InvertNet.org: Cyber-infrastructure for high-throughput invertebrate collection digitization

InvertNet aims to support digitization and delivery of specimen-level data and images for invertebrate collections, beginning with 22 arthropod collections in the midwestern USA. The project is implementing high-throughput digitization workflows that reduce the per-specimen cost of digitization while protecting specimens from unnecessary handling. The data captured include high-resolution images of whole drawers of pinned specimens, vials of ethanol-preserved material, and specimens mounted on microscope slides. By exposing these images,InvertNet will provide rapid access to entire collections, facilitate capture of specimen-level data, and provide a platform for long-term preservation of, and access to, collection data.