Digitizing collections: experiences from the University of Iowa Paleontology Repository Digitization Project

Abstract

The University of Iowa Paleontology Repository is the fifth largest university fossil collection in the U.S., holding over 1 million specimens from all geologic ages, worldwide. A digitization project, funded by the National Science Foundation (DBI- 0544235; $284,724), has made previously inaccessible collections available to researchers, including the Amoco Conodont Collection, the Paleozoic Coral Collection, the Neogene Coral Collection, the Trilobite Collection, the Amoco South Florida Collection, and the Micromammal Collection. Specimen data are captured using a Specify Biodiversity Collections Database and shared with the Paleontology Portal (www.paleoportal.org). Inventories of new, as yet uncatalogued, collections are available on the Paleontology Repository website (http://geoscience.clas.uiowa. edu/paleo/index.html), including the Crossman Crinoid Collection and the Pope Collection. Ancillary materials have been digitized and made available, including 1,316 Amoco conodont locality folders and 7,000 field photographs (funded in part by a University of Iowa Innovations in Instructional Computing award). Along with specimen samples, cores, and maps, these photographs form the basis for the Tropical America Virtual Field School, an on-line teaching resource drawing on collections made during 30 years of fieldwork in South Florida and the Caribbean. A database of specimen images is being developed, particularly useful for fragile specimens that cannot be loaned. Information for researchers is complemented with information for the public, using different methods of data access and presentation. The Fossils in My Back Yard website provides a user-friendly option for looking at the same specimen data without overwhelming the non-scientist.