Uses of online specimen images - thanks

[Christine Hine]

Many thanks to everyone who responded so generously to my previous
questions about how you use online images. I've also been trawling the
taxacom archives, as the topic of online images has arisen several times
in recent years. There's a lot to analyse, with regard to the different
ways that images become useful depending on the state of taxonomy of a
group, the physical characterstics of the specimens concerned, and the
kind of task that is being performed. It's also clear that a lot of
people would like to know in more detail just what the uses of an online
specimen image repository are - there's not much detailed information
available, and it would be very useful both for designing new resources
and for convincing funders of their importance.

As promised, I will send a summary report to the list when it's ready.
In the meantime, I have found that something new crops up in each of the
responses I've had, so I'm still keen to hear from more people. In
short, I'm interested to know whether you use online specimen images (or
indeed, if you would never dream of doing so, and if so why). I'd like
to hear how online specimens compare with use of their physical
counterparts, where they substitute and where they fall short. And how
far using them has transformed your working practices, or the kind of
project that you can tackle.

Best wishes,

Christine


Christine Hine
Department of Sociology
University of Surrey
Guildford, Surrey, GU2 7XH, UK
c.hine at surrey.ac.uk
http://www.soc.surrey.ac.uk/christine_hine.htm