12th Pacific Science Inter-Congress, 8-12 July 2013
University of the South Pacific, Laucala Bay Campus, Suva, Fiji
Digitization initiatives at the Bishop Museum:
baseline data for conservation in the Pacific
Shelley A. James1, Barbara Kennedy2, Richard Pyle3,
Robert Whitton4, Clyde Imada5, Nicole Shun6, Benjamin
Brown7, Varnelle Magoon8
1
Hebrarium Pacificum, Bishop Museum,
sajames@bishopmuseum.org
2
Hebrarium Pacificum, Bishop Museum,
bkennedy@bishopmuseum.org
3
Bishop Museum, deepreef@bishopmuseum.org
4
Bishop Museum, whittonr@gmail.com
5
Hebrarium Pacificum, Bishop Museum,
cimada@bishopmuseum.org
6
Hebrarium Pacificum, Bishop Museum,
nicole.shun@bishopmuseum.org
6
Hebrarium Pacificum, Bishop Museum,
ben@bishopmuseum.org
6
Hebrarium Pacificum, Bishop Museum,
varnelle@bishopmuseum.org
Bishop Museum’s Herbarium Pacificum (BISH) is actively
engaged in the digitization of botanical collections,
including the databasing of label information, digital
imaging of specimens, and georeferencing of locality
data. An NSF-funded collaboration between Bishop
Museum, National Tropical Botanical Garden, and
University of Hawaii to develop the Consortium of
12th Pacific Science Inter-Congress, 8-12 July 2013
University of the South Pacific, Laucala Bay Campus, Suva, Fiji
Pacific Herbaria and digitize collections from the
Polynesia-Micronesia Hotspot has to date resulted in the
databasing of label data for 277,000 specimens from the
region, and 75,000 specimen images. A second NSFfunded project to document the flora of Papua New
Guinea has resulted in the complete digitization of the
31,600 specimens from the region housed by the Bishop
Museum. The Herbarium Pacificum Type specimen
collection has also been scanned in high resolution with
support from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation,
making the specimens available online and reducing
physical handling of these valuable specimens. Other
projects at the Bishop Museum, such as the NSF-funded
Global Names Architecture and BiSciCol (Biological
Science Collections Tracker) are further increasing
accessibility and manageability of biodiversity data.
Bishop Museum’s live online natural sciences collections
portal (nsdb.bishopmuseum.org) currently hosts ca.
400,000 botanical records, making biodiversity data for
the Pacific region readily accessible to researchers,
resources managers, and interested public throughout
the world. This baseline data is critical for conservation
in the Pacific, discovery of new species and newly
introduced taxa, invasive species identification, and
taxonomic research use.
Key Words: New Guinea, botanical collections, biodiversity
conservation, data management.