Remote curation and outreach: examples from the NCSU Insect Museum GigaPan Project

<p>Insect specimens preserved in publicly accessible, permanent collections are integral data resources for researchers and a<br>valuable tool for engaging the public about biology. Natural history museum policies intended to protect specimens from<br>damage, however, usually prevent people from accessing these insects in meaningful ways. We propose using the GigaPan<br>system—as part of a larger collection digitization effort—to enable virtual exploration of our specimen holdings through<br>high-quality images of all of our insect drawers (~2,700 in total). We envision at least two outcomes from this process: a)<br>researchers worldwide will be able to remotely identify insect specimens and/or read their associated data labels, and b) nonentomologists<br>will gain a new resource with which to learn about insect diversity, biology, and structure, as well as museum<br>science more generally. Capturing the dialog from these two processes, as annotations, snapshots, emails, and other<br>correspondence, will lead to iterative improvement of our collection, more efficient loan requests, more informed specimen<br>donations, and highly effective outreach experiences.</p>