Presented at BSOW meeting, October 2012

1. Content and Context:
Improving Access to
Biodiversity Field Books
Carolyn Sheffield

2. Smithsonian Field Books
• Estimated 6,000
items
• Housed in many
different units,
departments,
divisions across
institution
• “Hidden” collections

3. Smithsonian Field Books
• Estimated 6,000
8,000 items
• Housed in many
different units,
departments,
divisions across
institution
• “Hidden” collections

4. Field Book Project
• National Museum of Natural History &
Smithsonian Institution Archives
• Starting with SI field books,
– Cataloging
– Conserving
– Digitizing
• Creating one online location for accessing field
book content

5. Field Book Project
• National Museum of Natural History &
Smithsonian Institution Archives
• Starting with SI field books,
– Cataloging
– Conserving
– Digitizing
• Creating one online location for accessing
field book content

9. David Griffiths, Texas and Mexico 1905
Griffiths’ notes on Tunas Tunas, US National Herbarium

10. Martin Gorman, Alaska 1902

11. Joseph Rock, Siam, Burma, Assam 1920-21

12. How are we going to make these
easier to find?

13. Existing Standards for Access
EAC Organization NCD Collection
OrgId: EACO9 CollectionId: NCDC78
Name: Smithsonian Institution, Title: Frederick Coville,
National Museum of Natural History, field books, 1890-1924
Department of Botany Owner: EACO9
Creator: EACP173
Description: The collection consists of
EAC Person Coville's field notes from botanical
collecting and observation efforts in …
PersonId: EACP173
Name: Coville, Frederick
(Frederick Vernon), 1867-1937
Dates: 1867-1937 MODS Item
Biographical history: Frederick Vernon MODSid: MODSI1281
Coville, botanist and blueberry breeder, Collection: NCDC78
was born in New York and educated… Title: Field notes, Death Valley
Expedition, 1891
Dates: 1891.05.10-1891.07.30
EAC Expedition Creator: EACP173
ExpId: EACE0017 Expedition: EACE 0017
Name: Death Valley Expedition Abstract: This item contains narrative
Dates: 1890-1891 notes and lists of botanical specimens
Description: The Death Valley Expedition collected or observed during Coville's
was the first biological survey to … research in Death Valley . …

14. Status
Cataloging
• 6,263 field books
• 519 collections
• 899 authority files
Conservation and Preservation
• 291 field books
Digitization
• 194 field books

15. What’s next?

16. But field books from that expedition
are also in my collections…

17. EAC records and SNAC

18. EAC records and SNAC

20. Future Goals
• Move Registry online
• Accept content from beyond SI
• Submit records to SNAC

21. Project Team and Funding
Principal Investigators Project Advisors & Support
Rusty Russell Ricc Ferrante
Anne Van Camp Tammy Peters
Sarah Stauderman
Project Staff Nora Lockshin
Carolyn Sheffield Kirsten Tyree
Sonoe Nakasone Janelle Batkin-Hall
Lesley Parilla Kira Cherrix
Emily Hunter

22. Thank you
Website:
http://mnh.si.edu/rc/fieldbooks/
Blog:
http://nmnh.typepad.com/fieldbooks/
Flickr:
http://tinyurl.com/fbpflickr
Contact: Carolyn Sheffield, sheffieldc@si.edu