iCollections methodology: workflow, results and lessons learned

Blagoderov, Vladimir; Penn, Malcolm; Sadka, Mike; Hine, Adrian; Brooks, Stephen; Siebert, Darrell; Sleep, Chris; Cafferty, Steve; Cane, Elisa; Martin, Geoff; Toloni, Flavia; Wing, Peter; Chainey, John; Duffell, Liz; Huxley, Rob; Ledger, Sophie; McLaughlin, Caitlin; Mazzetta, Gerardo; Perera, Jasmin; Crowther, Robyn

iCollections methodology: workflow, results and lessons learned

Resource type

Journal article

Creator (person)

Blagoderov, Vladimir

ORCID

Penn, Malcolm

Sadka, Mike

Hine, Adrian

Brooks, Stephen

Siebert, Darrell

Sleep, Chris

Cafferty, Steve

Cane, Elisa

Martin, Geoff

Toloni, Flavia

Wing, Peter

Chainey, John

Duffell, Liz

Huxley, Rob

Ledger, Sophie

McLaughlin, Caitlin

Mazzetta, Gerardo

Perera, Jasmin

Crowther, Robyn

Douglas, Lyndsey

Durant, Joanna

Honey, Martin

Huertas, Blanca

Howard, Theresa

Carter, Victoria

Albuquerque, Sara

Paterson, Gordon

Kitching, Ian

Date published

September 25, 2017

Abstract

The Natural History Museum, London (NHMUK) has embarked on an ambitious programme to digitise its collections. The first phase of this programme was to undertake a series of pilot projects to develop the workflows and infrastructure needed to support mass digitisation of very large scientific collections. This paper presents the results of one of the pilot projects – iCollections. This project digitised all the lepidopteran specimens usually considered as butterflies, 181,545 specimens representing 89 species from the British Isles and Ireland. The data digitised includes, species name, georeferenced location, collector and collection date - the what, where, who and when of specimen data. In addition, a digital image of each specimen was taken. A previous paper explained the way the data were obtained and the background to the collections that made up the project. The present paper describes the technical, logistical, and economic aspects of managing the project.