General Notes from Nature FAQ and Useful tools (Version 3) (Link)

NYBG Expeditions -- Frequently Asked Questions:

Q1: How should I proceed when encountering multiple specimens on a sheet, with separate collection details and multiple NYBG barcodes?

A: When you see multiple NYBG barcodes, that indicates there are multiple specimens (with separate collection histories) displayed on the same herbarium sheet. It is very important that you identify which specimen (and collection label) is the the correct target for each classification. Click the tiny "(i)" button at the bottom-right corner of the specimen viewer window to reveal metadata for your current subject. Included in the subject metadata is a 7-8 digit "NYBG Barcode" number. Look for the New York Botanical Garden barcode on the specimen sheet that corresponds to the number listed in the subject metadata, and complete the transcription while only consulting collection labels found in close proximity to the matching NYBG Barcode. Ignore all information appearing on the specimen sheet or on collection labels that are closer to other NYBG Barcodes that do not match the subject metadata shown by clicking (i). If you encounter difficulty identifying which specimen information to transcribe, make an educated guess, then submit a "Done and Talk" comment with the tags @Czimmerman #unclear #multiplespecimen and a short explanation of your confusion.

Q2: I am having difficulty reading / understanding the LOCATION where a specimen was collected. What can I do, and how should I proceed if I can only interpret part of the information provided on the herbarium label?

A: Have you already consulted the NYBG Virtual Herbarium, and IDigBio Portal for clues given by other digitized specimen collections made by the same collector? How about using Google Maps to search for parts of the location which are understood, then scouring the names of nearby places on the map? If you have tried all three of these resources and are still uncertain about pieces, then enter into the field location the portion that you are >90% certain of, leaving bracketed question marks [?] in the spaces that you cannot decipher. You should submit a Done and Talk comment along with your transcription that conveys which field was left partially entered, why some information could not be understood, and what you ended up submitting as your text in the end. For example, if you read the location as starting with “Road leading from Lake...” and ending with “to Orville” with a section in between that is illegible due to handwriting, your talk entry should be: “#NYBG #ERROR #HANDWRITING #LOCATION “Road leading from Lake [?] to Orville”.

Q3: My label does not include the COUNTY of collection, but there are more specific collection Location details. Should I attempt to infer the County based on those details?

A: If county is not specified on the label, you may use tools such as Google Maps, Wikipedia, and Geonames.org to correctly identify the county of collection. Be very careful about assigning a county when the #location is vague or potentially extends between multiple counties. If you are uncertain whatsoever, leave the county field blank, or select "Not shown". You may include a Done & Talk comment detailing your rationale for county choice.

Q4: How should I enter data when I recognize a MISSPELLING in the target information provided on the label?

A: First of all, always triple-check using multiple sources when investigating a misspelling. If your sources are inconsistent, then enter the verbatim spelling as it appears on the label. If your sources agree that the label is misspelled, then in the case of free-text entry fields ( #Location #Collectorname #Othercollectors) enter all text exactly as it appears on the label while inserting your corrected spelling immediately after misspelled word's in Brackets. For example: Clingman's Dame [Dome], Appalachian Trail . In the cases of fields providing a drop-down list (Country, State, County, Date) simply select the correct spelling.

Q5: I am having difficulty reading a HANDWRITTEN name. What can I do?

A: The Harvard Index of Botanists can be a useful tool for these situations, as it contains the names of many persons who have collected plants that are stored in herbaria. Try searching the database with your best guess of the collector’s last name, making sure to first uncheck all role restrictions. If no matches are found, try checking the box “Find similar sounding names” when you run your search. Make sure that any persons you find in the index were alive (and mature) at the time this specimen was collected. Be aware that there are many duplicate records in the Harvard database, generally with slight variations in spelling and/or completeness. When you have settled on a person's name that you think matches what is written on the collection label, you may use that entry as a spelling reference for entering in the Primary Collector Name field, but always match the level of completeness that is provided on the label. Do not supplement with extra information from the Harvard Index record. Another useful tool is the NYBG Virtual Herbarium. Run an advanced search imputing combinations of other data found on the specimen (ie. Country, State, Precise Locality, and/or year) to identify similar specimens which already have the collector name digitized.

Q6: I am trying to transcribe Latitude and Longitude coordinates from a specimen, but I do not see a place to enter N, S, E, W (- or +). Where should I enter that information?

A: Collection labels will always report Latitude and Longitude coordinates accompanied by cardinal directions (N/S/E/W) or positive or negative signs (+/-) to indicate in which hemisphere of the earth they belong. You should always include these symbols in your transcription along with the numeric values for latitude and longitude. Letter symbols (N/S/E/W) should be added to the last coordinate field used for each latitude and longitude, following the value and preceded by a space (See EXAMPLE). Plus (+) and (-) signs shown on the label should always be inserted before the degree value for their corresponding coordinate. Go ahead and strip away all other symbols (ie.° ' ") from your transcription fields. Make sure to parse apart Degrees, Minutes, and Seconds values when necessary, and do not confuse fields designated for Longitude with those designed for Latitude. Consult the “Need some help” section for the Lat/Long page for instructions to differentiate the different values and formats you may encounter.

