Wichita State University Virtual Herbarium: Filling a critical gap

dc.contributor.author	Jameson, Mary Liz
dc.contributor.author	Matveyeva, Susan J.
dc.contributor.author	Russell, F. Leland
dc.contributor.author	Deng, Sai
dc.contributor.author	Scott, Stephen
dc.date.accessioned	2010-10-18
dc.date.available	2010-10-18
dc.date.issued	2010-10-08
dc.identifier.citation	Jameson, Mary Liz, Susan J. Matveyeva, F. Leland Russell, Sai Deng, and Stephen Scott. (2010). Wichita State University Virtual Herbarium: Filling a Critical Gap. -- Great Plains Plant Systematics Symposium. Kansas State University. Konza Prairie Biological Station, Oct. 8, 2010	en
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10057/3252
dc.description	Presented at the Great Plains Plant Systematics Symposium. Kansas State University. Konza Prairie Biological Station, Oct. 8, 2010	en
dc.description.abstract	The Wichita State University (WSU) Herbarium is an active, regional collection with data that fill an important geographical gap in the Great Plains region. Specimens and associated data are essential in the management of invasive species and endangered species, as well as our understanding of shifts in phenology and distribution over time. The WSU Herbarium contains about 5,000 electronically databased specimens, including vascular plants, mosses, and lichens. Our vision is to produce an on-line “virtual herbarium”, complete with zoomable images of all specimens in our collection linked to specimen-level data that enable discovery of seasonality and distributional data, historical data on the collector, and educational activities for using this on-line resource. Newly accessioned specimens are proactively geo-referenced; previously accessioned specimens will be retroactively georeferenced. Together, these data allow for on-the-fly mapping for investigation of distributional patterns. Faculty in the Department of Biological Sciences, in collaboration with librarians at WSU, employed DSpace-based Shocker Open Access Repository (SOAR) as the platform to showcase the Virtual Herbarium collection. DSpace is an open-source software for depositing digital scholarship and scientific research materials. DSpace provided search and browse functionality for the herbarium metadata, and an external site was also added to feature image zooming and accompanying metadata. Collaboration with the WSU Library enables retrieval and accessibility of data associated with the herbarium, long-term archiving of data and associated images, and use of leading edge data management technology and methods. Our on-line virtual herbarium employs Dublin Core schema (the library data standard) with additional Darwin Core data (the biodiversity data standard). The presentation will discuss the challenges in choosing the metadata standards, compiling data fields, normalizing and batch processing data, and choices for image zoom tools. Our pilot project was launched in fall 2010 and is available at http://soar.wichita.edu/dspace/handle/10057/1995. Input of specimen-level data into the WSU herbarium database will be transferred from Microsoft Excel to a web-accessible data repository called The Biofinity Project (http://biofinity.unl.edu/). The Biofinity Project enables input of data simultaneously from multiple portals, integration with GBIF (Global Biodiversity Information Facility) data, and use of web-based biodiversity tools for investigation and discovery. Tools provided by The Biofinity Project, such as mobile iPhone data-integration and geo-tagging, federation of genomics and biodiversity data, web applications for niche modeling and spatial analysis will advance botanical research.	en
dc.format.extent	2540628 bytes
dc.format.extent	1826 bytes
dc.format.mimetype	application/pdf
dc.format.mimetype	text/plain
dc.language.iso	en_US	en
dc.publisher	Kansas State University. Great Plains Plant Systematics Symposium	en
dc.subject	Virtual herbarium	en
dc.subject	Plants -- Kansas	en
dc.subject	Great Plains flora	en
dc.subject	SOAR collections	en
dc.subject	Digital images	en
dc.subject	Plant specimen digitization	en
dc.title	Wichita State University Virtual Herbarium: Filling a critical gap	en
dc.type	Presentation	en