including 60 taxa.the hec was founded in a collaborative spirit to providethe research community a “cyclopedia” to promote newresearch and reproducibility in embryology. the hecwas successful in the early 1900s—being cited in morethan 100 papers including two volumes of keibel’s nor-mal tables. Bashford dean’s notable hagfish embryoslides were later deposited in the collection. fortunately,minot (a former student of louis agassiz) constructedthe collection according to strict archival standards sothat hec slides would act as permanent vouchers. in-deed, the slides have persisted to this day.

unfortunately the collection sank into obscurity afterthe early 1900s. still, the collection remained intact at theWarren anatomical museum at harvard medical school.

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now, despite nearly a century of relative disuse, the collec-tion is safely kept at the museum of comparative Zoology(mcZ) and is available to researchers. the collection’s his-tory stands as a reminder that even the most seeminglyout of place collection objects can have a great and unno-ticed value. curatioral improvements are now planned atthe mcZ. the collection may also serve as a model forbuilding modern, archival histology slide collections.

orALCreating collection relevance: A museum’s guide to values assessmentWork, Paula T.Maine state Museum, 83 state House station, Augusta, Me 04333 UsA

institutions hold collections in the public trust, mak-ing the public our partners as primary stakeholders forthese collections, but without the tools for informed dia-log this purpose is lost.

Over the past two decades the museum communityhas come to understand the need to define how collec-tions are relevant to society. the result being an under-standing that museum collection can be assigned manyvalues. these values stem from the many uses of collec-tions by society, and the significance assigned to thoseuses. several easy to understand values are monetary,aesthetic, or educational.

the purpose of this presentation is to show the com-ponents of a value’s assessment approach that can bereadily adapted to disparate collection holding institu-tions, and acts to define the importance of a these mate-rials to a targeted stakeholder community.

orALtowards best practice in mounting and conservation of botanical specimensYesilyurt, J.C.; Collins, C.J.; Santana, F.D.the Natural History Museum, Cromwell rd., London sW7 5BD,United Kingdom

as part of the natural history museum’s program toestablish best practice in the conservation and storage ofits collections, staff from the Botany department haveundertaken a survey to review materials, mountingtechniques and procedures used world-wide.

the survey which was accompanied by a literature re-view established that generally, the principle of attachingdried pressed plant specimens to a mounting media hasnot changed for several hundred years being traced backto 16th century. however, a wide range of variations ofthis practice can be seen.

the available literature suggests that there have beentrials on the use of a range of materials (and even meth-ods) but there has been insufficient (published) researchto determine what can/might be considered best prac-

tice. the general lack of substantial/extensive data revealthat there is a need for further research and discussionon the aims of mounting plants and best practice intechniques used.

the natural history museum (nhm) is currently re-viewing the wide range of mounting techniques and ma-terials (such as adhesives, glues, strips/gummed tapes,etc.) identified in the survey and literature to establishcriteria for best practice and to look at the longer-termeffects of these techniques in light of new demands forsamples for genetic and morphological data.

this paper reviews the stability and suitability ofthese methods and materials in comparison with otherstudies already undertaken and covers the first stage ofthis review. techniques and materials will be assessedagainst common criteria established from the surveyand literature survey.

Preliminary results from this study are presented ofwhat might be considered best practice for objects oflong-term value to a research collection, using a non-in-vasive/invasive mounting techniques and materials.

orALSurvey of genetic resource collections associated with natural history collectionsZimkus, B.M.; Ford, L.S.Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, 26 oxford st.,Cambridge, MA 02138 UsA

natural history collections and other repositories ofpreserved biological material have traditionally focusedon the preservation of organismal whole specimens, butgenetic resources have become a standard and integralpart of traditional collections during the past decade.these collections may include frozen tissues, chemicallypreserved tissues, and/or associated extracts, and unliketypical museum specimens, genetic resources are con-sumptive. these types of collections are also expensiveand time-consuming to build and maintain; samplesmust be carefully stored and monitored in a low tempera-ture environment if their products are to remain usefulfor molecular analyses. for these reasons and numerousothers, genetic resources present a number of uniquemanagement problems for natural history collections. inaddition, despite more standardized methods for themanagement of traditional natural history collections,there seemingly is no best-practices standard for the doc-umentation, arrangement, and housing for this new typeof research collection. to learn more the current proto-cols, challenges, and concerns associated with genetic re-sources, we surveyed natural history museums and othercollections that store genetic resources using an onlinepoll that included 57 questions. the survey was adver-tised via the sPnhc newsletter and distributed directlyto those who managed genetic resources at natural his-tory museums, botanical gardens, colleges/universities,


herbaria, private institutes, science centers and zoos. Par-ticipants answered questions regarding sample types ac-cepted, storage methods, location tracking, personnel,policy, security, safety, budget, funding and loans. resultsof this survey are quantified and reported. this surveywill be the first step to informing natural history collec-tions and other repositories about suggested standards inrelation to genetics resources and bringing researchersfrom disciplines that traditionally do not have collectionstowards standard protocols via best-practice guidelinesfor genetic resources collections. Both collections and in-dependent researchers would improve efficiency and or-ganization of collections with the availability of guide-lines, allowing researchers to more readily donate, as wellas access genetic material, with the availability of best-practice standards.

