herbaria@home help

<h3>[email protected] Sheet Documenting Help</h3>
This help page is based on specimen <a href="http://herbariaunited.org/specimen/362632/">362632</a> originally described as just 'Mentha'.<br>
Collected from his garden by Charles Bailey, it passed via the Botanical Exchange Club of The British Isles to Allan Octavian Hume.<br>
<p>
<table border=1>

<tr><td>
<image src="EGlabel1.jpg" height=200>
<image src="EGlabel2.jpg" height=200>
<image src="EGdetail.jpg" height=200><br>
</td><td>
Labels from the sheet and a detail of the image.
</td></tr>
<tr><td>
<image src="EGoldTaxon.jpg"><br>
</td><td>
Original Taxon not giving the detail shown on the labels.
</td></tr>
<tr><td>
<image src="EGgetTaxon.jpg"><br>
</td><td>
Changing the Taxon by beginning to type 'gentilis' generates a drop-down list including the Taxon shown on the lables.
</td></tr>
<tr><td>
<image src="EGnewTaxon.jpg"><br>
</td><td>
New full Taxon.
</td></tr>
<tr><td>
<image src="EGgetCollector.jpg"><br>
</td><td>
Finding the collector, again starting to type 'Bailey' generates a drop-down list including the 'Mr Charles Bailey'.
</td></tr>
<tr><td>
<image src="EGcollector.jpg"><br>
</td><td>
Collector completed.
</td></tr>
<tr><td>
<image src="EGinfoCollector.jpg"><br>
</td><td>
If more information is required about the collector clicking next to the collector name will give a link to the Collector Page.
</td></tr>
<tr><td>
<image src="EGdate.jpg"><br>
</td><td>
Date - note format and beware two-digit dates which may be 1800s or 1900s.
</td></tr>
<tr><td>
<image src="EGgetHerb.jpg"><image src="EGgetHerb2.jpg">
</td><td>
Find the Herbaria - two in this case. Clicking in the box generates a drop-down list with A. O. Hume at the top.
Botanical Exchange Club of The British Isles requires some typing.
</td></tr>
<tr><td>
<image src="EGherb.jpg">
</td><td>
Herbaria completed.
</td></tr>
<tr><td>
<image src="EGgetSite.jpg">
</td><td>
Find the site. Possibilities are Ashfield (a house name, unlikely to be in the Gazetteer), Whalley Range (specific), or Manchester
(less specific). Starting to type 'Whalley' has positive results.
</td></tr>
<tr><td>
<image src="EGsite.jpg">
</td><td>
Complete the site by ticking 'cultivated' and adding <i>verbatim</i> detail 'in the garden of Ashfield, Whalley Range, Manchester'
plus the comment '[that of Charles Bailey]' - the square brackets used here to indicate an addition NOT present on the label
(<a href="#garden">see below</a>).
</td></tr>
<tr><td>
<image src="EGnote.jpg">
</td><td>
Add a note using information from the left-hand label.
</td></tr>
<tr><td>
<image src="EGgetFlower.jpg">
</td><td>
Add fruits/flowers status. The left-hand label gives us a clear clue here.
</td></tr>
<tr><td>
<image src="EGflower.jpg">
</td><td>
Fruits/flowers status complete.
</td></tr>
<tr><td>
<image src="EGnumber.jpg">
</td><td>
Although not strictly a collectors number that given to the sheet by A. O. Hume is
a reliable feature which can be recorded.
</td></tr>
</table>
<br>
The completed record:<br>
<image src="EGdone.jpg"><br><p><p>
<hr>
<a name="garden"></a>
<h3>Charles Bailey's Garden</h3>

<br><br>
<center>
<table>
<tr><td width=500 align="justify">The 'MEMOIRS AND PROCEEDINGS THE MANCHESTER LITERARY & PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY, Volume XLV. (1900-1901), record an <a href="http://www.archive.org/stream/memoirsandproce20socigoog/memoirsandproce20socigoog_djvu.txt">
Ordinary Meeting</a> in March 1901 of the Microscopical and Natural History Section with Charles Bailey in the chair, at which:<br>
</td></tr>
<tr><td width=500 align="justify">

