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）的综合数字化生物收藏（idigbio.org）是国家协调机构，负责持续努力收集并在线提供国家生物多样性收藏中的大量信息，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、采集地点和日期、数字照片、声音、视频和从各种来源创建的3D模型。这一社区数字化工作是由NSF的推进生物多样性收藏品数字化（ADBC）计划通过主题收藏品网络（TCN）催化的，TCN是一组机构，这些机构通过收集标本来解决一个主要的研究课题，例如农作物和昆虫之间的关系或入侵物种对自然生态系统的影响。iDigBio协助协调TCN的活动，促进制定标本和相关信息数字化的标准和工作流程，提供网络基础设施资源，以长期保存数字数据，促进在研究和推广中使用收藏数据的新方法和传统方法，并与收藏界合作，为国家努力及其产生的资源的长期可持续性进行规划。有关标本的数字化信息的提供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，在过去十年中，iDigBio的活动大大推动了国家在国家生物多样性收藏中收集信息的努力。与数据提供者和用户开展了合作，确定了目标和优先事项，确定了与数字化有关的最佳做法，并与生物多样性数据汇总者建立了全球合作。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进了数字化做法，增加了对数字化和培训的参与，并采用了各种工具和信息学工具，提高了所有类型生物多样性收藏品的数字化和研究工作流程的效率和可扩展性。iDigBio与分布在所有50个州的317个机构的926多个集合的工作人员合作。通过讲习班、网络研讨会和使用社交媒体，在利益攸关方之间建立了沟通，以增加对馆藏数据的访问。自2011年以来，iDigBio已经赞助了来自1，034个机构的16，768名参与者参加了430个针对数字化相关主题的研讨会，网络研讨会，研讨会和活动。iDigBio已经摄取了1，651个记录集，其中包含1.28亿个样本记录和4100万个媒体记录。所有摄取的数据都被索引，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的图形界面或通过编程API来完成对数据的检索。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。在此期间，iDigBio将继续其成功的战略，越来越重视数据的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。随着有效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馆藏中的一种普遍和持续的做法。该奖项反映了NSF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.