1.
Unlocking the Index Animalium:
From Paper Slips to Bytes and Bits
Smithsonian Institution Libraries
Suzanne C. Pilsk
Joel M. Richard
Martin R. Kalfatovic

2.
Smithsonian Institution

3.
Smithsonian Institution Libraries
African Art History of Science and Technology
African American History and Culture Latino History and Culture
Anthropology Materials Research
American Art Modern and Contemporary Art
American History Museology
Asian and Middle Eastern Art Native American History and Culture
Aviation history and Space Flight Natural History
Design and Decorative Arts Postal History
Environmental Management and Tropical Biology
Ecology Trade Literature
World’s Fair Ephemera

4.
Libraries and Librarians

5.
Metadata

6.
How to make THIS into 1’s and 0’s

7.
Digitization

8.
Metadata Fail

9.
The Squire

10.
Metadata Successes

11.
Connecting Index to Sources

12.
Bibliography = Metadata

13.
Lost… Just Lost

14.
Steps to Improve

15.
Vision of Global Natural History Library
In any well-appointed
Natural History Library
there should be found
every book and every
edition of every book
dealing in the remotest
way with the subjects
concerned.
Charles Davies Sherborn, Epilogue to Index Animalium, March 1922

16.
Taxonomic Literature 2nd Edition
Taxonomic Literature: A selective guide to botanical publications and collections
with dates, commentaries and types (second edition)
15 volumes guide to the literature of systematic botany published between
1753 and 1940
Organized by author ~ Citation for the author’s surname
Numbered entries of the author’s publications ~ Suggested short-title &
abbreviation of short-title for use in taxonomic publications
TL2 is a standard by which author’s names and titles should be abbreviated

17.
★ Linked Open Data – 5 Stars ★
★ Available on the web (whatever
format), but with an open licence
★★ Available as machine-readable
structured data (e.g. excel instead of • Shareable
image scan of a table)
★★★ as (2) plus non-proprietary • Extensible
format (e.g. CSV instead of excel)
★★★★ All the above plus, Use open • Re-Usable
standards from W3C (RDF and
SPARQL) to identify things, so that • International
people can point at your stuff
★★★★★ All the above, plus: Link
your data to other people’s data to
provide context

18.
http://richard.cyganiak.de/2007/10/lod/

19.
Future

20.
Contact information: PilskS@si.edu
Thanks To Many
• Joel Richard • Gilbert Borrego
• Martin Kalfatovic • Carolyn Sheffield
• Grace Costantino • Bianca Crowley
• Courtney Shaw • Becky Morin
• Keri Thompson • Mike Lichtenburg
• Interns too numerous to • David Remsen
name • Patrick Leary
• Volunteers too numerous to • Chris Freeland
name
And The Birthday Boy: Charles Davies Sherborn

21.
Interesting Sources
Index Animalium http://www.sil.si.edu/digitalcollections/indexanimalium/
Taxonomic Literature New Version Smithsonian Institution Libraries
www.sil.si.edu/digitalcollections/tl-2 www.sil.si.edu/
Connecting Content Smithsonian Institution
research.calacademy.org/library/fieldnotes www.si.edu/
The Field Book Project Biodiversity Heritage Library
www.mnh.si.edu/rc/fieldbooks/index.html www.biodiversitylibrary.org/
Linked Open Data Internet Archive
linkeddata.org/ www.archive.org/