<i>"Mr Charles Bailey brought a series of examples of a somewhat rare mint, which he had had in cultivation for many years in his garden at Ashfield, Whalley Range, and which Dr.
John Briquet, of Geneva, had recently identified as Mentha gentilis, L., var. Hachenbruchii, Briq."</i>
</td></tr></table></center>

Welcome to [email protected], a ground-breaking new approach to digitising and documenting the archives of the UK's herbaria. This site provides a web-based method for documenting herbarium sheets. We welcome participation in the project, so please read more about the project and if you would like to help then get involved!

The idea of running a distributed project to document was first conceived in late 2005 while I was working in the herbarium at Manchester Museum. At that time, after a tremendous effort by nearly 100 volunteers working for over a year, we had just finished cataloging Manchester's collection of British rare plants (those listed as at risk in the Red Data Book) on to computer.

I realised that the limitation on documentation was not a lack of enthusiastic, but rather the problem of giving large numbers of volunteers supervised access to the museum's collection, limited numbers of computers and limited space. It also became apparent that if we continued at the same rate it would take more than 50 years to document the whole of just Manchester's botany collection.

A radically different approach was needed...

In August 2006 the first version of the [email protected] website was launched, as a small-scale pilot project. We photographed a set of around 2000 specimens (hybrid plants were chosen), and put them on-line. Even with minimal publicity, and with significant problems with the software, over the course over the next two months the specimens where documented. The pilot project showed that it was technically possible to photograph sheets rapidly, that online documentation worked and most importantly that there were able and enthusiastic volunteers who would be prepared to take part.

[email protected] is supported by the BSBI and the Botanical Collections Managers Group.

For more information please contact Tom Humphrey or Leander Wolstenholme.

To take part as a [email protected] volunteer all you need is an internet connection, a web browser and a little time which you are willing to spend documenting sheets.

If you haven't already, then please register with us, we just need to know your name and email address so that we can stay in contact with you and keep track of who's doing what...

registration form

Once you have registered, go back to the home page and click the link to be allocated so specimens to document. A new window will open showing a herbarium sheet, with a form below it. It may be help full at this stage to download and print out the tutorial here, to refer to as you work on the sheet.

[email protected] Sheet Documenting Help

This help page is based on specimen 362632 originally described as just 'Mentha'.

Collected from his garden by Charles Bailey, it passed via the Botanical Exchange Club of The British Isles to Allan Octavian Hume.

	Labels from the sheet and a detail of the image.
	Original Taxon not giving the detail shown on the labels.
	Changing the Taxon by beginning to type 'gentilis' generates a drop-down list including the Taxon shown on the labels.
	New full Taxon.
	Finding the collector, again starting to type 'Bailey' generates a drop-down list including the 'Mr Charles Bailey'.
	Collector completed.
	If more information is required about the collector clicking next to the collector name will give a link to the Collector Page.
	Date - note format and beware two-digit dates which may be 1800s or 1900s.
	Find the Herbaria - two in this case. Clicking in the box generates a drop-down list with A. O. Hume at the top. Botanical Exchange Club of The British Isles requires some typing.
	Herbaria completed.
	Find the site. Possibilities are Ashfield (a house name, unlikely to be in the Gazetteer), Whalley Range (specific), or Manchester (less specific). Starting to type 'Whalley' has positive results.
	Complete the site by ticking 'cultivated' and adding verbatim detail 'in the garden of Ashfield, Whalley Range, Manchester' plus the comment '[that of Charles Bailey]' - the square brackets used here to indicate an addition NOT present on the label; see below for Charles Bailey's Garden.
	Add a note using information from the left-hand label.
	Add fruits/flowers status. The left-hand label gives us a clear clue here.
	Fruits/flowers status complete.
	Although not strictly a collectors number that given to the sheet by A. O. Hume is a reliable feature which can be recorded.