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28th Annual Meeting of the Society for the Preservation of Natural History Collections

and 10th Conference on Fossil Resources

June 17-22, 2013

Rapid City, South Dakota

Hosted by the SDSM&T Museum of Geology and the SPNHC/CFR Local Committee

Joint SPNHC/CFR workshop o Repositories: Protecting Natural History Heritage for

Everyone

Pre-conference field trip o Natural History and History of the White River Badlands

Session workshops o Collections digitization for the 21st century o Native American natural history collections concerns

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/#!/groups/SPNHC2013CFR10/

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Collaborative digitization workflows with SpecifyBentley, A. specify software project, University of Kansas, 1345 Jayhawk Blvd.,Lawrence, Ks 66045 UsA

the specify software Project supports more than 400museum and herbarium collections with open sourcesoftware and technical support services for digitizingand mobilizing specimen data. most collections utilizingspecify are repositories at universities or smaller col-leges with holdings in the tens to hundreds of thousandsof collection objects, but specify also supports collec-tions with over a million data records, as well as largemultinational projects.

specify aligns with goals of the nsf adBc Program,idigBio huB, and the thematic collection networks topromote collaborative cataloging, by offering interfaceswhich can be individualized to local collection dataworkflows, as well as functions associated with collabo-rative data entry, duplicate specimen discovery, data rec-onciliation, and publishing records to species occur-rence data aggregators.

in this 15-minute demonstration, we will quicklytouch on specify 6’s capabilities for data entry, bulk datauploading and validation, as well as the integration ofspecimen images and labels into digitization workflows.We will nimbly show specify technologies for image, la-bel and Ocr data archiving, duplicate data discoveryand re-use (scatter gather reconcile), and for data pub-lishing. We will flash a preview of a new generation ofspecify which moves specimen data management to theweb. finally, we will re-affirm our commitment to sup-port curation and research with biological specimendata, and to collaborative development and co-owner-ship of open source software for biodiversity collections.

the Apiary Project—A framework and workflow for extraction and parsing of herbarium specimen dataBest, Jason1; Neill, Amanda K.1; Moen, William E.2

1Botanical research Institute of texas, 1700 University Dr., FortWorth, tX 76107 UsA

2University of North texas, texas Center for Digital Knowledge,College of Information, 3940 North elm st., Denton, tX 76207 UsA

millions of specimens in herbaria worldwide need tobe digitized to be accessible to scientists. a key challengefaced by biodiversity collections is determining a trans-

formation process that yields high-quality results in acost- and time-efficient manner. the university of northtexas’s texas center for digital knowledge (txcdk)and the Botanical research institute of texas (Brit)have developed a web-based application workflow forcombining human and machine processes to facilitatethe transformation of herbarium label data into ma-chine-processable parsed data. the workflow andframework, called the apiary Project (www.apiarypro-ject.org), are made possible through integration of exist-ing technologies and metadata standards. the workflowinterfaces allow human participants to inspect and ana-lyze digital images, extract text, and then parse this textinto standardized metadata elements.

apiary’s web-based interface is designed for use bythe general public, with minimal training, allowing col-lection managers and curators to assemble resources tomeet the challenge of effectively and efficiently extract-ing data from images. apiary can be integrated into ex-isting and future workflows to speed the process of digi-tization and data mobilization. apiary is built with opensource components (including fedora repository, is-landora, drupal, djatoka image server and Ocropus)and is available under the gPl open-source license.

apiary is in active use in the digitization workflow atthe Botanical research institute of texas. an update ofthe progress and challenges of digitization will be pre-sented.

the apiary Project was funded by a national leader-ship grant (lg-06-08-0079) from the u.s. federal insti-tute of museum and library services.

gigAmacro: Creating gigapixel photographs of macro and micro specimensCooper, Gene; Cooper, NaomiFour Chambers studio/GIGAmacro, 128 ebbetts pass rd., Vallejo, CA94589 UsA

Purpose and intended users: gigamacro technol-ogy is a new system for creating gigapixel macro and mi-cro photographs for conservation, research, science, andeducation applications. the technology provides an auto-mated hardware and software solution to photograph en-tire specimens in full focus, along with software for shar-ing, annotating, and exploring gigapixel images online.

current users include museum collections managers,researchers, scientists, exhibit designers, and conserva-tion groups at the carnegie museum of natural history,usda, historic scotland, and northern Virginia com-

demoCampArranged in alphabetical order by lead author. In the case of demonstrations with more than one author, presenter

names are underlined. DemoCamp factsheets are in a separate section following the DemoCamp abstracts.


munity college. fields of study using gigamacro in-clude entomology, paleontology, historic documentpreservation, geology, and architecture.

Major Components:—robotic linear motion control hardware and software—dslr camera system with telecentric Optics—focus stacking with 3d imaging capabilities—image mosaicing and image stitching software—Online tools for exploring, annotating, and sharinggigapixel imagery

Novelty and comparison: the combination of thesetechnologies results in an innovative and novel approachto imaging. typical photographs produced by the systemare 100 to 1,000 times greater resolution than a standard15 megapixel camera and at a fraction of the cost perpixel. the quality, accuracy, and capabilities go far be-yond existing technologies (like automontage) and canaccommodate a much wider range of subjects (fromone-quarter inch to three feet).

this technology is available right now, and can becustomized to specific uses. the software we provide tocapture and create the imagery is proprietary, thoughonline software to share, explore, and annotate imageryis open source and available for anyone to use.

at democamp, we will show the gigamacro Profes-sional imaging system in action, show gigapixel photo-graphs from different research institutions and share afew large-format prints of images.

Connecting expert knowledge to specimens: Remote annotation of data in a filtered Push networkMorris, P.J.1,2; Macklin, J.A.3; Dou, L.4; Hanken, J.2;Kelly, M.2; Lowery, D.B.2; Ludaescher, B.4; McPhillips, T.M.5; Morris, R.A.1

1Harvard University Herbaria, 22 Divinity Ave., Cambridge, MA01238 UsA


3Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Wm. saunders Building, ottawa,oN K1A 0C6, Canada

4UC Davis Genome Center, University of California–Davis, 451Health sciences Dr., Davis, CA 95616 UsA

5stanford synchrotron radiation Laboratory, 2575 sand Hill rd., Ms69, Menlo park, CA 94025 UsA

When data from natural science collections are aggre-gated and distributed across networks, the data as dis-played on remote clients are disconnected from the au-thoritative records held in institutional databases. Whilethe mobilization and distribution of data about collec-tion objects makes that data more accessible to expertswho can maintain and even improve data quality, it risksdisconnecting this new knowledge about these objectsfrom their curators. One of the functions of a filtered

