CSBR: An inordinate fondness for beetles - expanding access to the Triplehorn collection of Coleoptera, phase 2

自然历史收藏中的标本是世界生物多样性的记录，包括物种是什么，它们生活在哪里，它们的生活史，以及它们与其他生物的关系。这些标本和与之相关的信息是一个时间线，记录了由于人口增长、土地利用模式变化、栖息地改变、物种灭绝和入侵物种引入而导致的动植物变化。这些标本记录是无价和不可替代的，但除非它们既安全又可访问，否则它们也是无关紧要的。为了安全，标本必须受到保护，不受高温、潮湿、光线和害虫等环境危害的影响。可获得性同样包括实物可获得性，即供研究人员通过访问和借阅进行研究的材料，以及利用信息技术免费和开放地获取与标本有关的数据。拍摄、复制和上传数据的过程本身就需要工作人员移除和处理样本的能力。数据记录和质量控制可能是一个漫长且昂贵的过程。然而，这也是一个宝贵的机会，让公众参与记录他们自己的生物遗产。这不仅有助于更好地了解自然历史收藏的内部工作原理，而且有助于科学家如何以及为什么探索自然世界。该项目将提供所需的物理和虚拟访问途径，以获得俄亥俄州立大学Triplehorn昆虫收藏中心收藏的数十万只甲虫标本。甲虫是世界上物种最丰富的动植物群体，它们包括许多严重危害食物和森林的物种，以及将害虫保持在低种群水平的有益物种。收藏中的研究人员将把标本重新安置在新的、安全的橱柜、抽屉和单元托盘中。这项工作将与贴在每个标本上的标签上的数据转录相协调。然后，这些数据将经过质量保证检查，然后存储在收藏的电子数据库中。这一信息资源向公众开放，其内容自动与国家生物多样性信息交换中心iDigBio和全球生物多样性信息设施共享。与收集虎甲虫相关的数据将成为公民科学合作的重点。标本和标签将被拍照并上传到来自自然的笔记，在非专业合作者的帮助下，数据将被转录，然后上传到收藏数据库中。这项工作将确保标本及其数据的维护和可用性，用于未来的研究，这些资源是一个多世纪收集努力的结果。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The specimens held in natural history collections are the documentation of the world’s biodiversity, including what the species are, where they live, their life history, and their relationships with other organisms. The specimens and the information associated with them are a timeline that records the changes in flora and fauna that have resulted from growing human populations, changing land use patterns, habitat alterations, species extinctions, and the introduction of invasive species. These specimen records are invaluable and irreplaceable, but they are also irrelevant unless they are both secure and accessible. To be secure, specimens must be protected from environmental hazards such as heat, humidity, light, and pests. Accessibility encompasses equally the physical availability the materials for researchers to study through visits and loans as well as free and open access to the data associated with the specimens using information technologies. The process of photographing, copying and uploading data itself requires the ability of workers to remove and handle specimens. Recording of data and quality control can be a prolonged and expensive process. However, it is also a valuable opportunity to engage with the general public in the documentation of their own biological heritage. This not only contributes to a better understanding of the inner workings of natural history collections, but how and why scientists explore the natural world.This project will provide the physical and virtual access needed to the hundreds of thousands of beetle specimens housed in the Triplehorn Insect Collection at The Ohio State University. Beetles are the most species-rich group of plants or animals in the world, and they include many species that are serious pests of food and forests as well as beneficial species that keep pests at low population levels. The researchers in the collection will rehouse the specimens in new, secure cabinets, drawers and unit trays. The work will be coordinated with transcription of the data on the labels attached to each specimen. These data will then go through a quality assurance check before being stored in the collection’s electronic database. This information resource is open to the general public, and its contents are automatically shared with iDigBio, the national clearinghouse for biodiversity information, and the Global Biodiversity Information Facility, the worldwide counterpart. The data associated with the collection of tiger beetles will be the focus of a citizen science collaboration. The specimens and labels will be photographed and uploaded to Notes from Nature, and with the help of lay collaborators, the data will be transcribed and then uploaded into the collection database. This work will then ensure the maintenance and availability of specimens and their data for future research, resources that are the results of more than a century of collecting effort.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.