iDigBio: Sustaining the digitization, mobilization, accessibility, and use of biodiversity specimen data in U.S. museum and academic collections

佛罗里达大学（UF）、佛罗里达州立大学（FSU）和亚利桑那州立大学（ASU）的综合数字化生物馆藏（idigbio.org）是一个持续努力的国家协调机构，旨在将国家生物多样性馆藏中的大量信息数字化，并使其在线可用，这些信息可能包含多达10亿个标本。对于生物标本，数字化的信息包括物种名称、地点和采集日期、数字照片、声音、视频和从各种来源创建的3-D模型。这一社区数字化工作是由美国国家科学基金会通过主题馆藏网络（tcn）推进生物多样性馆藏数字化（ADBC）计划推动的。主题馆藏网络（tcn）是一组机构，通过数字化标本来解决诸如农作物与昆虫之间的关系或入侵物种对自然生态系统的影响等主要研究课题。iDigBio通过促进标本和相关信息数字化的标准和工作流程的发展，提供网络基础设施资源以实现数字数据的长期保存，促进在研究和推广中对馆藏数据的新颖和传统使用，以及与馆藏社区合作，为国家努力及其产生的资源的长期可持续性制定计划，协助协调tcn的活动。有关标本的数字化信息的可用性大大提高了进行生物多样性研究和解决生物学中一些最基本问题的能力。在过去的十年中，iDigBio的活动极大地推动了国家生物多样性馆藏信息数字化的努力。发展了与数据提供者和用户的合作，确定了目标和优先事项，确定了与数字化相关的最佳实践，并建立了与生物多样性数据聚合者的全球合作。提供了网络基础设施资源，包括一个国家搜索门户。这些社区驱动的活动改善了数字化实践，增加了对数字化和培训的参与，并采用了仪器和信息学工具，提高了所有类型生物多样性收集的数字化和研究工作流程的效率和可扩展性。iDigBio与分布在全美50个州的317个机构的926个藏品的工作人员合作。通过研讨会、网络研讨会和使用社交媒体，利益相关者之间建立了沟通，以增加对收集数据的访问。自2011年以来，iDigBio已经赞助了来自1,034家机构的16,768名参与者参加了430场针对数字化相关主题的研讨会、网络研讨会、专题讨论会和活动。iDigBio已经收集了1651个记录集，其中包含1.28亿份标本记录和4100万份媒体记录。所有摄取的数据都被编入索引，以支持查询和其他类型的基于索引的访问。可以通过基于web的图形界面或编程api来搜索数据。搜索和分析工具使用户能够挖掘各种数据，如分类、位置、图像、特征和发音。在此奖励期间，iDigBio将继续其成功的战略，越来越重视数据改进和在研究和推广中的使用，并将人工智能和机器学习等快速发展的技术纳入生物多样性数据集成。iDigBio被认为是生物多样性和数字化信息的重要资源。随着经过验证的馆藏数据的科学和社会效益的实现，数字化将成为自然历史收藏的一种普遍和持续的实践。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Integrated Digitized Biocollections (idigbio.org) at the University of Florida (UF), Florida State University (FSU), and Arizona State University (ASU) is the national coordinating body for the sustained effort to digitize, and make available online, the vast amount of information in the nation's biodiversity collections, which may contain up to 1 billion specimens. For biological specimens, information digitized include names of species, localities and dates of collection, digital photographs, sound, video, and 3-D models created from a variety of sources. This community digitization effort was catalyzed by NSF’s Advancing Digitization of Biodiversity Collections (ADBC) program via Thematic Collections Networks (TCNs), groups of institutions that digitize specimens to address a major research topic such as the relationship between agricultural crops and insects or the impacts of invasive species on natural ecosystems. iDigBio assists in coordinating activities of the TCNs by facilitating development of standards and workflows for digitization of specimens and related information, providing cyberinfrastructure resources to enable long-term preservation of digital data, promoting novel and traditional uses of collections data in research and outreach, and working with the collections community to plan for the long-term sustainability of the national effort and the resources it has produced. The availability of digitized information about specimens greatly enhances the ability to conduct research on biological diversity and to address some of the most fundamental questions in biology.Over the past ten years, the national effort to digitize information in the nation's biodiversity collections has been significantly advanced by the activities of iDigBio. Collaborations with data providers and users have been developed, goals and priorities defined, best practices related to digitization identified, and global collaborations with biodiversity data aggregators established. Cyberinfrastructure resources, including a national search portal, have been provided. These community-driven activities have led to improved digitization practices, increased involvement in digitization and training, and adoption of instruments and informatics tools that improve the efficiency and scalability of digitization and research workflows in all types of biodiversity collections. iDigBio works with staff in more than 926 collections in 317 institutions distributed across all 50 states. Communication among stakeholders to increase access to collections data has been established through workshops, webinars, and the use of social media. Since 2011, iDigBio has sponsored attendance of 16,768 participants from 1,034 institutions to 430 workshops, webinars, symposia, and events that targeted digitization-related topics. iDigBio has ingested 1,651 record sets containing 128 million specimen records and 41 million media records. All data ingested are indexed to enable queries and other types of index-based access. Searches for data can be done through a Web-based graphical interface or through programmatic APIs. Search and analytical tools enable users to mine diverse data such as taxonomy, location, images, traits, and vocalizations. During this award period, iDigBio to continue its successful strategies with an increasing emphasis on data improvement and use in research and outreach and to incorporate such rapidly developing technologies as artificial intelligence and machine learning in biodiversity data integration. iDigBio is recognized as an essential resource for information on biodiversity and digitization. As the scientific and societal benefits of validated collections data are realized, digitization will become a common and sustained practice in natural history collections.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.