Push network is to return to curators such knowledgeelicited from experts wherever collections’ informationis displayed. We will demonstrate this filtered Push ofinformation in a network connecting an instance each ofmorphbank, symbiota, and specify6. We will create anew determination based on an image of a collection ob-ject displayed in morphbank, automatically formulatethis new determination as an annotation document, andinject this annotation document into a filtered Pushnetwork. similarly, a second annotation will be gener-ated by an expert using symbiota. these annotationswill be delivered to an instance of specify6, which holdsthe authoritative record for the annotated collection ob-jects. incoming annotations will be reviewed by a mem-ber of the institution’s collection management staff andexamples presented of both acceptance and rejection ofthese annotations (filtered). the accepted annotationwill be automatically ingested into the specify6 database(Push). following this, a query of an annotation store inthe network will show the network’s knowledge of bothannotations and actions taken on them by data curators.annotations in a filtered Push network can close thegap between experts viewing data remotely and authori-tative collections database records. supported by nsfdBi-0960535.

georeferencing natural history collections data: the geOLocate ProjectRios, N.; Bart, H.tulane University Biodiversity research Institute, tulane Museum ofNatural History, 3705 Main st., Belle Chasse, LA 70037 UsA

Over 2.5 billion biological specimens are archived inthe world’s natural history museums and herbaria. ma-jor efforts are ongoing to digitize and georeference thedata associated with these collections. the geOlocateproject is an effort to develop a suite of software andservices for automated georeferencing of natural historycollections data. since 2002, the project has been re-sponsible for the release of a desktop application, aframework for collaborative georeferencing, a web basedapplication and georeferencing and validation servicesto facilitate direct integration with collection digitizationefforts. Within the past year, version 2 of the web serv-ices for georeferencing have been released and includegreater results metadata, improved ranking and filteringof results, georeferencing language selection (english,spanish, catalan, Basque or galician), determination ofuncertainty radii as defined by the gBif Best Practicesfor georeferencing, and determination of uncertaintypolygons. We have also included a service to retrieve re-sults from alternative georeferencing methods, such asBiogeomancer, and pass those results back to clients in asingle standardized geOlocate response format. thispresentation will demonstrate the web based clients witha focus on integration services.

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Reflectance transformation imaging for empiricaldocumentation of natural history collectionsSchroer, C.; Mudge, M.Cultural Heritage Imaging, 2325 third st., suite 323, san Francisco,CA 94107 UsA

reflectance transformation imaging (rti) has the po-tential to revolutionize the documentation, treatment,and research of natural history and art museum collec-tions. rti images also invite people to interactively expe-rience collection materials. rti enables museum profes-sionals and other scholars to examine a surface’s shapeand color by interactively re-lighting the subject from anydirection and applying mathematical enhancements.

rti open-source software allows scholars to generateimages that meet specific needs, using mathematical en-hancements and display software to bring out intricatesurface details not visible with the naked eye or with tra-ditional magnification. image capture and processingmetadata are packaged with the rti pictures enablingthe automatic generation of process-history informa-tion. these ‘digital lab notebooks’ record the means andcircumstances surrounding the creation of the digitalrepresentation, a necessary element for scientific evalua-tion and the use and reuse of data for novel purposes byothers in the future. sophisticated metadata manage-ment is undergoing major updates with the develop-ment of new tools in the rti workflow.

We will outline the inexpensive and easy to learn im-age capture methodology and image processing opensource software. We will demonstrate examples of theresulting rti images using the rtiViewer, viewing andanalysis tool.

rti is part of a family of related methods, often calledcomputational Photography, based on the extraction ofinformation from multiple digital photographs. thesoftware tools are developed by an international collabo-ration of research labs and universities. rti has alreadybeen adopted and deployed by many leading art muse-ums in the us and around the world, with interest grow-ing among natural history collections.

High-throughput 3-d pinned insect data captureSieracki, Jeffrey M.1; Favret, Colin2

1sr2 Group LLC, Laurel technology Center, 14900 sweitzer Lane,suite 101, Laurel, MD 20707-2915 UsA

2Institut de recherche en biologie végétale / Biodiversity Centre of theUniversité de Montréal, 4101 rue sherbrooke est, Montreal, QC H1X2B2, Canada

We describe sr2 group’s high-throughput robotic im-aging and data capture system for physical insect speci-mens. natural history museums are vast, largely un-tapped sources of biological data. Over one billionspecimens reside in u.s. museum drawers and cabinets,their characteristics, associated data, and even their exis-

tence often hidden. insects preserved on pins representa significant proportion, with the ten largest u.s. collec-tions housing over 100 million such specimens. We ad-dress a high-throughput system capable of manipulatingpinned specimens, partitioning the 3d scene, photo-graphing specimens, and extracting database informa-tion with Ocr rendering of specimen labels. the systemovercomes critical barriers to digitizing these importantscientific resources by automating a process that has pre-viously been prohibitively time consuming and expen-sive. the technology can radically accelerate the pace ofinsect specimen digitization and capture of critical datafrom museum specimens. Our results demonstrate thatmachine handling of pinned specimens is feasible andpractical; expanded application to other large collectionsof irregularly-sized biological specimen is addressed.

egeMS electronic geological management system: Preserving geological materials and information for our futureTimm, SarahVirginia Museum of Natural History, 21 starling Ave., Martinsville,VA 24112 UsA

egems is an intuitive and user-friendly database foranyone who wishes to better manage their geologicalmaterials. the database was developed as part of a mas-ter’s thesis at Virginia tech to provide a solution to risingcollections management problems. the department ofgeosciences at Virginia tech houses enormous amountsof geological materials, and provides a model example ofthis growing need. Without proper management, collec-tions can become disorganized, and significant portionscan be lost or discarded. likely as a result of this prob-lem the national science foundation now mandates thateach grant proposal include a data management plan de-tailing how the materials and data collected under thatgrant will be accessible to the public and preserved forthe future. this is a great step towards protecting ourcollections, however it requires that the natural historycommunity have a tool to aid them in their collectionsmanagement efforts.

databases for natural history collections are oftenbuilt by programmers unfamiliar with the materials be-ing cataloged. egems is unique in that it was createdfrom the perspective of a geologist, and it incorporatessuggestions from many potential users. also as a resultof being built on filemaker Pro software, egems iscross-platform and has networking and web-browsingcapabilities.

egems is also unique in that it is the first database totake into account the needs of both institutional and pri-vate collections within the same database. for exampleegems has the ability to record information specific toresearch products (experimental powders, synthesizedmaterials, etc.) as well as capture accession and loan in-


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formation, print specimen and tray labels, andimport/export images and documents. the combinationof these exclusive and standard features makes egemsthe ideal software for anyone with a geological collec-tion. to find out how egems can benefit you visitwww.egemsinfo.com.

