Introduction to Biodiversity Specimen Digitization

The aim of this 12-hour Digitization Academy course is to empower participants with the knowledge and skills to (1) identify and describe relevant facets of information or potential information related to biodiversity specimens, (2) identify and describe common digitization protocols and best practices related to transcription, imaging, and georeferencing, (3) identify downstream uses that are relevant to digitization decision-making, (4) recognize basic principles of data management including the importance of identifiers, (5) identify collections management system (CMS) options and the major differences among them, and (6) outline a digitization project, including quality control and a data management plan that includes data sharing. The course includes a conversation with representatives from some of the major CMS projects.  The application window will open about 6 weeks before the course starts.