Computerization of the Kansas State University Herbarium: Digitizing a Critical Biodiversity Collection for the Great Plains

在卡罗琳·弗格森博士的指导下，堪萨斯州立大学获得了一笔赠款，以支持堪萨斯州立大学植物标本馆（KSC）的计算机化。 该系列包含来自北美大平原的190，000个标本。 这些标本和相关数据的收集为了解大平原的生态系统提供了资源，拟议的数据库将使全世界的科学家和教育工作者都能利用这些资源。 该项目将从植物标本标签中捕获数据，并将其输入到名为Specify的软件程序中。 该软件将使对该地区植物的识别、生态和分布感兴趣的研究人员能够通过互联网访问数据。 由于该系列包含了在上个世纪收集的标本，因此完成的数据库将允许比较植被随时间和空间的变化，并研究大平原的早期植物群。 该数据库将是完全可搜索的，即科学家和其他公众成员将能够使用物种名称，地点，日期和数据库记录中的其他术语搜索该地区植物的信息。 除了基础科学家外，堪萨斯州立大学的本科生还将接受数据输入、地理参考（根据标签数据确定标本采集地点）、策展方法（植物标本的护理和保存）以及大盆地植物生物多样性方面的培训。 一些大学课程将使用该数据库，包括生物学入门课程，该课程将开发一个关于自然历史信息使用的重点练习。 K-12科学课程和环境教育项目将在Konza Prairie生物站的中学研讨会上使用该数据库。 该项目将赞助讲习班，培训全州的推广人员和其他潜在用户使用该数据库。

A grant has been awarded to Kansas State University under the direction of Dr. Carolyn Ferguson to support the computerization of the Kansas State University Herbarium (KSC). This collection contains 190,000 specimens from the Great Plains of North America. This collection of specimens and associated data provide a resource for understanding the ecosystem of the Great Plains, and the proposed database will make this resource available to scientists and educators worldwide. The project will capture data from plant specimen labels and enter them into the software program called Specify. This software will make the data accessible via the Internet to researchers interested in the identification, ecology, and distribution of plants of the region. Because the collection contains specimens collected throughout the last century, the completed database will allow comparisons of vegetation change over time and space and to study the early flora of the Great Plains. The database will be fully searchable, that is, scientists and other members of the public will be able to search for information on plants of the region using species names, localities, dates, and other terms in the database records. In addition to basic scientists, undergraduates at Kansas State University will be trained in data entry, georeferencing (determining from label data the sites where specimens were collected), curation methods (care and preservation of plant specimens), and the biodiversity of plants of the Great Basin. Several university courses will employ the database, including the introductory biology course, which will develop a focused exercise on the uses of natural history information. K-12 science classes and environmental education programs will use the database in secondary school workshops at the Konza Prairie Biological Station. The project will sponsor workshops that will train extension agents and other potential users throughout the state to use the database.