Natural selection: finding specimens in a natural history collectionvan der Mije, S.D.Netherlands Centre for Biodiversity Naturalis, postbus 9517, 2300 rALeiden, the Netherlands

the natural history domain is rich in information.for hundreds of years, biodiversity researchers havecollected specimens and samples, and meticulouslyrecorded the how, what, and where of these objects ofresearch. in this contribution, we first present a newapproach to collection digitisation, as well as a novelcollection registration management system (crs) asimplemented at the netherlands centre for Biodiver-sity (ncB naturalis). the new approach to digitisationat ncB naturalis implements a cascaded digitisationapproach: in parts of the collection that have not yetbeen digitised, first a shelf or drawer is assigned aunique id in the crs, along with a description of thespecimens contained within it. Whenever the shelf ordrawer is revisited, the new policy dictates that speci-mens that are taken and used from this set berecorded in the crs. this ensures that at least seriesof specimens are registered and can be located, whichis an important consideration in a collection of 37million objects.

the crs differs from other collection managementsystems in that it is not only a collection managementtool for a wide range of users that allows retrieving ob-jects in the collection, and inspect what is their condi-tion or whether they are on loan, but also a tool for re-searchers. although the crs employs its own,custom-made underlying data model, it is based on theaccess to Biological collection data (aBcd) standard,“extension for geosciences” (efg). it is furthermorecompatible with existing protocols as cidOc-crm8,spectrum9, and various technical standards. Ourknowledge-based database cleaning approach utilisesknowledge about the domain from temporal, geo-graphical, taxonomies and other resources to inferwhether a value is correct or suspicious. it works bycombining pieces of information from the collectioninformation system and an external resource or rule, todecide whether a value is correct or not.

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demoCampFactsheets are arranged across two pages in order of presentation.

gigAmacroCooper, Genewww.gigamacro.com

GIGAmacro isspecifically designed forcreating explorablegigapixel photographsof macroscopic andmicroscopic subjects(Gigapixel MacroPhotography).

Collection managers,curators, scientists,researchers, exhibitdesigners and anyoneinterested in digitalsharing andpreservation ofspecimens andartifacts

High-resolutionphotography system,including hardware,software, and onlineviewing application

Reflectance transformation imaging (Rti)Schroer, Carlaculturalheritageimaging.org

To create a high quality,scientifically reliablereflectance image thatcan be manipulated andmathematicallyenhanced to examinevery fine surface detailsof objects that mayremain invisible withother imagingtechnologies. Thistechnology uses off-the-shelf digital cameras totake an image sequencethat is processed withopen source software toproduce this new typeof image.

Anyone interested inresearch, educationand preservation ofnatural historycollection objectswith surface featuressuch as fossils, botanysamples, insects, andanthropologycollections

This is a technologywith multiple parts.Image sequence captureis performed with off-the-shelf digital cameraand tripod. Imageprocessing is performedwith RTIBuilder.Analysis and viewingtool is RTIViewer. Bothare desktop applications.Plans are under way foradditional viewing andanalysis tools.

High-throughput 3-d Pinnedinsect data CaptureSieracki, Jeffreywww.sr2group.com

Bulk digitization andcataloging of insectspecimens, includinghigh resoution imagingand label capture. Otherirregular physicalspecimen types can beaddressed.

Collection managersand curatorsinterested in large-scale,high-throughputdigitization of theirphysical specimenresources

Data capture anddigitization

Project NamePresenter IntendedWebsite Purpose Users Classification

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The system combines robotics hardware, DSLRcameras, capture software, focus stacking software, andimage stitching software to create the gigapixelphotographs. Once created, the photographs can beexplored, compared, shared, and annotated using ouronline viewing application. Annotations can beexported to XML, snapshots can be exported as JPEG,and the full resolution gigapixel photographs can beexported to Photoshop or other graphics programs.

The online viewingapplication is free foranyone to use. Capture,focus stacking, andstitching software isincluded in the systemlicense as a commercialproduct.

Online Viewing: any PC orMac computer The systemincludes a fully-configuredPC computer for creationof the gigapixelphotographs.

Capture is performed with camera, ideally tethered to acomputer. RTIBuilder is a Java desktop application thatruns on Mac, Windows, and Linux. RTIViewer is adesktop application written in C++ available for Macand Windows. Other free viewers are also available, anda WebGL/ HTML 5 viewer is under development.

Open source under theGnu General Publiclicense v 3. Optionaladditional componentsare available as free fornon-commercial useexecutables (withoutsource).

Windows machines. Intel-based Macs running MacOS 10.5 and later. 4GB ofRAM and higher arerecommended forprocessing. Lowerperforming machines areOK for viewing.

Integrated domain-specific robotics, imaging, and OCRrendering

TBD TBD

Technology Licensing Platformand Integration Model Requirements

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egeMSTimm, Sarahwww.egemsinfo.com

EGEMS was developedto meet the rising needsof all geologicalcollections, especiallythose reliant onNational ScienceFoundation funding.EGEMS enablesinstitutions andindividuals to manageall of their geologicalmaterials, includingresearch products, usingone cost-efficient anduser friendly program.

