**MOBILISE Workshop** **Digitization in Italy** ---------- 12-13th September, 2022 Padua, Italy ---------- **Introduction** Italy is an interesting test bed for digitization efforts, since it has ca. 450 different institutions which host natural history collections. These differ in size (from a few large Natural History Museums holding more than 10 million specimens, to very small collections with a few thousand specimens), administration (University, Regional, Municipal, Ecclesiastic, or private institutions), amount of personnel, accessibility, etc. Thus, several different approaches for the digitization of the Italian Natural History Cultural Heritage are necessary. The workshop will start with an opening plenary session in which the draft Italian plan will be presented, followed by presentations describing other European experiences. Then there will be 4 parallel sessions, each devoted to a different topic: Digitisation workflows; Specimen data and GBIF; Protocols and standards for digital imaging; Digital platforms. At the end, the results will be brought together in a plenary session. The main outputs of the workshop will be: - an effective exchange of technology and knowledge between the MOBILISE/DISSCo community and the Italian researchers; - an analysis of the complex and fragmented Italian situation, addressing the issues which could be more impactful on the digitization of Natural History Collections; - the establishment of a strengthened cooperation between Italian Natural History Museums, the DISSCo community, and the GBIF in order to properly publish data in open and FAIR format. ---------- **Leads:** 1. Stefano Martellos (University of Trieste) https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5201-8948 2. Joaquim Santos (University of Coimbra) https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2160-4968 2. Arnald Marcer (CREAF) https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6532-7712 3. Elspeth Haston (Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh) https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9144-2848 ---------- **Agenda:** **Monday 12 March** **09:30 - 13:30** **Plenary session 1** (Moderator: Elspeth Haston) - 9:45-9:50 - [Video presentation of DISSCo and related projects][1] - 9:50-10:02 - [The DiSSCo Digitisation Guidelines website][2] (**Lisa French**) - 10:02-10:14 - [Natural History Collections and the GBIF][3] (**Kyle Copas, GBIF**) - 10:14-10:26 - [Not only specimens: linked data objects in digital collections platforms][4] (**Donat Agosti, Plazi**) - 10:26-10:38 - [Natural History Collections: the Italian landscape][5] (**Fausto Barbagli, National Association of Natural History Museums**) - 10:38-10:50 - [The Digitization Infrastructure of the National Biodiversity Future Center][6] (**Stefano Martellos, University of Trieste**) - 10:50-11:00 - Q&A Coffee break **Plenary session 2** (Moderator: Arnald Marcer) - 11:30-11:42 - [The UK national strategy for digitization][7] (**Laurence Livermore, NHM**) - 11:42-11:54 - [The Danish Network of Natural Science Collections][8] (**Pip Brewer**) - 11:54-12:06 - [The experience of RECOLNAT][9] (**Francois Dusoulier, MNHN**) - 12:06-12:18 - [Digitization in Bulgaria][10] (**Boyko Georgiev**) - 12:18-12:30 - [The digitization at the Museum für Naturkunde, Berlin][11] (**Julia Szalewicz, MfN**) - 12:30-12:42 - [Digitization at the Finnish Museum of Natural History][12] (**Anne Koivunen**) - 12:42-12:54 - [The Wien Herbarium][13] (**Heimo Reiner, NHMW**) - 12:54-13:06 - [The virtual collections of the Meise Botanical Garden][14] (**Mathias Dillen**) - 13:06-13:18 - [Digitization in Norway][15] (**Rukaya Sarah Johaadien**) - 13:18-13:30 - Q&A Lunch **14:45 - 18:00** **Parallel Session 1** ***1. Protocols and standards for digital imaging*** (Moderators: Laurence Livermore, Joaquim Santos) Aim: understanding the current best practices for digital imaging different types of Natural history collections, given the differences in preservation of the specimens (bi- and tri-dimensional objects, dry or in liquid, etc). Questions, etc: Which are the best formats for images in different collections? How many images are necessary for properly expose in the digital domain tri-dimensional objects? should we digital image every single specimen, or should we store images of “relevant” specimens only? ***2. Specimen data and GBIF*** (Moderators: Kyle Copas, Arturo Arino) Aim: Ca. 90% of GBIF data are observations, while specimens data are ca. 200 millions only. Considering the large amount of specimens preserved in the world, this highlights a relevant issue. Is it possible to stimulate the publication of specimen data? Questions, etc: Are specimen data in the GBIF lagging back because they are not shared? or is the real bottleneck the digitization, which is still lagging back in too many countries? Could novel dataset citation strategies improve the publication of specimen data? **20:00 -** ***Dinner*** ---------- **Tuesday 13 September** **09:30 - 13:00** **Parallel Session 2** ***3. Digitisation workflows*** (Moderators: Lisa French, Anne Koivunen) Aim: To discuss whether digitization workflows normally applied in large institutions are suitable for small institutions/collections. Questions, etc: Is it possible to transfer the best practices developed for digitizing large collections in large museums to small collections / museums? Are they sustainable? Or new workflows, specifically fit for small collections / institutions should be developed? Plus, are there workflows for all the possible types of collections? CMS and their minimum requirements to be used in each collection? ***4. Digital platforms*** (Moderators: Heimo Reiner, Francois Dusoulier) Aim: Understanding the desirable features of digital platforms for specimen data, especially as far as laypersons and stakeholders are concerned. Questions, etc: Given that data management and aggregation were already addressed, which other features should digital platforms for specimen data have? How should they expose digital specimens to the general public and to relevant stakeholders? Should they include virtual exhibits? Should they provide lifelong learning interfaces? Furthermore, should they provide services for linking data and digital resources? Lunch **14:00 -** ***Plenary session 3*** (Moderator: Joaquim Santos) - Report from each working group - Wrapping up [1]: https://click.mailerlite.com/link/c/YT0yMDIwMzYwODY0MjA0MzMxMzgzJmM9cDhkNyZiPTEwMDY4MTU5ODImZD16NHQ0bzRp.Qz0uM7OulMkhfkTbwXTcKFltS53v2XARVA9K095-ji0 [2]: https://osf.io/8etn7/files/osfstorage/63244f8d7a3cb200e52e5d36 [3]: https://osf.io/8etn7/files/osfstorage/63245524ba069900cc120d21 [4]: https://osf.io/8etn7/files/osfstorage/632455b0ba069900c5121ace [5]: https://osf.io/8etn7/files/osfstorage/632455c20e683600edcb270a [6]: https://osf.io/8etn7/files/osfstorage/632455e35e9d5200d41f5a5d [7]: https://osf.io/cwxut [8]: https://osf.io/udvcf [9]: https://osf.io/dhx9q [10]: https://osf.io/gjkcm [11]: https://osf.io/6vgb8 [12]: https://osf.io/keavh [13]: https://osf.io/fhe6g [14]: https://osf.io/rwg4u [15]: https://osf.io/a4qwx