DIGITISING OUR NATURAL WORLDUnderstand digitisation and DiSSCo's push for digitising natural history collections at scale
Our partners from DiSSCo UK have secured £155 million of government money for a 10-year programme to digitise natural science collections all over the country (you can read the Science piece here). This way, the UK makes it into the list
of countries which have set up digitisation programmes linked to DiSSCo, like
Denmark, France and Bulgaria.
What better way to celebrate such a milestone than putting together a binnacle about digitisation? See? Good stuff.
What better way to celebrate such a milestone than putting together a binnacle about digitisation? See? Good stuff.
This binnacle will give you a general view of what digitisation is, its potential and, generally, why DiSSCo is making the case for scaling it up across all European collections. You can just scroll down to go step by step or take one the shortcuts below:
1.- What is digitisation. No, really. What is it?
2.- Who benefits from a digitised collection?
3.- Getting ready for digitisation: the case of DaSSCo
4.- The tiger or the beetle?: prioritising digitisation
5.- A guide to technology and workflows
1.- What is digitisation. No, really. What is it?
2.- Who benefits from a digitised collection?
3.- Getting ready for digitisation: the case of DaSSCo
4.- The tiger or the beetle?: prioritising digitisation
5.- A guide to technology and workflows
1 WHAT IS DIGITISATION? NO, REALLY. WHAT IS IT?
Those
£155 million for DiSSCo UK are a lot of money, so you might ask: is taking all those photos of bugs really worth it?
Naturally, if you dared to ask that question out loud, we would surely reply (with a bit of an attitude, we warn you) that taking photos of bugs is really not what we do. But since we get that question a lot, let's start with a definition of what digitisation really is.
Naturally, if you dared to ask that question out loud, we would surely reply (with a bit of an attitude, we warn you) that taking photos of bugs is really not what we do. But since we get that question a lot, let's start with a definition of what digitisation really is.
An excellent study published last year by our colleagues of NHM London on the benefits of digitisation offers a definition that emphasizes its creative nature of the task: Digitisation is the process of creating digital data relevant to collections objects, from basic data enabling collections discovery (e.g. what, when, where), through 2D and 3D imaging to deeper analyses such as chemical and molecular analyses. ( Read the study here)
Digitisation is indeed a creative process insofar as it produces a new unit of knowledge. It is closely linked to the original physical object, sure, but it has its own virtues.
Once a natural collection is digitised and made public online, it becomes available for the entire research community -in the field of biodiversity or beyond. Literally, everyone can openly access a wealth of data about specimens on the click of a button. This translates into benefits the potential of which we have just started to understand.
Once a natural collection is digitised and made public online, it becomes available for the entire research community -in the field of biodiversity or beyond. Literally, everyone can openly access a wealth of data about specimens on the click of a button. This translates into benefits the potential of which we have just started to understand.
2. WHO BENEFITS FROM A DIGITISED COLLECTION?
The wealth of knowledge about our natural world hosted by European NHCs is a treasure chest waiting to be discovered. A pool of data with potential applications in every scientific domain. Alas, our possibilities to unlock it are seriously hindered by the limits of physical access.
We at DiSSCo are making the case for digitising as much as possible, as fast as possible but, for that, we need to understand -and make others understand- the real scientific, economic and social benefits of our collections.
We at DiSSCo are making the case for digitising as much as possible, as fast as possible but, for that, we need to understand -and make others understand- the real scientific, economic and social benefits of our collections.
DiSSCo UK has provided us with arguably the two best reports to date for understanding the benefits of digitisation. The first one is "The Value of Digitising Natural History Collections".
The report (here) explores those thematic areas most likely to benefit from specimen data, as well as the typical returns on investment in scientific research, and the kind of efficiency savings resulting from offering data freely and openly. The conclusion of the study is that the economic impact of digitising all collection data in the UK would produce benefits in excess of €2,3 billion over 30 years (a seven to ten times return on investment).
The report (here) explores those thematic areas most likely to benefit from specimen data, as well as the typical returns on investment in scientific research, and the kind of efficiency savings resulting from offering data freely and openly. The conclusion of the study is that the economic impact of digitising all collection data in the UK would produce benefits in excess of €2,3 billion over 30 years (a seven to ten times return on investment).