Anyone with ageologicalcollections,including but notlimited to: collectionmanagers, curators,professors, graduatestudents, researchscientists, mineralshow dealers, andprivate collectors

Database ManagementSystem (DBMS)

geOLocateRios, Nelsonmuseum.tulane.edu/geolocate

Georeferencing softwareand services for naturalhistory collections

Collection managers,curators, collectionusers, scientists, andanyone interested incollection records

Georeferencing software

filteredPushMorris, Pauletaxonomy.org/mw/FilteredPush

Quality control andenhancement ofdistributed data


Network Software andClients

SpecifyBentley, Andrewspecifysoftware.org

Facilitate theacquisition, authoring,research analysis,mapping, reconciliation,re-use and publicationof biological collectiondata

Digitization projects,consortia, herbariumand museumcurators, scientists,collectionsresearchers

Rich databasemanagement anddigitization workflowapplication


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EGEMS is the first database to combine functionsbeneficial to museum, university, and privatecollections. Images and documents can be uploaded toevery record and each record has the ability to berelated to one another. This means a user searching forinformation could learn what a material looks like, viewany analytical data or photographs of originaldocumentation, and read any information typed intothe text fields, as well as see this same amount ofinformation for any associated records. The text fieldsare unlimited in characters except when selecting avalue from an authority file. Authority files in EGEMSare from trusted sources such as AGI and PetDB. Also,as a result of being built on FileMaker Pro, EGEMS iscross-platform and is unlimited in file size.

EGEMS is availableonline atwww.egemsinfo.com.There are 3 versions ofEGEMS currentlyavailable: Network,Stand-alone, and Student.If you have any questionsyou can send an e-mail [email protected]

EGEMS is cross platform(Mac & PC), however theNetwork Version doesrequire FileMaker Prosoftware. Information oneducational discounts,site-licenses, and generalpricing for FileMaker canbe found atwww.filemaker.com.

Web API available for integration. Core technologies:C#, HTML & Javascript

Desktop and webapplications are freelyavailable with norestrictions on use.

None

AO/AOD Annotation Ontology (engaged with W3COA process). RDF. OWL representation of TDWGDarwinCore. J2EE Network software. AnnotationProcessor working with Specify 6. Adaptable to otherSQL databases and to Java PDO layers over databases.Java Client Helper Library. PHP Client Helper Library.Morphbank and Symbiota clients

OpenSource. GPL2 Various. AnnotationProcessing Client: Tomcator Jetty container.NetworkNode: Glassfishcontainer

Specify is coded in Java for portability across desktopplatforms. As a platform it supports user interface andcapability plug-ins. Currently we include GEOLocate,Scatter Gather Reconcile, Lifemapper (GBIF) andNASA World Wind plug-ins. iReports is embedded forspecimen label design and production. The newgeneration web client is built primarily with HTML5,ExtJS, and JPA, with Solr/Lucene in the new web portal.

GPL2, Actively managedas an open sourceinitiative, Codebase:http://sourceforge.net/projects/specify/

Windows, Mac OS X, orLinux workstations andfor server installationsmySQL on any MySQL-supported server, internetconnection for web serviceintegration functions


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CRSNCB Naturalis CollectionRegistration Systemvan der Mije, Steven

Multidisciplinarycollection managementsystem for naturalhistory collections.Combines collectionmanagement withpublic web presence toexplicitly demonstratecollection usage andintegration with otherweb services.


Database managementsystem and webapplication

the Apiary ProjectBest, Jasonwww.apiaryproject.org

To speed the process ofextracting valuablemetadata fromherbarium specimenimages through aworkflow that integrateshuman and machineprocesses

Herbariumcollections managers,herbarium staff, andherbarium volunteers

Web application


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An integrated suite of applications written inColdFusion and running over Oracle. Collectionrecords in CRS can be linked to any URI CRS wil beintegrating other web services and its data will beautomatically available to networks such as GBIF.

Licensing system will beavailable after completionand testing.

Client: any modernstandards-compliant webbrowser. Database: Oracle

The front end uses Drupal Content ManagementSystem (PHP). The data repository is FedoraRepository. Components of the Islandora frameworkare used to connect Drupal to Fedora Repository.Djatoka image server is used to display and manipulateimages. OCRopus and GOCR are used for opticalcharacter recognition. The primary metadata generatedadheres to the Darwin Core standard. Metadata andimages can be accessed and queried through the variousprotocols supported by Fedora Repository such as RESTand SOAP APIs and SPARQL as well as metadataharvesting through OAI-PMH.

Open source - GPL Client: any modernstandards-compliant webbrowser. Server: Linux.Developed and tested onUbuntu 10.04



11. Dr. Robert F. Thorne’s botanical collections at Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden: A legacy of fieldwork to be processedGardner, Erika M.; Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden

12. Moving Rocky Top to Oklahoma: Integration of the University of Memphis Mammal Collection to the Sam Noble Museum of Natural HistoryRevelez, Marcia A.; Braun, Janet K.; Mares, Michael A.; Hites, Roxie R.; Sam Noble Museum of Natural History

13. The University of Colorado Museum’s Fossils in the Classroom ProjectKarim, T.S.; Culver, T.; Hakala, J.S.H.; Eberle, J.; University of Colorado Museum of Natural History

1. Mount making at the UBC Museum of AnthropologySchlichting, Carl; Swierenga, Heidi; Toutloff, Mauray; UBC Museum of Anthropology

2. From seeds to dugout canoes: Methods for the Long-term care of macrobotanical andmegabotanical archaeological remains from 500- to over 5000-year old archaeological sitesRuhl, Donna L.; LeCompte, Elise V.; Florida Museum of Natural History

3. A textile hanging system composed of readily available hardware materialsOpitz, Cindy; Museum of Natural History, The University of Iowa

4. Maximizing space: Wall mounted storage for long narrow objects Newberry, Rebecca; Science Museum of Minnesota;Anderson, G., Carnegie Museum of Natural History

5. A high volume production method for wedge-type storage mounts used to house ceramic potsMcGrew, Ashley, Private Consultant

6. Stabilizing special collections for high-density storage at the Library of Congress Lewis, Jennifer; Greek, Ashley; Library of Congress

7. Considerations for compact storage of the collection at a large natural history institution: A case study at the Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology Housego, G.C.; Strilisky, B.C.; Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology

8. Re-housing archaeological textiles during the National Museum of the American Indian collections move Anderson, Lisa; Heald, Susan; National Museum of the American IndianChang, Lauren; Art Institute of Chicago

9. Supporting old bones, storage jackets for oversize dinosaur bones Fox, Marilyn; Fitzgerald, Vicki; Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History

