Transcript 12 million specimens

Best Practices for Managing & Motivating the Digitizers
Larry Gall
Computer Systems Office
Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History
Best Practices for Managing & Motivating the Digitizers
Different situations call for different solutions
Anthropology
Botany
Entomology
Invertebrate Paleontology
Invertebrate Zoology
Meteorites & Planetary Science
Mineralogy
Paleobotany
Scientific Instruments
Vertebrate Paleontology
Vertebrate Zoology
~12 million specimens
Peabody Collections
Current Snapshot
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•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
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Anthropology
Botany
Entomology
Invertebrate Paleontology
Invertebrate Zoology
Mineralogy
Paleobotany
Scientific Instruments
Vertebrate Paleontology
Vertebrate Zoology
325,000
400,000
450,000
350,000
350,000
35,000
150,000
5,000
125,000
185,000
Lot
Individual
Lot / Individual
Lot
Lot
Individual
Individual
Individual
Individual
Lot / Individual
12 million specimens yields 2.4 million items to catalog electronically
Peabody Collections
Current Snapshot
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Anthropology
Botany
Entomology
Invertebrate Paleontology
Invertebrate Zoology
Mineralogy
Paleobotany
Scientific Instruments
Vertebrate Paleontology
Vertebrate Zoology
325,000
400,000
450,000
350,000
350,000
35,000
150,000
5,000
125,000
185,000
Lot
Individual
Lot / Individual
Lot
Lot
Individual
Individual
Individual
Individual
Lot / Individual
Items with an electronic record available (20 years’ effort): ~55 %
> 70%
> 50%
< 50%
Best Practices for Managing & Motivating the Digitizers
1.
2a.
2b.
3.
4.
5a.
5b.
Reflect, know thyself, context matters
Create solutions that can be reused & recycled
… copying/stealing is quicker than creating
Provide a tasty buffet of discrete/iterative tasks
Always remain flexible as matters arise
Listen closely, users know what’s failing
… prepare to alter workflow, perhaps wildly
Best Practices for Managing & Motivating the Digitizers
1.
2a.
2b.
3.
4.
5a.
5b.
Reflect, know thyself, context matters
Create solutions that can be reused & recycled
… copying/stealing is quicker than creating
Provide a tasty buffet of discrete/iterative tasks
Always remain flexible as matters arise
Listen closely, users know what’s failing
… prepare to alter workflow, perhaps wildly
Best Practices for Managing & Motivating the Digitizers
1.
2a.
2b.
3.
4.
5a.
5b.
Reflect, know thyself, context matters
Create solutions that can be reused & recycled
… copying/stealing is quicker than creating
Provide a tasty buffet of discrete/iterative tasks
Always remain flexible as matters arise
Listen closely, users know what’s failing
… prepare to alter workflow, perhaps wildly
One Shared History
One Shared System
Best Practices for Managing & Motivating the Digitizers
1.
2a.
2b.
3.
4.
5a.
5b.
Reflect, know thyself, context matters
Create solutions that can be reused & recycled
… copying/stealing is quicker than creating
Provide a tasty buffet of discrete/iterative tasks
Always remain flexible as matters arise
Listen closely, users know what’s failing
… prepare to alter workflow, perhaps wildly
Best Practices for Managing & Motivating the Digitizers
1.
2a.
2b.
3.
4.
5a.
5b.
Reflect, know thyself, context matters
Create solutions that can be reused & recycled
… copying/stealing is quicker than creating
Provide a tasty buffet of discrete/iterative tasks
Always remain flexible as matters arise
Listen closely, users know what’s failing
… prepare to alter workflow, perhaps wildly
Best Practices for Managing & Motivating the Digitizers
1.
2a.
2b.
3.
4.
5a.
5b.
Reflect, know thyself, context matters
Create solutions that can be reused & recycled
… copying/stealing is quicker than creating
Provide a tasty buffet of discrete/iterative tasks
Always remain flexible as matters arise
Listen closely, users know what’s failing
… prepare to alter workflow, perhaps wildly
Best Practices for Managing & Motivating the Digitizers
1.
2a.
2b.
3.
4.
5a.
5b.
Reflect, know thyself, context matters
Create solutions that can be reused & recycled
… copying/stealing is quicker than creating
Provide a tasty buffet of discrete/iterative tasks
Always remain flexible as matters arise
Listen closely, users know what’s failing
… prepare to alter workflow, perhaps wildly
Vignette One
Invertebrate Paleontology -- imaging 75,000 brachiopods
Jess Utrup
Vignette One
Invertebrate Paleontology -- imaging 75,000 brachiopods
catalog number
view of specimen
(dorsal, ventral, etc.)
digital camera’s image number,
minus the prefix (e.g., DSCN)
~ 2x
“Hands free” voice-activated data capture
Can you spot the differences between these two pictures ?
“Hands free” voice-activated data capture
~ 2x
Vignette Two
Moving collections to Yale’s West Campus (2007-2009)
Anthropology, Vertebrate Zoology, et al.
Vignette Two
Moving collections to Yale’s West Campus (2007-2009)
Anthropology, Vertebrate Zoology, et al.
Vignette Two
Moving collections to Yale’s West Campus (2007-2009)
Anthropology, Vertebrate Zoology, et al.
Yale Art Gallery
Peabody
Laptop, barcode printer, tethered scan gun – barcoding for tracking & inventory
Container barcode
Physical location barcode
Specimen barcode
Vertebrate Zoology -- couple staff, one room, little time pressure, cataloguing was rate limiting
Anthropology -- many staff, many rooms, heavy time pressure, packing/barcoding was rate limiting
We hired expert digitizers
Anthropology -- many staff, many rooms, heavy time pressure, packing/barcoding was rate limiting
Ethafoam!
Anthropology -- many staff, many rooms, heavy time pressure, packing/barcoding was rate limiting
tethered
wireless
No need to
get to cart
No need to
login to EMu
MC3090 scanner, simple CGI script, invokes existing database functionality
MC3090 scanner, simple CGI script, invokes existing database functionality
Set scanners on stun ! Aye, Captain !
Ethafoam Madness
Vignette Three
48 Yale student workers in Entomology (2007-present)
Student-Powered Paracurating
Sort to Family
then Subfamily
(Larry)
Sort to Genus
then Species
(Larry, students)
Sort within Species
by Collecting Event
(students)
Database
(students)
Student-Powered Paracurating
Schedule in overlapping timeslots, so students can work in groups
Student-Powered Paracurating
First day on job – “invent & sort species of nymphalid butterflies”
Student-Powered Paracurating
A True Ace … Nicole Palffy-Muhoray, grad. student in Linguistics
Student-Powered Paracurating
Sorting within species to State/Province or comparably “digestible” geographic unit
Student-Powered Paracurating
Geography, and the “Student Enforcers”
Student-Powered Paracurating
Geography, and the “Student Enforcers”
Student-Powered Paracurating
Geography, and the “Student Enforcers”
Student-Powered Paracurating
Student-Powered Paracurating
“The Hot Hopper”
Student-Powered Paracurating
Student-Powered Paracurating
Student-Powered Paracurating
48 students
249,820 specimens
8,611 hours
$109,088 total
27 specimens / hour
$0.44 / specimen
(2007 – present)
Student-Powered Paracurating
48 students
249,820 specimens
8,611 hours
$109,088 total
27 specimens / hour
$0.44 / specimen
(2007 – present)
Provost’s Office program
$54,544 total
$0.22 / specimen
Student-Powered Paracurating
Gilene Young ‘07
Best Practices for Managing & Motivating the Digitizers
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