A second, more recent study, "Understanding the users and uses of UK Natural History Collections" (here) focuses on the impact of what has already been digitised and shared by UK NHCs. Here the numbers also check up. The results of the study include billions of specimen records downloaded in less than a decade, a stratospheric impact in terms of citations across scientific domains, and, again, millions in research efficiency savings that can be reinvested in more research. So, who benefits from digitisation? Obviously, we all do.
Why digitisation is so important for DiSSCo?
Scientific and socio-economic benefits apart, digitisation is crucial for DiSSCo's endeavour. It is quite simple, actually: digitisation is a first and necessary step to develop the core concepts of DiSSCo (e.g. Digital Specimen). DiSSCo RI is digital, and so are our services. We will only achieve our vision
of an open system of collections that relies on human and artificial intelligence to openly provide their knowledge to the scientific community if we digitise that knowledge. (More about our digital architecture here).
3. GETTING READY FOR DIGITISATION: THE CASE OF DASSCO
Once we have taken a peek at the potential benefits of digitisation, it is time to address a fundamental question: What do you need to start digitising? The Danish System of Scientific Collections (DaSSCo), led by our partners from the
Natural History Museum of Denmark, is a case in point.
DaSSCo was launched in September 2021 to create, by 2026, an operational infrastructure capable of digitising the 20 million plus natural history specimens in Denmark. Easier said than done!
The infrastructure includes digital storage, DaSSCo's specimen collections management system (Specify), automated data pipelines, workstations, workflows as well as tools and expertise to manage digitisation efforts. As of April 2024, DaSSCo is just over halfway through its establishment phase and continues strong refining and deploying its IT architecture. Go here for more.
The infrastructure includes digital storage, DaSSCo's specimen collections management system (Specify), automated data pipelines, workstations, workflows as well as tools and expertise to manage digitisation efforts. As of April 2024, DaSSCo is just over halfway through its establishment phase and continues strong refining and deploying its IT architecture. Go here for more.
4. THE TIGER OR THE BEETLE?: PRIORITISING DIGITISATION
"Indi...! Some digitisation is needed around here!"
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Needless to say, the approximately 1.5 billion specimens that we host at European NHCs are a whole lot. In fact, digitisting them is such a monumental task that we need to establish some criteria to prioritise the effort and ensure the we optimise our resources.
With that purpose, a varied group of DiSSCo colleagues recently set to produce a studio based on existing literature and extended surveys within our community. The study -well worth reading (here)- points at four broad categories of prioritisation criteria for digitisation: Relevance, Data quality, Cost and Feasibility.
Again, easier said than done!
With that purpose, a varied group of DiSSCo colleagues recently set to produce a studio based on existing literature and extended surveys within our community. The study -well worth reading (here)- points at four broad categories of prioritisation criteria for digitisation: Relevance, Data quality, Cost and Feasibility.
Again, easier said than done!
"Indi...! Some digitisation is needed around here!"
The problem is that Relevance, Data Quality, Cost and Feasibility are pretty much like beauty - they are in the eye of the beholder. Are we talking about scientific relevance or rather collection relevance? What defines data quality, the completeness of the data or its research-ready status?... You probably get it by now, don't you?
If you want to dig in the topic, go here and take a look at the study on prioritisation criteria for DiSSCo.
If you want to dig in the topic, go here and take a look at the study on prioritisation criteria for DiSSCo.
A GUIDE TO TECHNOLOGY AND WORKFLOWS
Digitisation entails a great deal of technical aspects. From workflows -which are different for insects, herbarium sheets, geological specimen, microscope slides, etc.- to imaging and data capturing techniques, to software development, to monitoring... For some the list is as discouraging as the customer support of an IT company. Thankfully, though, we have one more reason to smile: DiSSCo's digitisation guides.
Created within DiSSCo Prepare, the digitisation guides site (visit it here) is a manual for digitisation edited by the DiSSCo community. It provides guidance for the entire lifecycle of digitisation, from how institutions can best prepare their collections for digitisation to step-by-step guidelines on how they can digitise different types of specimens and also how they can publish the related data.
The guides include approaches for many different types and sizes of collections. It is also open for contribution from other partners, so that we all get to learn from each other.
The guides include approaches for many different types and sizes of collections. It is also open for contribution from other partners, so that we all get to learn from each other.
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