Scientific user requirements for a herbarium data portal

Area of Science:

• Botany and Biodiversity Science
• Digital Humanities
• Information Science

Background:

• Digitization of herbaria and online access are crucial for global plant collection accessibility.
• This initiative aims to improve taxonomic research efficiency and reduce scientific inequalities.
• The Botanic Garden Meise is digitizing 1.2 million specimens, including label data.

Purpose of the Study:

• To conduct a user requirements analysis for a new herbarium web portal.
• To identify essential functionalities for software development and data acquisition.
• To prioritize features based on the needs of primary users: taxonomists, ecologists, and historians.

Main Methods:

• Conducted interactive interviews with potential users from universities, research institutions, science-policy initiatives, and the Botanic Garden Meise.
• Focused on the needs of taxonomists, ecologists, and historians as primary users.
• Analyzed requirements for data accessibility, interlinking, and interactive features.

Main Results:

• Users require comprehensive specimen data, interlinked with other digital resources.
• Demand for interactive systems allowing online comments and corrections to improve data reliability.
• Essential data fields include taxonomic name, location, date, collector, and collection number.
• High-quality images are valued for data verification, even with transcribed labels.
• Disagreement exists regarding user access levels and data/image manipulation permissions.

Conclusions:

• User needs highlight the importance of accessible, interlinked, and verifiable digital herbarium data.
• Current technical and regulatory landscapes present challenges to fully implementing all user requirements.
• The study provides guidance for other herbaria prioritizing digitization investments and web functionality.
• No off-the-shelf solution currently meets all identified user requirements.