MANUAL FOR DATA ENTERING OF LABELS FROM THE GENERAL
VASCULAR PLANT HERBARIUM AT NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM, OSLO
The manual (http://digitarium.fi/share/uio-help/) will be updated as questions arise.
The Natural History Museum, Oslo has three vascular plant herbaria. These are the Nordic
herbarium (Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Faroe Islands and Iceland), the Arctic
herbarium (from northern tundra areas where Svalbard is an important area) and finally the
General herbarium. The General herbarium consists of material from all over the world.
The material in the general herbarium consists of material collected by staff from the herbarium
through the years. But we also have much exchange and gifts from other museums and private
person from all over the world in several different languages. For very old labels all information
can be in the Latin language. Old labels could also lack much of the information we ask for in the
data entering process or demanding to interpret.
The herbarium is organized in higher taxonomic level such as Lycophytes, Pteridophytes,
Gymnospermae, Monocots and Dicots. The herbarium sheets are then organized alphabetically
in boxes which contain folders. You will see pictures of the folders and the herbarium sheets in
this project.
Interpretations
Typed text is usually easy to transcribe but for older handwritten labels this could be a
challenge. Sometimes it may be a puzzle where the pieces are mixed. Transcribe what you can,
someone may later fill the gaps. An effective interpretation group needs, among others,
expertise in difficult handwritings, different languages, historical geography, plant taxonomy,
and herbarium care.
Write only what you really see. If you just think you might see something put those partly
interpretable or unsure words in [square brackets]. If whole word or expression is totally
unclear, put a question mark in square brackets [?] – or, to save time, simply type the one-touch
section sign §. (It is to be returned to [?] in the final database.) The mere ? is reserved to be
used only for question marks written on the label (or replacing obscure digits of dates).
If the label doesn’t contain anything for the actual field, you leave the field empty. In case this
field happened to be obligatory to fill, uncheck the field’s checkbox before saving (to green).
Any comments or clarifications should also be placed in square brackets in the Locality field.
Using GBIF search is recommended – emphasizing that it's still often impossible to distinguish
correct data from incorrect! It’s most useful in picking up a list of collectors or longer locality
text (or even matching day) but also in finding collectors missing from collector lookup list or
checking the correct administrative place (however, always remembering the warning above!).
Most reliable search results may be those located to region as administrative place and those
containing “historical name [= modern name]” translations. Also common Ctrl-F string search
can be used inside GBIF search. GBIF results in bold blue font can be copied with one click.
To gain more samples to green, quick (= a few second) map-googling is useful in transcribing the
last unsure thing of the sample. You are not allowed to google for doing research but only for
gaining better interpretation by seeing more.
When questions arise, immediately contact your closest adviser. In case of bigger problems,
don’t hesitate to use the in-built message system, or preferably Skype to contact
professionals. Take your Skype call by using Share Screens from the Call tab.
OPEN THE APPLICATION AND SELECT FOLDERS OR SAMPLES
Open Google chrome
Go to http://ui.digitarium.fi/uio/
Log in from the left of the Main page.
Personal username and password will be delivered by the leader at your station.
Select Browse from the top bar.
Select group UiO Folders or UiO Samples.
Select quick reservation and enter number
of samples and click the reserve button.
Select Transcribe from the top bar
(see further explanations below).
Select the first reserved sample
On the right you got a queue of
folders/samples to work with.
After you have transcribed all your reserved samples release them. You can release all at the
same time by clicking on the first left square just above the first folder.
For the folders the transcriber process only consists of choosing the right name. Further
explanations are given below.
For the samples the transcriber process consists of four steps. These are 1) Specimen, 2) Taxon,
3) Location and 4) Record. Further explanations are given below.
FOLDERS
Open a folder and you get a picture of a folder with on barcode and a number that start with
the letter F and end with 5 digits. Control the folder number on the picture with the field
Barcode I in the field Specimen.
Then compare folder information from the choices you have from the lockup list and choose the
correct one. The choices you have are folder names from the actual box. It is open to fill out
under Record the fields “label type” and “difficult to interpret”. Use only these fields if it’s
difficult to interpret the information, otherwise you can leave it empty.
It’s important that folders are entered before you start with the samples because the
information from the folders goes to samples.
SAMPLES
First check the number of barcode labels. In case of multiple gatherings (with more than one
barcode label), choose the correct barcode label (having the same number than your reserved
sample) and then find the corresponding data label (either having same marks or being located
close to each other).