Q7: Should I add a NfN Done & Talk #ERROR comment when data is MISSING from a collection label?

A: Done & Talk annotations are not required when requested information is missing from a herbarium specimen. The tag “#error” is designed to indicate that information pertaining to a field is present, but is (at least partially) for some reason unreadable (#handwriting), uninterpretable (#unclear), or unenterable (#field). Whenever requested information (such as collector, number, locality, date, etc.) appears to be totally absent, first double-check the entire collection label and elsewhere on the sheet. If still no information is found then leave the field blank, or select “Not Shown” in the case of drop-down lists.

Q8: I’ve spotted a person’s name on the specimen label, but how can I tell if they are the PRIMARY COLLECTOR?

A: Usually the name of the person principally responsible for collecting a specimen is made prominent and obvious on the collection label. This is done by a variety of means including: bolding the name, positioning at the top or bottom of the label, positioning close to a multi-digit number (collector number), or preceding with an identifying prefix (“collector:”, “col:”, “leg:”, or “legit:”). Recognizing other classifications of names found on the label which are not the primary collector is also important. For instance, determiners--who have identified the specimen--are often prefixed by: “det.”, and their name is usually accompanied by the date of their identification (not the same as collection date). Owners/managers of the herbarium (with names inscribed at the top of a label) are not necessarily the specimen’s collector, but should be considered as the primary collector if no other good candidate is listed on the label. Whenever you suspect that multiple names you have found may be the Primary Collector, you can always check the NYBG Virtual Herbarium and the IDigBio Portal for other digitized specimens by each person (query using last name only), perhaps also refining your search to the same year of collection (expanding to all years if no results are retrieved initially). Evidence of other specimens collected by that person on or around the same date--and with similar sequential Collector Numbers--should be considered solid evidence that the person you have searched is indeed the primary collector of that specimen.

Q9: I’ve encountered a collector with a PREFIX written before their name (ex. Mrs. Richard G. Moldenke). How do I enter that name into the PRIMARY COLLECTOR field given the Last, first middle framework?

A: In general, name prefixes (such as "Mr.", "Mrs.", "Frère/F.", “Rev.”, etc.) can be very useful for correctly identifying a collector. If you spot a collector name prefix on the label you should add it in parentheses at the end of the standard name string. Ex.: “Moldenke, Richard G. (Mrs.)”.

Q10: I’ve encountered a collector with a SUFFIX written after their name (ex. "John M. Fogg, Jr."). How do I enter that name into the PRIMARY COLLECTOR field given the Last, first middle framework?

A: In general, name suffixes (such as "Jr.") can be very useful for correctly identifying a collector. If you spot a collector name suffix on the label you should add it in parentheses at the end of the standard name string. Ex.: “Fogg, John M. (Jr.)” .

Q11: I found a number on the collection label but cannot decide whether it is really the COLLECTOR NUMBER or something else. What can I do?

A: Usually Collector Number is found closely associated with the Collector Name, making it relatively easy to identify. In other cases, this number can occur elsewhere on the collection label making it harder to distinguish. Most collections do have a collector number indicated somewhere on the label, but many, especially older collections may not have a collector number at all. If the date is provided only as a year (ex. 1954) this also can be confused with collector number.

Q12: I’ve spotted a small hand-penciled number on the corner above the label and adjacent to the right side of the specimen sheet. Could that be the COLLECTOR NUMBER?

A: In this case, the number you have spotted is most likely the filling number for the family of plants to which this specimen belongs. These family filing numbers will always be between 3 and 313, and penciled in at precisely this location above the collection label. Often a 2-3 letter abbreviation for the geographic region of the collection (US, EUR, SA, CA, WI, PAC, TAS, NAS) will appear penciled immediately above or below this family number on the sheet. You will not record this number anywhere in your transcription.

Q13: I want to view a higher-resolution image of the herbarium specimen I am transcribing, but when I tried searching the NYBG Virtual Herbarium using the barcode number, I got no results. What should I do?

A: *There should be an electronic record and high-resolution image available in the NYBG Virtual Herbarium for every specimen you encounter on Notes from Nature. If your search comes up empty, try the following three steps:

1. *If you entered any “0”s before the first non-zero digit in the barcode, then remove those zeros and search again. Alternatively, if you did not enter zeros at the start, try entering all zeros exactly as they appear on the barcode.
2. Double check that you have correctly typed the barcode number from the specimen, and are using either the basic search bar, or the “Barcode” field.
3. If these solutions do not work than in all likelihood the NYBG Virtual herbarium may be offline temporarily for maintenance. If you encounter this situation, please send me an email with the barcode number of the specimen you are trying to transcribe.*

Q14: My label only displays a short-hand version of the COLLECTOR NAME, but I can confidently determine from clues on the label and similar collections in the NYBG Virtual Herbarium the full name of the collector. What should I do?

A: In these cases, you may add your interpretation in square brackets (HUH version of the name if available) following the verbatim phrase found on the label: ie. WDM [Miller, Waldron de Witt]