Library brings Herbarium to life

trevor.kenney — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 20:40:58 +0000

For more than 30 years, botanists and botany students have been visiting the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge to study a unique collection of more than 20,000 preserved plant specimens from Waterton Lakes National Park and environs. Now, thanks to a partnership between Herbarium collection curator Dr. John Bain in the Department of Biological Sciences and the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ Library, these invaluable specimens have been digitized and will soon be widely available via the Internet.

The majority of the Herbarium's specimens date from the 1970s and 1980s.

"In 1982, former ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge professor Job Kuijt's A Flora of Waterton Lakes National Park was published – after which he deposited in the Herbarium all plant specimens he collected and pressed during his documentation of the flora," says Bain. "It was this abundant and diverse flora found in Waterton Lakes National Park that was, in part, the reason for the park's designation as a World Biosphere Reserve in 1979 and a World Heritage Site in 1995."

Unlike other materials the library has previously digitized, pressed plants pose a slightly different challenge due to their relative fragility and the fact that the specimens must remain on-site in the Herbarium. To facilitate the digitization process, specialized equipment was purchased and located in the Herbarium. Quinn Daviduck, a summer research assistant, was hired to create high-resolution digital images for each and every plant specimen in the collection.

The next step in the process is to catalogue and describe each specimen using appropriate metadata (e.g., locational data, flowering times, ecological and distribution data) in order for the content to be more effectively searched or browsed online.

"In undertaking this project," says Bain, "the library is ensuring that an important natural history collection housed at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge will join similar collections around the world in being widely accessible."

An official launch of the Herbarium Digital Collection was held on Monday, Dec. 19 at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge Library.

For more information, contact Associate ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ Librarian, Information Systems & Technical Services, Wendy Merkley at wendy.merkley@uleth.ca.

This story first appeared in the December 2011 issue of the Legend. If you'd like to see the full issue in a flipbook format, follow this link.

Encore system creates more user-friendly searches

trevor.kenney — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 19:24:14 +0000

By NICOLE EVA-RICE

The ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge Library has acquired a new library catalogue that promises to open a whole new world to users.

Encore is a new search interface that brings together results from books, articles and local digital collections in one location. Previously, the library catalogue searched only for books, while journal articles needed to be searched in the databases. This one-stop search box makes the process much more user-friendly.

While not every database can be searched through Encore, it does bring up many relevant articles based on the keywords used from the main interdisciplinary databases held by the library. This 'one box' way of searching reflects the preferences of many of today's users, who are used to the simplicity of sites like Google and Amazon.

A nice feature of Encore is the many refinement options (such as year and subject) provided to the searcher, based on their initial results, that narrow down their search field. Users can also add their own tags to create meaningful categorizations, allowing people to denote items appropriate for projects, classes or otherwise. These tags are then also searchable. For example, an instructor can label certain books with a specific class name and then tell students to search by that class name to bring up the relevant list of assigned books.

"We are excited to present this innovative new feature to the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge community," says Wendy Merkley, associate ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ librarian, Information Systems & Technical Services. "Many libraries are moving toward these next-generation catalogues and most patrons find them much more user-friendly and intuitive than the old-style library catalogues."

Those who prefer the old system need not fear; a link to it can be found on the Encore results page, entitled classic catalogue.

The library welcomes comments and suggestions about the new system. To provide feedback, contact library staff via the Comments and Replies link from the self-serve menu on the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ Library home page (www.uleth.ca/lib).

This story first appeared in the September issue of the Legend. To view the full issue in a flipbook format, follow this link.

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Library brings Herbarium to life

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