Letters you can use is the Norwegian alphabet. The letters ø, æ, å are seldom used here, but
accents are more common at these labels than in the Norwegian language. You will sometimes
find letters as ü, ä and ë, and from Slavic languages there are other signs connected to the
letters. Use them if it’s possible, e.g. by using the Windows character map (not obligatory).
The labels vary from old handwritten to modern type written. Some of the old handwritten can
be quite demanding to interpret. It’s important not to use much time on them. Check all labels.
If the gathering is on multiple sheets, be sure to check all images. Scroll the magnifier with your
mouse wheel to adjust the label in the image window.
SPECIMEN
Collected by
It is not always easy to find out who is the collector. Most common abbreviations before (or
after) the collector name are leg. (legit, lectae) / coll. (colligavit) / собр. (собранный ) = collected
by and ded. (dedit) = given (and probably collected) by, but also misit = sent by or even comm.
(communicavit) = communicated with or shared by (someone who might also be the collector).
If the collector name is missing, we may assume that the collection owner him/herself is the
collector. Collection owner can be detected from ex herb. (ex hb., ex herbario) or e coll. (e
collectione) preceding a person name or pl. (plantae) following it.
Notice that some other Latin words before a person name, on the contrary, do not indicate the
collector: det. (determ., determinavit) / опред. (определенный) = determined (identified) by,
conf. (confirm., confirmavit) = confirmed by, vid. (vidit) = seen by (~ confirmed by) or curavit =
curated = taken care of the collection by.
It is convenient (but not obligatory) to start with typing part of the collector’s name and then
click GBIF Search from the tools on the right (especially if there are more collectors or a lot of
data difficult to interpret). Both GBIF Search and Collector lookup (from the tools below the
fillable fields) can be used to get the correct collector (from GBIF even the needed list of
collectors) just by clicking and even give you a hint about the correct century.
Enter the collectors surname then comma and then the given name (full or initial). End all
initials with a dot. Separate subsequent initials with space. If there are two or more collectors
you must separate the collectors with semicolon (;).
Sometimes there can be two collectors with the same surname such as Carl o. Inga Skottsberg.
This should be written as: Skottsberg, Carl; Skottsberg, I.
Don’t enter the person’s title such as Mr., Mrs., Madam, Dr., Padre, Father, Frere, Brother etc.
The noble names will be written as they occur in Collector lookup: van den Berg, Cássio / Bolòs,
Oriol de / Berg, Ernst von (or Berg, Ernst v.).
Date
Date on the label is most often easy to interpret. The most often needed interpretation will be
the century which often is missing. We probably have material at least back to the beginning of
18th century. It is more often that labels from the 18th century (1701-1800) and 19th century
(1801-1900) have no information about the century than the 20th century. According to an
annual report we received a very old, anonymous herbarium during the Second World War.
It has belonged to two different owners in the 1730ies. This material can even be from the 17th
century (1601-1700). But the oldest materials are very often undated.
The degree of printed labels increase with the time and the handwriting changes over time.
Around 1850 it was a change in the handwritings from gothic to cursive. If the label contains a
collector it’s easier to determine the century by using the Collector lookup.
Due to import of the information we want dates to look like dd, mm and yyyy. For undated
material you can leave the appropriate fields empty.
Date with intervals, write only the earliest date. If there are several different dates on the label
you must enter only the earliest one. Exception: if the two dates (difference of 12 days in the
19th century and 13 days in the 20th century) refer to Julian and Gregorian calendars, you pick
the latter date.
Because of importing these data later we prefer that year always consist of 4 digits, month and
day always consist of 2 digits.
Write year with four digits, example 1832
Write month with two digits, example 07
Write day with two digits, example 05
You can mark too obscure digits with question mark, for example 1?32, 183?, 18?? or 18?2.
Inaccurate dates, such as winter, spring, summer and autumn should be ignored. However,
possible feasts can be traced back to day accuracy.
In case the collector has more gatherings from the same day, you might get the whole date
from GBIF search results with just one click.
Collector’s record number
Behind the collectors name there could be a numbering. The numbering usually consists of
digits (5143), but may also consist of letters (collector's initials) and numbers (AB 5143).
Sometimes gather numbers consist of year and a sequential number (13/103). The collector’s
record number is always unique.
