Historical Considerations in Biodiversity Informatics

Khoo, Michael; Rosenberg, Gary

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/73440 Copy

Description

Title

Historical Considerations in Biodiversity Informatics

Author(s)

• Khoo, Michael
• Rosenberg, Gary

Issue Date

2015-03-15

Keyword(s)

• information organization and metadata
• qualitative research methods
• archives and records

Abstract

Historical collections of biological specimens are potentially rich sources of data for contemporary researchers. However, many technical issues have to be addressed in order to make these collections widely available. This paper reports on a qualitative study of historical and current data practices at the Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, which is seeking wider understanding of the historical dimensions of specimen metadata, in order to support migration to more global standards. A detailed case study of a single specimen shows how that specimen has been described in multiple ways and in multiple locations within the Academy, and the historically complex nature of the data and metadata contained in these descriptions.

Publisher

iSchools

Series/Report Name or Number

iConference 2015 Proceedings

Type of Resource

text

Language

English

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http://hdl.handle.net/2142/73440

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Copyright 2015 is held by the authors. Copyright permissions, when appropriate, must be obtained directly from the authors.

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