Natural history collections are the backbone of biological sciences, providing the physical reference material for species names, which are essential for scientific communication, food and medicine, nature conservation, and legal and regulatory frameworks. Despite their significance, these collections are often underappreciated and underfunded, with both the public and scientific community largely unaware of their importance and the insights they provide. This paper outlines our approach to enhancing the visibility and accessibility of natural history collections through a hosted portal in cooperation with the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF).
GBIF is an international network and data infrastructure that provides open access to biodiversity data from around the world. By publishing natural history collections data in GBIF, they become available for research, education, and policy-making. We show ongoing efforts in digitization and imaging at the Arctic University Museum of Norway, as a case to demonstrate how natural history collections can be made widely available. The hosted portal https://specimens.tromsomuseum.no/en currently gives access to 495,203 museum numbers, each of which can contain several specimens, within the zoological and botanical collections. Each record contains the data originally recorded on the label and, if available, an image of the specimen.
Open access has increased the visibility and utilization of our museum records, contributing to 1,340 publications to date. This underscores the potential of open access in raising the profile of natural history collections. We aim to inspire greater engagement and support from the scientific community and funding bodies. By emphasizing the importance of collections for scientific discovery and conservation we envision a future where natural history collections are actively used and well-funded. This vision supports a wide range of scientific and educational initiatives, ensuring that natural history collections continue to contribute valuable insights to our understanding of biodiversity.