Notice that there may be also other numberings that are not collector’s record numbers. For
example, exsiccate collection samples are relatively common in this herbarium. These are also
numbered, but should not be confused with collector's record number. Numbers with different
type of ink or with pencil are likely not to be a collector’s record number. The herbarium has at
different times put on internal numbering for sorting the sheets often written in one of the
upper corners on the label or directly on the sheet. This is not the collector’s record number.
TAXON
The taxon consists generally of two names: the genus and the epithet. The genus on the folder
and the label is generally the same so you most often only need to interpret the name of the
epithet. On old labels you can find older synonyms. Try interpreting it.
Some of the material is redetermined or confirmed. You must use the taxon name on this label
which is marked det. or conf. If there are more than one det./conf. label choose the taxon name
with the latest date.
After the taxon name you will very often find letters (abbreviations). This is usually the author of
the scientific name of the taxon. Don’t enter the author name.
Sometimes you will find three names on the label. It may be the genus name, the epithet name
and infraspecific name. This last name is often separated by the epithet level by ssp./subsp.
(subspecies), var. (varietas, variety), f. (forma, form), cv. (cultivar) or on older labels it may be a
Greek letter such as α (alpha), β (beta), δ (delta) and * (asterisk). Don’t write the infraspecific
name in the epithet field.
Be aware that the epithet name can consist of two names connected by a hyphen.
Examples: Alisma plantago-aquatica, Vaccinium vitis-idaea, Pedicularis sceptrum-carolinum,
Chenopodium bonus-henricus. Never drop the latter part of the compound name away.
If it’s impossible to interpret older names use the information from the folder. Sometimes the
previous labels can help you to interpret the epithet. But note that folder consisting of a genus
can have several different species (epithets).
On old labels you sometimes can find the letter æ/ä and œ/ø/ö. They are not allowed to use.
Replace æ/ä with ae and œ/ø/ö with oe.
Some examples:
Genus level including authors
Persicaria (L.) Mill. → type or leave “Persicaria” in the Genus field
Species level including authors
Persicaria lapathifolia (L.) Delabre → leave “Persicaria” in the Genus field
and type “lapathifolia” in the Specific Epithet field
Infraspecific level including authors
Persicaria lapathifolia ssp. pallida (With.) Knutsson→ leave “Persicaria” in the Genus field
and type “lapathifolia” in the Specific Epithet field
Note that infraspecific level can be presented in several ways, such as: subsp., ssp., var., f., mf.,
cv., *, β, α, δ and maybe others.
Folder taxon
This is support information from the folder can help you to interpret the genus. It assumes that
this work has been done in advance. But note that the folder name can often contain different
genus names, often presented as Genus 1 (syn. Genus 2) where syn. = synonym. This is often an
advantage and makes it easier to interpret the genus.
Genus
Here you enter the genus and it should always consist of one name. It’s often automatically
selected from the folder. Check if it’s the same on the label as the folder. If the genus is
different from the folder you have to change it.
Sometimes the plant isn’t determined to genus but to the family. In these cases select the
family name in this field. Family names usually end with -aceae (some conserved family names
with bare -ae).
Specific epithet
Here you enter the epithet. Predictive input reduces the need for typing. From epithets difficult
to interpret you may need just a few letters from any part of the word to find the correct
epithet from the dropdown list.
If you find cf. or aff. between the genus and epithet write this before the epithet in the epithet
field. Also a question mark (?) after the epithet should be replaced by cf. before the epithet.
Do not enter the infraspecific level explained above. If the genus is followed by sp. (= species) or
indet. or ? (= species not determined), leave the Specific epithet field empty.
Examples:
Persicaria aff. amphibia → type “aff. amphibia” in the Specific epithet field
Persicaria cf. amphibia → type “cf. amphibia” in the Specific epithet field
Persicaria amphibia? → type “cf. amphibia” in the Specific epithet field
Hybrid names can be recognized by × before the specific epithet or between the parent species
names. However, you can use x instead of ×.
Examples:
Carex × fulva → type “x fulva” in the Specific Epithet field
Carex acuta × aquatilis → type “acuta x aquatilis” in the Specific Epithet field
LOCATION
To enter administrative places you are supported by a geographical index which is hierarchical
and in English (countries) or in the language of the country (regions and sub regions). The index
consists of about 4000 names. If you write the region or sub region (look up list) you
automatically get the country and continent.