The completed record:

Charles Bailey's Garden

The 'MEMOIRS AND PROCEEDINGS THE MANCHESTER LITERARY & PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY, Volume XLV. (1900-1901), record an
Ordinary Meeting in March 1901 of the Microscopical and Natural History Section with Charles Bailey in the chair, at which:

"Mr Charles Bailey brought a series of examples of a somewhat rare mint, which he had had in cultivation for many years in his garden at Ashfield, Whalley Range, and which Dr.
John Briquet, of Geneva, had recently identified as Mentha gentilis, L., var. Hachenbruchii, Briq."

When looking at the data entry form you will notice buttons above and below the image:

PIN BUTTON		Opens image in pop-up
ZOOM + BUTTON		Zooms in
ZOOM - BUTTON		Zooms out
180° BUTTON		Rotates image 180°
90° BUTTON		Rotates image 90°
TAG BUTTON		not in use
TYPE BUTTON		not in use
X BUTTON		Deletes a field
+ BUTTON		Adds a field
… BUTTON		Opens extra fields

The news and stats page has a graph showing the number of specimens documented to date and also a table of users' progress. To see your progress click on your name on that list, to show all the specimens you've worked on so far.

If you would like more personal feedback on your work then please make a post on the message board or email [email protected]. An easy way to get feedback from message board users is to write a message in the 'user comments' field on the documentation form and to tick the request feedback link on one of your sheets. When the sheet is submitted, a post will automatically be made to the message board.

If you encounter problems or have specific questions then please check the message board, as it's likely someone else will already have asked your question. If you can't find an answer there then post your question on the board. The project organisers and many experienced users regularly check the message board, so you should get a rapid response. Alternatively [email protected] will be happy to answer any emails about the project.

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Windows: Firefox 1.4 or later (v1.5 recommended); Mozilla 1.6 or later; Opera 7.1 or later; Internet explorer 6.1 or later (though v5.5 is largely compatible)
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Javascript must be enabled to use [email protected].

Screen resolution of 1024x768 or greater is recommended.

If you forget your username or password then we can send you a reminder email. (in the case of passwords, we issue a new password by email - as for security reasons we do not store and cannot retrieve your original password).

Has this ever been tried before?: No-one has ever done this with herbarium specimens before, but the concept of distributed projects of this type has a proven track-record.
What will happen to the data?: All the data from the project and the scanned images of specimens will be made freely available to any interested group or individual.
How can I be sure the results will be reliable - does anyone check?: During the pilot scheme the data returned will be closely monitored by museum staff and offered to county recorders. The [email protected] system will also have built in checks to validate the data and a small proportion of records (around 1%) will be sent to multiple participants to cross-check results.
Does it matter if I make mistakes?: Of course it would be wonderful if everyone was perfect... But in the real world everyone makes mistakes and the system is designed to cope with that. A proportion of your records will be checked (anonymously) by someone else and even if errors still creep through then they can easily be corrected later, as any user of the data will be able to quickly check a sheet image themselves and correct any errors.
How much time will this take me?: As little or as much as you like. Every contribution is valuable and much appreciated. We hope that our core supporters will spend 20 to 30 minutes a week to document around 5 specimens. The success of the project depends on many people each contributing a little time.
Do I need special software or a fast internet connection to take part?: Everything will work through your usual web browser so no extra software is required. We aim to make the site usable with dial-up net connections, but a faster network connection will allow specimen images to appear more quickly and so may make the site more usable.
Who runs the project?: During this pilot scheme the project will be coordinated by Manchester Museum, but if the [email protected] is a success then we hope to operate independently and to collaborate with other institutions, to document their collections.

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­[email protected] Sheet Documenting Help

Charles Bailey's Garden

[email protected] Sheet Documenting Help