SPNHC 2014 DemoCamp

This wiki supports the SPNHC 2014 DemoCamp at SPNHC 2014. The SPNHC 2014 DemoCamp is sponsored by iDigBio.

SPNHC 2014 Conference website

• SPNHC 2014 Conference Program

Agenda and Related Resources

1. Specify 7 for the Web, Specify Insight for the iPad, and other Novelties Bentley, A. & Specify Software Project http://specifysoftware.org
   • Purpose:To demonstrate the next generation of Specify--Specify 7 for the Web, the updated Specify Web Portal, and Specify Insight for iPad.
   • Intended Users:Biological collection managers, curators, and researchers working with biological specimen data (Specify 6), Collaborative groups wanting a shared network database (Specify 7), and museum directors who want insight into their collections' holdings (Specify Insight).
   • Classification:Specify 6.x is a thick client database application that runs on Mac OS, Windows and Linux. Specify 7 is a web application that runs in a browser. The Specify 6 Portal is an Apache based web server and browser application. Specify Insight is an iPad app.
   • Technology and Integration:MySQL, Java, PHP. Specify is a pluggable platform for extension of the rich client; uses various web services such as GeoLocate, Lifemapper, and Google Earth. The Specify 7 web app is implemented with Javascript, Python, Django, JQuery, and Apache. Specify Insight is written in Objective C and available from the Apple Store.
   • Licensing Model:GPL2, open source
   • Platform Requirements:Specify 6.x runs on all desktop platforms. It requires MySQL, and Java 7 JRE. Specify 7 is supported on Apache servers with MySQL using the same database schema as Specify 6 - which will allow concurrent web app and thick-client use. Specify Insight requires an iPad 2 or newer.
2. The Field Book Project: The Starting Point of Natural History Collections Russell, R., L. Parilla, & C. Sheffield http://www.mnh.si.edu/rc/fieldbooks/
   • Purpose:An aggregator of original source documentation covering field activities in the natural sciences. Documents the actual events that frame biodiversity information and collections.
   • Intended Users:Science historians, research botanists, collections managers, general public
   • Classification:Website; catalog of field books and related objects; images and transcriptions of individual field book pages; blog
   • Technology and Integration:Field book catalog data is managed in FileMaker Pro 12 and can be exported to MARC XML and CSV. The metadata schema employs existing standards from archives (EAC), natural history collections (TDWG-NCD), and libraries (MODS). Field Book Project content is loaded to the Smithsonian Search Center, and is ingested into both BHL and DPLA.
   • Licensing Model:Content avalable for personal, educational, and other non-commercial purposes.
   • Platform Requirements:Client: any modern standards-compliant web browser. Database: FileMaker Pro 12
3. Historical Expeditions Website (Botany) at the Smithsonian Russell, R. & S. Orli http://www.botany.si.edu/colls/expeditions/
   • Purpose:A catalog of historical expeditions resulting in botanical collections. Connects expedition information to herbarium specimens.
   • Intended Users:Science historians, research botanists, collections managers, general public
   • Classification:Website; specimen catalog
   • Technology and Integration:A series of web apps written in ColdFusion, linked to specimen records in an EMu database; specimen records include multiple resolutions (all .jpg) of specimen images; includes bios of principal participants, references/sources, illustrations, and maps.
   • Licensing Model:Content avalable for personal, educational, and other non-commercial purposes.
   • Platform Requirements:Client: any modern standards-compliant web browser. Database: Emu
4. GB3D Fossil Types Online Howe, M. & S. Harris http://www.3d-fossils.ac.uk
   • Purpose:Unified online database of British macrofossil type specimens, including information on taxonomy, provenance, location, stratigraphy, and references, plus high resolution images, stereo anaglyphs, and some 3D digital models
   • Intended Users:Academic palaeontologists & taxonomists, geoscience students, curators and collections managers, amateur fossil collectors, general public, 3D printing hobbyists
   • Classification:Web portal to database and image/3D model store
   • Technology and Integration:Web portal to Oracle database and linked large image (JPEG2000) and digital model (.PLY & .OBJ) stores. Type macrofossil records are exported from participating museum databases, or manually input through spreadsheets. High resolution images (Canon EOS5D) and stereopairs have been post-processed, including anaglyph production, and then converted to JPEG2000 format. Selected specimens digitally scanned with NextEngine HR Laser Scanners and made available in zipped .PLY and .OBJ format.
   • Licensing Model:Creative Commons - Attribution - NonCommercial - ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License
   • Platform Requirements:Any modern standards-compliant web browser. Red-cyan anaglyph glasses.