Countries where you can enter sub regions are: Indonesia, Philippines, Viet Nam, France, Serbia,
United Kingdom, New Zealand. We hardly have much material from these countries (except
France). Most of the other countries have regions (StateProvince field in DigiWeb) in the
hierarchy. Region could be presented on the label as county, state, province, district, canton,
territory, oblast, kraj or region. These words may be abbreviated. It’s impossible to remember
all these. You often need to try out a little bit, because every name with region, province etc.
isn’t in the geographical hierarchy.
Notice that boundaries of many countries have changed over time. A good example is Hungary
that formerly included Austria, Slovakia and parts of Italy, Romania, Slovenia, and Croatia
(see the Historical Geography PowerPoint presentation).
Folder continent / Continent / Country / StateProvince / Sub region
Shadow fields (fields you don’t type, but that give you information from other entries).
Administrative place
This is a combination field where you can write the Continent, Country, StateProvince or Sub
region. Choose the lowest name in the geographical hierarchy and you will automatically get
the other geographical information higher in the hierarchy. If you type StateProvince
information check that the information in the shade fields are correct in relation to the label as
a whole. Although the country level is sufficient as the administrative place, going to more exact
levels may save you from writing the region in the Locality field.
If the country is unknown leave the Administrative place field empty (don’t use § or [?]) or just
write the continent. If you cannot be sure of the current country write all locality information,
including historical country and province, to the Locality field. Also add the possible flora (e.g.
“Flora Dalmatica / Silesiaca / Gallica / Lusitanica / Austriae inferioris / von Böhmen” or “Plantae
Samoenses / Siculae / Austriae et Hungariae / Dahuricae” or “pl. Chilenses / Magellanica /
Abyssin. / Indiae or. / Pers. austr.” or “Iter Tauricum / Nubicum / Algeriensi-Tunetanum”) from
the label title at the beginning of locality data.
Locality
Enter rest of the geographical information from the label (or all of it, if Administrative place is
unsure, as explained above). Note that the geographic and ecological information from the label
are often interrelated, in which case you may need to interpretat least part of the latter, too.
It is not necessary (neither mistake) to enter the information about ecology / habitat /
environment and the accompanying plants species. Don’t enter morphological information such
as size, colour, shape and so on.
In addition, in the Locality field you may also add clarifications or comments [in square brackets]
referring to any other fields. (To distinguish possible historical name translations from other,
somewhat obscure place names that are also placed in square brackets, an additional equation
mark is needed.)
RECORD
Label type
Here you have two choices, handwritten or typed. If the labels are partly handwritten and typed
choose handwritten.
Difficult to interpret
Here you have two choices, yes or no. All typed labels are easy to interpret except when the
necessary data on the labels are covered by plant material.
Saving your data entry
Save your successful transcription to Finished, level one (two greens). Save too difficult cases to
Unfinished, level two (one red). If you have come back to continue your unfinished saved case,
you may save it again to unfinished by using the Current state option.
SPECIAL CASES IN DATA ENTRY
Multiple gatherings
A) When there are more than one gathering (usually same taxon from different localities) on
the sheet, find the right barcode label and either a) choose the data label close to it or b) see
the marking (e.g. 1, 2, 3...; a, b, c...) by side of the barcode label and find the collecting data
label (and/or det. label) with corresponding marking.
B) In case of different taxa from one locality the only changing variables are the Genus and/or
the Specific Epithet, and all other data may be copied from the first gathering to the other ones.
C) If multiple gatherings have only one record number (barcode label) write data from all of
these gatherings to the same Locality field and add the comment <OTHER GATHERINGS> –
which is not to be used in case of multiple sheets.
Multiple sheets
When one gathering has been spread on multiple sheets, you may have to check all of the
photos to find the collecting data label with the best information.
Exsiccate samples with no or few data, usually tagged "Check label from O-V2..."
Sometimes there are two or more exsiccate samples from different localities (or collected by
different people) marked I, II, III... having, however, only one common collecting data label on
one of the sheets. To get the correct data (I, II, III...), you have to find that sheet just closely
before or after the one you are transcribing. To use the data in the right case, you may either a)
copy the data manually to a notebook, or b) save a snapshot from the label(s) to desktop and
open it from there into a separate window.
Cultivated plants
Some gatherings are from cultivated plants often grown from seeds. In these cases you must
enter the administrative place and locality of the plant’s known wild origin, not where it is
cultivated. Don’t enter the date from the cultivated place where it is collected, either. Add
remark (at least “cult.”) about cultivation.
Label covered by plant material
If some necessary data on the plant label are hidden by plant parts type following information in
the locality field: <LABEL COVERED BY PLANT MATERIAL>