Herbarium Digitization Course

Meeting time: Tuesdays, 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM (email Katie for Zoom link)
March 29 - June 1

Course Schedule and Assignments

Date	Activities	Assignments (due next week!)
March 30	Course introduction Intro to herbaria and digitization	Georeferencing Training Course Download the georeferencing protocol Create an account in CoGe
April 6	Georeferencing training	Georeference one specimen and prepare to walk the class through your work
April 13	Georeferencing feedback and practice	NA
April 20	Georeferencing in small groups	NA

Course Information

Course Description
During this term, you will learn about the scientific use of herbarium specimens—dried, press plants stored in herbaria—and you will directly contribute to the “digitization” of these specimens. This will involve transcribing data from images of herbarium specimen labels and “georeferencing” (determining the latitude and longitude of specimen collection locations from textual locality descriptions).

Course Expectations

Requirements
You will need a computer with internet connection, a microphone, and Zoom installed for participation in remote work sessions.

Attendance
You will be expected to attend the synchronous Zoom co-working time every week. During this time, we will discuss relevant materials, and we will work together on herbarium digitization tasks primarily in our online database, CCH2. You will be expected to ask questions, receive feedback and correct your work accordingly, and engage with the instructors and your peers in a respectful manner.
In case of an emergency that will not allow you to attend a class time, please email Katie as soon as possible. Make-up work may be assigned.

Assignments
Besides attendance, you will have five types of assignments, described below.

Georeferencing training
DUE WEEK 2. Prior to the second week of class, you must complete the Georeferencing in CoGe Training Course. This includes watching all three modules and completing their associated quizzes. The training course can be found here. You should also download the protocol and have it ready to reference during class.

Georeference talk-through
DUE WEEK 3. After our first week of georeferencing training (week 2), your homework will be to georeference one specimen in CoGe (instructions will be provided). During week 3, you should be prepared to explain to the class how you georeferenced the point, including what decisions you made to create the uncertainty radius of that point.

Group progress reports
Once we begin the process of georeferencing, you will be split into small groups to work on georeferencing together. During your co-working time, your group should take notes on issues or discoveries that you make in the Group Progress Report Google Sheets document. When we come back together, a representative from your group will give an overview of these notes to the whole group. The person who will present the notes will be randomly selected from your group, so make sure you are paying attention during your co-working session!
The link to this Google document can be found in the syllabus that Katie emailed you.

Topic presentation
Each week, several students will give a 5-minute, 1-slide presentation about one of the following topics:

A scholarly paper that you found and read that used herbarium specimens for research. You should address the following in your presentation:
1. What was the purpose of the research? What questions were asked?
2. What method did the authors use to investigate their question (e.g., statistics, models maps)?
3. What did the authors find?
4. Why is this important?
A botanical collector for which you’ve found a specimen in CCH2. You should address the following in your presentation:
1. When did the person live?
2. Where did the person come from?
3. What was the person’s profession?
4. Where did the person collect?
5. Did the person have particular taxonomic expertise (i.e., did they work with a specific kind of plant)?
6. Anything else you found interesting or noteworthy about this collector
A habitat type that you’ve found on a specimen in CCH2. You should address the following in your presentation:
1. Where is this habitat found?
2. What are the characteristic abiotic (non-living) factors in this habitat (e.g., soil and rock types, average climate, moisture)?
3. What are the characteristic plant species in this habitat?
4. What are the characteristic non-plant species in this habitat?
5. Is this habitat threatened by humans? If so, what specific threats does it face?
A collection location (i.e., park, national forest, natural reserve) that you’ve found on a specimen in CCH2.
1. When was this location established or delineated?
2. Who or what organization was responsible for protecting or forming this location?
3. What types of habitats are found in this location?
4. What are some notable plant species in this location?
5. What are some notable non-plant species in this location?

Please make sure to include visuals more than text and a References section with complete citations in a standard format (MLA, APA, etc.). You should create your slide in the shared Google document so that we can make sure that nobody else presents on the same paper or topic. The link to this Google document can be found in the syllabus that Katie emailed you.

Final reflection assignment
For this assignment, you will fill out a Google form answering some short answer questions. The link to this Google form will be provided at the end of the quarter.