title: Digitization workflows for flat sheets and packets of plants, algae, and fungi.
abstract: Effective workflows are essential components in the digitization of biodiversity specimen collections. To date, no comprehensive, community-vetted workflows have been published for digitizing flat sheets and packets of plants, algae, and fungi, even though latest estimates suggest that only 33% of herbarium specimens have been digitally transcribed, 54% of herbaria use a specimen database, and 24% are imaging specimens. In 2012, iDigBio, the U.S. National Science Foundation's (NSF) coordinating center and national resource for the digitization of public, nonfederal U.S. collections, launched several working groups to address this deficiency. Here, we report the development of 14 workflow modules with 7-36 tasks each. These workflows represent the combined work of approximately 35 curators, directors, and collections managers representing more than 30 herbaria, including 15 NSF-supported plant-related Thematic Collections Networks and collaboratives. The workflows are provided for download as Portable Document Format (PDF) and Microsoft Word files. Customization of these workflows for specific institutional implementation is encouraged.
authors.affiliation: Integrated Digitized Biocollections (iDigBio), Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida 32306-2100 USA.
authors.forename: Gil
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Nelson
authors.affiliation: Peabody Museum of Natural History, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, USA.
authors.forename: Patrick
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Sweeney
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, Mississippi State University, Mississippi State, Mississippi, USA.
authors.forename: Lisa E
authors.initials: LE
authors.lastname: Wallace
authors.affiliation: University of Michigan Herbarium-EEB, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA.
authors.forename: Richard K
authors.initials: RK
authors.lastname: Rabeler
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Biology, University of Vermont, Burlington, Vermont, USA.
authors.forename: Dorothy
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Allard
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina, USA.
authors.forename: Herrick
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Brown
authors.affiliation: Biology Department, Valdosta State University, Valdosta, Georgia, USA.
authors.forename: J Richard
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Carter
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Appalachian State University, Boone, North Carolina, USA.
authors.forename: Michael W
authors.initials: MW
authors.lastname: Denslow
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Science, Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida, USA.
authors.forename: Elizabeth R
authors.initials: ER
authors.lastname: Ellwood
authors.affiliation: Florida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA.
authors.forename: Charlotte C
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Germain-Aubrey
authors.affiliation: School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, USA.
authors.forename: Ed
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Gilbert
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, Marshall University, Huntington, West Virginia, USA.
authors.forename: Emily
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Gillespie
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, Auburn University, Auburn, Alabama, USA.
authors.forename: Leslie R
authors.initials: LR
authors.lastname: Goertzen
authors.affiliation: Burke Museum, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA.
authors.forename: Ben
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Legler
authors.affiliation: Florida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA ; Department of Biology, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA.
authors.forename: D Blaine
authors.initials: DB
authors.lastname: Marchant
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, Arkansas State University, Jonesboro, Arkansas, USA.
authors.forename: Travis D
authors.initials: TD
authors.lastname: Marsico
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Middle Tennessee State University, Murfreesboro, Tennessee, USA.
authors.forename: Ashley B
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Morris
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Appalachian State University, Boone, North Carolina, USA.
authors.forename: Zack
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Murrell
authors.affiliation: Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden, Claremont, California, USA.
authors.forename: Mare
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nazaire
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, University of New Hampshire, Durham, New Hampshire, USA.
authors.forename: Chris
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Neefus
authors.affiliation: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA.
authors.forename: Shanna
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Oberreiter
authors.affiliation: Integrated Digitized Biocollections (iDigBio), Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida 32306-2100 USA.
authors.forename: Deborah
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Paul
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, Eastern Kentucky University, Richmond, Kentucky, USA.
authors.forename: Brad R
authors.initials: BR
authors.lastname: Ruhfel
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, University of Louisiana at Monroe, Monroe, Louisiana, USA.
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Sasek
authors.affiliation: Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Tennessee, Chattanooga, Tennessee, USA.
authors.forename: Joey
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Shaw
authors.affiliation: Florida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA.
authors.forename: Pamela S
authors.initials: PS
authors.lastname: Soltis
authors.affiliation: William and Lynda Steere Herbarium, The New York Botanical Garden, Bronx, New York, USA.
authors.forename: Kimberly
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Watson
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology and the Ted R. Bradley Herbarium, George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia, USA.
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Weeks
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Science, Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida, USA.
authors.forename: Austin R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Mast
keywords: citizen science; digital imaging; digitization; herbarium; specimen database; workflow