Digital Collections: SNSB IT Center makes over 5 million records publicly available

The Bavarian Natural History Collections (SNSB) not only possess valuable collection treasures, but also significant data collections that are freely available on the Internet, often with unique, detailed images of large but also microscopic collection objects. The SNSB IT Center now provides more than 5 million data sets and about 290,000 digital images of scientific observations and biological and paleontological collection items.

In the last 12 years since its foundation, the SNSB IT center has developed into a recognized consulting center for questions concerning the generation and processing of collection data, as well as biological and paleontological research data, far beyond Bavaria and Germany. At the SNSB IT Center in Munich, globally recognized specialized software is developed. The IT center offers regular IT workshops for users.

Within the framework of the “German Federation for Biological Data” (GFBio), the team in Munich coordinates the activities of German natural science collections to establish a national digital infrastructure for environment-related research data. GFBio uses a service portal to support scientists in the use of standards for data collection, professional data management, long-term archiving and publication of original research data. The data published in this way are available to other scientists to answer new research questions and can be used in conservation and environmental issues. For example, in addition to the now more than 5 million research data, the SNSB IT center, as a GFBio data center, also makes its software developments available to other research institutions.

The digitization projects implemented at the SNSB in the last 5 years also include the development of an information and communication portal on the flora of Bavaria, the digitization of the SNSB’s fossil and recent fish collections, and, more recently, the development of environmentally relevant ecological data on soil organisms.

Links:
http://www.snsb.info
https://www.gfbio.org
http://www.bayernflora.de
http://www.aramob.de

Contact:
Tanja Weibulat
Botanische Staatssammlung München
Menzinger Straße 67, 80638 München
Tel.: 089-17861-304
Email: weibulat@bsm.mwn.de

Dr. Dagmar Triebel
Botanische Staatssammlung München
Menzinger Straße 67, 80638 München
Tel.: 089-17861-252
Email: triebel@bsm.mwn.de