10. Odd lots: Storage supports for special situationsCovell, Amy L.; Harding, Deborah G.; Anderson, Gretchen; Carnegie Museum of Natural History

PostersAiC SPeCiAL SeSSiON: StORAge teCHNiQUeS

fOR ARtS, SCieNCe, ANd HUMANitieS COLLeCtiONS

co-sponsored by the american institute for conservation of historic and artistic Works

SPNHC

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14. The bird collection and the management at the Yamashina Institute for Ornithology: OverviewKobayashi, Sayaka; Yamasaki, Takeshi; Saitoh, Takema; Asai, Shigeki; Iwami, Yasuko; Yamashina Institute for Ornithology

15. Revitalization of the Recent Invertebrates Collection of the Sam Noble MuseumSohl-Smith, Laura; Menard, Katrina; Yuri, Tamaki; Braun, Janet K.; Hites, Roxie; am Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History

16. The Harvard Embryology Collection: A case study on archival histology slidesWilliston, Andrew D.; Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University

17. Revitalizing a natural history collection: An institutional commitment to the public trust and the scientific legacy of the Chicago Academy of SciencesRoberts, Dawn R.; Chicago Academy of Sciences and Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum

18. Digitization at the Chicago Academy of Sciences’ museum collection and archivesRoberts, Dawn; Chicago Academy of Sciences and Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum

19. What’s underfoot? KE EMu’s new IPM functionality identifies new moth habitatSmith, David A.; Kelly, Claire; Mendez, Armando; Natural History Museum, London

20. A tale of two systems: Synergy in managing risks to people and to collectionsHawks, Catharine; Waller, R.; National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution

21. Training in natural history conservation: An interns perspectiveJones, Natalie; Horniman Museum and Gardens

22. Collection improvement and expansion feasibility studies: An essential planning tool for many collectionsMitrow, Gisele; Catling, P.; Macklin, J.; Cayouette, J.; Agriculture and Agri-Food CanadaWeatherston, J.; WeatherstonBruer Associates

23. Engaging students in hands-on and project-based learning—Using specimen preparation as an educational tool in the MVZ Undergraduate ProgramAlbe, M.J.; Cicero, C.; Trápaga, A.; Spencer, C.L.Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, University of California–Berkeley

24. A comparison of packing methods for shipping human remains internationallyUtrup, Nathan; Peabody Museum of Natural History, Yale University

25. Broken bones and dirty stones: Preparing paleontological collections at the Museum of Comparative Zoology (Harvard University) for a major collection moveRenczkowski, M.; Cundiff, J.; Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University

26. Detecting arsenic in vertebrate specimens at the Michigan State University Museum using a handheld X-ray fluorescence (XRF) analyzerAbraczinskas, L.M.; Siciliano, L.M.; Lundrigan, B.L.; Michigan State University Museum

27. Snowmaking at AMNH: New methods in the restoration of winter landscapes in natural history dioramasPalumbo, B.; Sybalsky, J.; Nunan, E.; Levinson, J.; Elkin, L.; American Museum of Natural History

28. Fleshing it out: New methods of taxidermy restoration with conservation-approved materialsPalumbo, B.; Sybalsky, J.; Nunan, E.; Levinson, J.; Elkin L.; American Museum of Natural History

29. Salvage and restoration activity for the bird specimens destroyed by tsunami in the Tohoku Earthquake, Japan Iwami, Yasuko; Yamasaki, Takeshi; Yamashina Institute for Ornithology Kumagai, Masaru; Rikuzentakata City MuseumTomioka, Naoto; Okayama University of Science

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30. Fragile creatures: Reboxing Blaschka jellyfish Lowe, Miranda; The Natural History Museum, London

31. From the American Museum of Natural History with love: Packing fossil specimens for shipment Gishlick, A.; Jurgielewicz, L.; Mehling, C.; American Museum of Natural History

32. The use of Orasol® dyes for in-situ recoloring of taxidermy specimensSybalsky, J.; Palumbo, B.; Nunan, E.; Levinson, J.; Elkin, L.; American Museum of Natural HistoryPollak, B.; Rogge, C.; Buffalo State College

33. A review of materials and techniques used for feather cleaning and reshaping at the Winterthur/University of Delaware Program in Art ConservationTorok, Elena; Pack, Crista; Pouliot, Bruno; Winterthur/University of Delaware Programi in Art Conservation

34. Developing digital resources for the University of Iowa Paleontology Repository Amoco Conodont Collection Adrain, T.; Hawkinson, K.; University of Iowa

35. Digitising the bird egg card index of the Natural History Museum, London Brooks, Lawrence; Natural History Museum

36. Reality check: Our experience integrating invertebrate paleontology and paleobotany collection databasesLandis, M.; Lupia, R.; Burkhalter, R.; Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History

37. Planning an ApplePie network based on Filtered Push technology to connect botanical collections Macklin J.A.; Agriculture and Agri-Food CanadaDou, L.; Ludaescher, B.; University of California–Davis Genome CenterHanken, J.; Kelly, M.; Lowery, D.B.; Morris, P.J.; Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard UniversityMorris, R.A.; Harvard University Herbaria

38. Krypto-S: A user friendly collection database interfaceOhlsson, Elin; The Swedish Museum of Natural History

39. Connecting the dots: Wireless data nodes and environmental planningAnderson, Gretchen; Lyon, J.; Santioanni, K.; Carnegie Museum of Natural HistoryKreitler, P.; Landmark Facilities Group, Inc.

