Download ppt - © 2005 MBLWHOI Library Thinking Way Outside the Box: Maggie Rioux Amy Stout MBLWHOI Library Woods Hole, MA Creating a Digital Herbarium

© 2005 MBLWHOI Library www.mblwhoilibrary.org

Thinking Way Outside the Box:

Maggie RiouxAmy StoutMBLWHOI LibraryWoods Hole, MA

Creating a Digital Herbarium using Voyager and ImageServer


The MBLWHOI Library Digital Herbariumwww.mbl.edu/herbarium/

• Specimen images and data freely available on Internet via fully searchable database

• Joint project with NEAS• Funded by WHOI Sea Grant


About the MBLWHOI Library Herbarium

• Originally part of the George M. Gray Museum• Roughly 8,000 specimens• Over 100 years of collecting• Documents flora of Cape Cod and the Islands• Recently moved to a new location – now part of the

MBLWHOI Library


Moving the Herbarium


The Herbarium Today


A Valuable Collection

• Cape Cod a region of great botanical interest• Most of Massachusetts’ rare plants are found on

Cape Cod or in Connecticut River Valley• Nexus of cold northern waters and warm southern

waters – results in great marine algal species diversity



Why a Digital Herbarium?

• Rich searching capabilities - greatly facilitate the study of floristic and environmental changes over time

• Facilitate updating of records• Make the collection available to researchers

worldwide• Create an online compendium of the flora of Cape

Cod and the Islands• Contribute towards preservation of the collection


Digitizing Herbarium Specimens

• Epson Expression 1640XL Graphic Arts scanner• Scanner inverted with custom built stand• Camera/copystand for delicate specimens


Scanning Workstation


Image Specifications

• Entire sheet scanned into PhotoShop at 600 ppi• Creates 7000 pixel, ~200 MB TIFF• Resized to 960 pixel, ~200 KB JPEG for web• 960 width gives a good overall impression of the

entire herbarium sheet • Portions of original hi-res TIFF selected for detail

images


Full Sheet and Enlargement Images – B. hamifera


Full Sheet and Enlargement Images – L. orcadensis


Full Sheet and Enlargement Images – C. cristata


Homegrown Database vs. Voyager

• Voyager is stable and supported by EISI• Already running Voyager and know how to use it• Other projects have used Voyager• MARC, which is familiar, could be used to catalog

Herbarium specimens• Could be paired with ImageServer, which we also

have already


ImageServer• JPEGs are filed on the server via ImageServer• Images are associated with data from the

herbarium sheets• ImageServer client communicates with Voyager

Cataloging client on the same workstation• Cataloging creates a skeletal MARC record

containing a link to the associated images


ImageServer Screen


Full Cataloging of Herbarium Specimens

• The Herbarium database is separate from the main Library catalog

• The record is fleshed out by a cataloger• More than 50 data elements are possible• Uses MARC adapted to Herbarium specimen data• MARC tag tables have been edited for herbarium

data – fields and subfields re-labeled for ease of cataloging

• The headings in public display are tailored to Herbarium data


HerbMARC Examples• 245 Title = Current Species Name• 246 Varying Form of Title = Common Name• 247 Former Title = Synonyms• 100 Author/Creator = Collector• 700 Added Entry-Personal Name = Additional

Collectors/Determiners, etc.• 651 Geographic Names = Locations


Detailed Record



Workflow• 7 volunteers scan specimens, creating tiff and jpeg

images of full herbarium sheet• Volunteers then link the images to brief data in

ImageServer• Project staff create detail images from the original

tiffs • Project staff perform full cataloging of specimens


Where We Are – March 2005

• Project began in December 2002 with marine algae• 1200 specimens scanned• 400 full records


DemonstrationOverview

Image

Enlargement

Browse

AlgaeBase

NCBI Linkout

Bonnemaisonia hamifera (3608)


How to make your image be the hot link to itself

• Use a separate image as the hotlink:– 856 7 $2 sdc $f 3,669,1 $z <img src=

"http://herbarium.whoi.edu/cgi-bin/Pscandoc.cgi?app=3&folder=669&doc=2">

• Have ImageServer generate a thumbnail:– 856 7 $2 sdc $f 3,669,1 $z <img src=

"http://herbarium.whoi.edu/cgi-bin/Pscandoc.cgi?app=3&folder=669&doc=1&size=1">