5. Infrared Thermal Imaging for Collections Management Larkin, N.R. http://www.flir.com/cs/emea/en/
   • Purpose:The analysis of the subtle - and not so subtle - variations in temperature (and therefore potential variations in RH) within a museum storage or display area, allowing a deeper understanding of the museum environment analysed and therefore better collections management within the area.
   • Intended Users:Collection managers, curators, and conservators
   • Classification:Digital infrared thermal imaging equipment (still and video) and software analysis of digital images
   • Technology and Integration:Various infrared thermal imaging cameras are available. All these cameras take normal digital photographs at the same time as taking digital infrared images; some also take digital infrared videos. Every single pixel in the image is a thermal datapoint and in the proprietary software the data can be analysed pixel by pixel. Shapes can be drawn within the image with the software and the data within the shapes can be averaged etc. All the digital infrared images can be saved in normal formats such as Jpeg etc. and used in normal software documents. The ‘FLIR E40bx’ demonstrated takes infrared still images and video, it has an image resolution of 160 × 120 pixels (providing 19,200 temperature data points in a single image), the working range is -20°C to 120°C, the thermal sensitivity is <0.045 °C, the built-in ‘normal’ digital camera is 3.1 megapixels, it has one LED spotlight, and it has wireless/Bluetooth technology.
   • Licensing Model:Proprietary software is included in the purchase of the infrared camera.
   • Platform Requirements:Proprietary software can be loaded onto a PC or Mac.
6. Symbiota (Crowdsourcing in LBCC) Thiers, B., E. Gilbert, C. Gries, & B. Brandt http://symbiota.org
   • Purpose:A virtual platform for creating voucher-based biodiversity information communities. The suite of integrated modules is designed to mirror the conceptual structure of traditional floras and faunas. Symbiota is exclusively web-based and employs a novel data model, information linking, and algorithms to provide highly dynamic customization.
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7. AnnoSys Tschöpe, O., L. Suhrbier, A. Güntsch, & W.G. Berendsohn https://annosys.bgbm.fu-berlin.de/
   • Purpose:Repository for complex and cross-linked data including back-end server functionality, web services, a message system, and an on-line user interface. Allows users to create and search for structured annotations of online records.
   • Intended Users:Data contributors: collections managers, and authors for checklists, images and illustrations, identification keys, and specimen description; Data consumers: researchers, collections managers, general public
   • Classification:Web portal software package, including online data and web presence management
   • Technology and Integration:The modules are written in PHP accessing a MySQL backend. Symbiota is the software package that may be used to drive a taxonomically or georgraphically oriented portal. Each portal may be independently managed, however, software improvements are benefitting all portals via regular upgrades.
   • Licensing Model:The code is available from a public SVN repository http://sourceforge.net/projects/symbiota/. The technology framework of PHP, MySQL, and Apache webserver are also open source.
   • Platform Requirements:The technology framework of PHP, MySQL, and Apache webserver are open source. The portals may be accessed with any modern browser.
8. FilteredPush Data Entry McCallum, C., P.J. Morris, J. Hanken, M. Kelly, D.B. Lowery, B. Ludaescher, J.A. Macklin, R.A. Morris, & T. Song http://sourceforge.net/p/filteredpush/svn/HEAD/tree/trunk/FP-DataEntry/
   • Purpose:The FP-DataEntry plugin speeds up data entry by helping you find records for

items like those in your collection, and by copying those records to your own data entry web application, saving you transcription time and the trouble of copy-and-pasting or retyping. Use cases include botanical duplicates, literature citations, and paleontological localities. The idea is analogous to copy-cataloging in the library world.

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• Annotated agenda, including abstracts
• Webinar series leading up to SPNHC 2014
• Webinar Recordings
• IDigBio Initiatives for Small Natural History Collections
• iDigBio/SCNet Recruiting, Supporting, and Retaining Small Collections in Biodiversity Digitization Workshop, Central Michigan University, 7-10 April 2014
• Recruiting, Supporting, and Retaining Small Collections Workshop: A Student’s Perspective
• The Small Collections Network: Recruiting, Retaining, and Sustaining Small Collections in Biodiversity Digitization, SPNHC Newsletter, April 2014, Anna Monfils and Gil Nelson

Remote Participation

Not going to SPNHC 2014? Register to participate remotely! Remote Sign-up for Small Collections Symposium Remote Sign-up for Progress in Digitisation of Natural History Collections