40. Georeferencing the pastUtrup, Jessica; Peabody Museum of Natural History, Yale University

41. Vertebrates in the cloud (vertnet.org): Are we there yet?Bloom, David; Spencer, Carol; Koo, Michelle; Cicero, Carla; Steele, Aaron; Wieczorek, John; Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, University of California–BerkeleyRios, Nelson; Bart, Hank; Tulane Museum of Natural History, Tulane UniversityGurlanick, Rob; University of Colorado Museum of Natural History, University of ColoradoRussell, Laura; Vieglais, David; University of Kansas Biodiversity Institute, University of Kansas

42. West Virginia mammals online Strait, Suzanne; Hamden, Joseph; Marshall University

43. AmphibiaWeb: 7000 species and counting!Wake, D.B.; Bloom, D.A.; Gross, L.J.; Koo, M.S.; Spencer, C.L.; Whittaker, K.; Wittsche, J.; Zhuang, M.;Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, University of California–BerkeleyBlackburn, D.C.; California Academy of SciencesCannatella, D.C.; Texas Natural History Collections, University of TexasVredenburg, V.T.; San Francisco State University

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44. Index Herbariorum, a directory to the world’s herbaria and indicator of worldwide trends in natural history researchThiers, Barbara; The New York Botanical Garden

45. Planning an effective workflow for digital photography of collections Mansfield, S.; Willard, S.; DeMouthe, J.; California Academy of Sciences

46. Have camera, will travel: Interdivisionalapplication of digital imaging best practicesHochgraf, Susan; Peabody Museum of NaturalHistory, Yale University

47. Geo-visualizing a meteorite collection: Using ArcGIS 10 and WorldMap to create an online map for the Harvard Mineralogical Museum Warmington, Tracy L.; Harvard MineralogicalMuseum, Harvard University

48. Quantitative evaluation reveals taxonomicover-splitting in extinct brachiopods from deep time: implications in conserving biodiversityBose, r.; Polly, P.d.; Indiana Universityde, a.; Columbia University Medical Center

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Abraczinskas, L.M. . . . . . . . . . . 43Adrain, T. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43Albe, M.J. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44Alonso-Perez, R. . . . . . . . . . . . . 44Amenta, N. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44Anderson, G. . . . . . . . . 45, 49, 72Anderson, L. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45Arenstein, R.P. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51Asai, S. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63Asencio, D.S. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

Babcock, E. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46Baker, M. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64Barker, K. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48Bart, H. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46, 98Bartsch, P. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75Bartuska, A. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79Beaman, R. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83Bell, B. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85Bentley, A. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97Bertrand, T. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65Best, J. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97Betts, M. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67Bevans, M. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46Bisulca, C. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71Blackburn, D.C. . . . . . . . . . . . . 91Bloom, D.A. . . . . . . . . . 46, 87, 91Bostwick, K. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56Braun, J.K. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76, 82Brooks, L. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47Brouillet, L. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47Bruneau, A. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50Burkhalter, R. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64Butler, C. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48Buttler, B. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

Cannatella, D.C. . . . . . . . . . . . . 91Carter, J. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48Catling, P. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70Cayouette, J. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70Cellinese, N. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83Chandler, C. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46Chang, L. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45Cho, Y-M. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50Cicero, C. . . . . . . . . . . . 44, 46, 88Clement, N. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67Clementz, M.T. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48Coddington, J. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

Collins, C.J. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49, 94Collins, M. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53Cooper, G. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49, 97Cooper, N. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49, 97Covell, A.L. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49Cowan, J. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70Culver, T. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62Cundiff, J. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75

Dasari, P. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46Deck, J. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83Delson, E. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44Demchok, J. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50DeMouthe, J. . . . . . . . . . . . . 50, 67DePriest, P.T. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85Desmet, P. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50Dickinson, T. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70Dominick, S. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51Dou, L. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66, 98Drew, D. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51Duffy, T.S. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58

Eberle, J. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62Elkin, L. . . . . . . . 71, 73, 74, 84, 85

Favret, C. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99ffrench, J. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51Fifield, R. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51Figueiredo, R. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53Fitzgerald, V. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54Flannery, M. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46Flannery, Maura . . . . . . . . . . . . 52Forbes, M. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52Ford, B. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52Ford, L.S. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44, 95Fortes, J. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53Fournier, M. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53Fox, M. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54Frost, S. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44Furth, D.G. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

Gall, L. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54, 75Gardner, E.M. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54Gentili-Poole, P. . . . . . . . . . . . . 85Ghosh, D. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44Giere, P. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55, 75

Gilbert, E. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86Gishlick, A. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55Gkinis, S. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68Gleeson, M. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51Gottschalk, S.D. . . . . . . . . . 45, 55Grant, S.D. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68Graves, G.R. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79Greek, A. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65Gries, C. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86Grimaldi, D.A. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71Gross, L.J. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91Grzywacz, C.M. . . . . . . . . . . . . 56Guala, G. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81Guralnick, R.P. . . . . 46, 62, 83, 87

Haapala, J. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78Hakala, J.S.H. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62Hamden, J. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83Hanken, J. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66, 98Harcourt-Smith, W. . . . . . . . . . 44Harding, D.G. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49Harris, C. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57Harvey, T. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56Hawkinson, K. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43Hawks, C. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56, 85Heald, S. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45Herzog, P. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65Hickey, L.J. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59Hirsch, J. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57Hites, R.R. . . . . . . . . . . . 57, 76, 82Hochgraf, S. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57Holl, C.M. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58Hollister, L.S. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58Holmer, N. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67Holmes, J. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67Holroyd, P.A. . . . . . . . . . . . . 48, 58Housego, G.C. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59Hu, S. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59Huddleston, C. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59Huxley, R. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60, 61Hyatt, J.A. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61Hyvönen, T. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78

Iwami, Y. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61, 63

Jetz, W. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62Jones, F.R. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79

Author indexNames of presenters are underlined.

