Last year I stepped into the role of Natural History Collections Assistant, a new post created to enable the digitisation of the Museum’s Natural History collections. At the start of the project, I worked on collections photography with local photographer Rebecca Marr. Together we've captured a total of 4,128 specimens so far, including the Magnus Spence Herbarium; our seaweed collection; the Robert Rendall shell collection; R. I. Lorimer Lepidoptera collection and our bird collections.
I'm now working with volunteers on record checking, transcription, and verifying each object’s taxonomic status. The catalogue records for each specimen photographed will be updated, including the original locations from which they were collected (if known) to bring all the information into line with Darwin Core Standard. This will allow our catalogue information to be used across many different formats. The data will be uploaded to the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), making our specimens' details globally available and creating a dated geographic record for the species found in Orkney.
Photo by Rebecca Marr (c) Stromness Museum.
The digitisation project will incorporate a complete re-working of the Nature Portal within the museum’s website - creating an accessible, engaging resource to view and explore Stromness Museum’s Natural History collections.
Photo by Rebecca Marr (c) Stromness Museum
There have been several public engagement events run by the project Outreach Officer – Sam Stringer. They have all been connected to the project to showcase relevant, geographically specific specimen collections, offer intimate views of Orkney biodiversity, and share stories about its place within the local environment. Particularly popular was Biology teacher Henry Mwmmott's talk about bird skulls, which encompassed bird evolution, species variation and creation, and the opportunity to handle some of our teaching collection!
The Natural History Collections Digitisation project is aided by the work of Heriot-Watt University student Elaina Rose Kelly, local community groups, volunteers, and the help of organisations including: the Natural History Museum, the Orkney Wildlife Recording Group, and the Stromness Community Development Trust.
The two-year project is funded by grants from: The Pebble Trust, OIC Crown Estate Community Led Development Fund, OIC North Isles Landscape Partnership Scheme, The Birsay Community Wind Turbine Fund, Stromness Museum, the Scottish Fisherman’s Trust and The Orkney Fund.
