Digitisation

All natural history collections engage in digitisation: they database specimens, image specimens for publication and research, and share (digital) information. Digitisation is firmly part of their activities. Unfortunately, most digitisation (apart from databasing) is ad hoc, uncoordinated, not strategic and so incomplete.

This document takes a strategic approach to digitisation, one that recognises both the need to digitise what is un- or incompletely digitised, and to support and enhance existing digitisation activities. Its prime focus, however, is on tackling the undigitised and incompletely digitised in a strategic and cohesive manner.