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Jones, N. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62Jurgielewicz, L. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

Karim, T.S. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62Kelly, C. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82Kelly, M. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66, 98King, L. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63Kirchgessner, A. . . . . . . . . . . . . 55Kobayashi, S. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63Koo, M.S. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46, 91Kreitler, P. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45Kumagai, M. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61Kuzmina, M. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63

Lafferty, D. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64Landis, M. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64Landrum, L.R. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64LeCompte, E.V. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77Lee, I. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67Levinson, J. . . . . . . . 73, 74, 84, 85Lewis, J. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65Lill, G. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65Linden, J. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65Lockhart, N. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50Lowe, M. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66Lowery, D.B. . . . . . . . . . . . . 66, 98Ludaescher, B. . . . . . . . . . . . 66, 98Lundrigan, B.L. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43Lupia, R. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64Lyon, J. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

Mackenzie-Dodds, J.A. . . . . . . 60Macklin, J.A. . . . . . . . . . 66, 70, 98Magill, R. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89Makos, K. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66Maldar, G.J. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61Mansfield, S. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67Mares, M.A. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76Marianos, N. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68Maroudas, A. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68Marshall, C.R. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58Martín, E. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81Masaki, D. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81Maschner, H.D.G. . . . . . . . . . . 67Mathé, B. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67Matsunaga, A. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53Mavrogianni, S. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68Mayer, P.S. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68McCarthy, C. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69McGrew, T.A. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69McGuire, J. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88McPhillips, T.M. . . . . . . . . . . . . 98Mecklenburg, M. . . . . . . . . . . . 85

Mehling, C. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55Menard, K. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82Mendez, A. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70, 82Metsger, D. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70Michelangeli, F.A. . . . . . . . . . . . 92Milensky, C. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79Miller, S.E. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79Mitrow, G. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70Moen, W.E. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97Mononen, T. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78Moore, H. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50Morgan, R. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67Morris, P.J. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66, 98Morris, R.A. . . . . . . . . . . . . 66, 98Mozzicato, C. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71Muchai, S.M. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73Mudge, M. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80, 99Mullins, P. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

Naczi, R. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89Nascimbene, P.C. . . . . . . . . . . . 71Nash III, T.H. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86Neill, A.K. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97Nelson, G. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72Newberry, R. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72Norris, C. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46Nunan, E. . . . . . . . . 73, 74, 84, 85O’Hern, C.S. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65Ohlsson, E. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72Opitz, C. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73Otieno, N.E. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73Oyieke, H. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73

Pack, C. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88Pajari, M. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78Palumbo, B. . . . . . . 73, 74, 84, 85Patterson, D. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74Paul, D. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72Pickering, J. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46, 75Piel, W.H. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75Pollak, B. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85Pouliot, B. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88Prum, R. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65Purewal, V. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

Quaisser, C. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75

Rabeler, R. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89Reilly, J. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65Renczkowski, M. . . . . . . . . . . . 75Revelez, M.A. . . . . . . . . . . . 57, 76Rios, N. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46, 98

Roberts, D. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76Rogge, C. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85Rohlf, F.J. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44Rosiene, J. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61Rossman, A. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51Ruhl, D.L. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77Ruiter, R. de . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77Rushmeier, H. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78Russell, L. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46, 87Russell, R. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81Ryder, S. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70

Saarenmaa, H. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78Saitoh, T. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63Santana, F.D. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94Santioanni, K. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45Santos Lorenzo, B. . . . . . . . . . . 78Sargent, R. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79Schindel, D.E. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79Schlader, R. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67Schlichting, C. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80Schou, C. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67Schroer, C. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80, 99Schuh, R.T. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89Shah, M. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78Shattuck, M. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65Sheffield, C. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81Shockley, F.W. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85Shyket, H. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75Siciliano, L.M. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43Sieracki, J.M. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99Simmons, A. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81Simpson, J.E. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81Skelly, D.K. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82Smith, C.A. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82Smith, D.A. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70, 82Smith, N. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52Sohl-Smith, L. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82Spencer, C.L. . . . . . 44, 46, 88, 91Spinazze, A. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52Steele, A. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46Stinson, T.L. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83Strait, S. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83Strilisky, B.C. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59Stucky, B. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83Sullivan, S. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46Sweeney, P. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75, 84Swierenga, H. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80Sybalsky, J. . . . . . . . 73, 74, 84, 85Szczepanowska, H. . . . . . . . . . . 85

Tallen, L. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44Tarnowsky, N. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86Tegelberg, R. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78

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Thiers, B.M. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86Thomer, A. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87Thompson, A. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53Tiernan, N.T. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92Timm, S. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99Toler-Franklin, C. . . . . . . . . . . . 87Tomioka, N. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61Toner, M. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88Torok, E. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88Toutloff, M. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80Trápaga, A. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44, 88Trizna, M. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79Tsilivigkos, G. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68Tulig, M.C. . . . . . . . 71, 78, 89, 92

Utrup, J. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89Utrup, N. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90

Vaidya, G. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87van der Mije, S.D. . . . . . . . 90, 101Vaught, J. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50Vieglais, D. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46Vital, D. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90Vredenburg, V.T. . . . . . . . . . . . . 91

Wake, D.B. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91Waller, R. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56, 91Warmington, T.L. . . . . . . . . . . . 91Watkins-Colwell, G.J. . . . . 82, 92Watson, K.A. . . . . . . . . . . . . 55, 92Watson, W.A. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93Weatherston, J. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70Weintraub, S. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93Whittaker, K. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91Wieczorek, J. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

Wiley, D. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44Willard, S. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67Willborn, D. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75Williston, A.D. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93Wittsche, J. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91Work, P.T. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94

Xu, J. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

Yamasaki, T. . . . . . . . . . . . . 61, 63Yesilyurt, J.C. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94Yuri, T. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82Zhuang, M. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91Ziemba, L. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83Zimkus, B.M. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94Zyskowski, K. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65

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Points of Interest7. Yale Center for British Art8. Yale University Art Gallery9. Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library10. Yale Bookstore11. New Haven Museum12. Yale Visitors Center13. Yale Old Campus14. Knights of Columbus Museum15. New Haven Green16. Grove Street Cemetery

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But once a great city thrived here. And a museum. Shattered columns, fractured statues and fragmentary artifacts tell us so. Not much to go on. But what’s this? “We’ve discovered another!” we cheer. Eagerly we unseal it, confident that marvelous treasures await. Securely nestled inside. Butterflies. Brilliantly beautiful. Fearfully fragile. And wholly intact. Imagine! We know little of the culture that produced this safe-guarding wonder. But we know the maker’s name: Delta Designs. If only everyone had used these ...

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The Standard for Collection Storage

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PROGRAM & ABSTRACTS Emerging Technology and Innovation in ...peabody.yale.edu/sites/default/files/documents/botany/SPNHC2012-… · 43 Oral and Poster Presentation Abstracts 97 DemoCamp