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1. Putting U.S. collections on the map: collaborative digitization and innovation

   Bieler, Rüdiger; Bogan, Arthur E; Criales, Maria M; Dietl, Gregory P; Duda_Jr, Tom F; Fuchs, Corinne E; Giribet, G; Goodheart, Jessica A; Leal, José H; Lee, Taehwan; et al (October 2025, The Nautilus)

   Leal, JH; Bieler, R (Ed.)

   Among biocollections, mollusks are a particularly powerful resource for a wide range of studies, including biogeography, conservation, ecology, environmental monitoring, evolutionary biology, and systematics. U.S. mollusk collections are housed in stand-alone natural history museums, at universities, and in a variety of governmental and non-governmental institutions. Differing in their histories, specializations, and uses, they share common needs for long-term development, and collectively contribute to biodiversity knowledge at regional, national, and global scales. Commitment by dedicated staff, collectors, and volunteers, institutional investments, philanthropy, and governmental funding have built and maintained these collections and their support infrastructure. Efforts by the North American malacological collection community since the early 1970s led to coordination in database design but left the data isolated in individual institutions. Collection digitization developed through a combination of individual/institutional initiatives and federally supported projects funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS). Advances in digital technology enabled the shift toward nationally and globally unified collections. Networking and collaboration were greatly accelerated by NSF’s Advancing Digitization of Biodiversity Collections (ADBC) program, which created a central coordinating organization (iDigBio) and funded Thematic Collections Network (TCN) projects. One such TCN was developed to mobilize nearly 90% of the known U.S. museum-collections-based data of the U.S. Atlantic and Gulf coasts (Mobilizing Millions of Marine Mollusks of the Eastern Seaboard—ESB). The project, involving 16 museum collections (plus the Smithsonian Institution as federal partner), combines data from approximately 4.5 million specimens collected from the ESB region and makes them available to the TCN portal InvertEBase and other aggregators such as iDigBio and GBIF. In addition to fostering community and expanding the corpus of available digitized mollusk records through new data entry and georeferencing (GEOLocate, CoGe) and standardizing taxonomy, the project drove key innovations for the invertebrate collections community. For instance, it worked with the Biodiversity Information Standards (TDWG) group to create a new Darwin Core standard term, “Vitality”, expanded GEOLocate to support complex geospatial types, integrated global elevation and bathymetric datasets directly into georeferencing workflow, and developed various education and outreach public outreach products. Synthesizing from the 15 following articles with individual histories of ESB-participating mollusk collections, several topics are discussed—such as what defines a “good” mollusk collection in the digital age and the importance of federal support for this national resource. 

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2. Putting U.S. mollusk collections on the map: collaborative digitization and innovation

   Bieler, R; Bogan, A; Criales, M; Dietl, G; Duda, T; Fuchs, C; Giribet, G; Goodheart, J; Leal, J; Lee, T; et al (October 2025, The Nautilus)

   Among biocollections, mollusks are a particularly powerful resource for a wide range of studies, including biogeography, conservation, ecology, environmental monitoring, evolutionary biology, and systematics. U.S. mollusk collections are housed in stand-alone natural history museums, at universities, and in a variety of governmental and non-governmental institutions. Differing in their histories, specializations, and uses, they share common needs for long-term development, and collectively contribute to biodiversity knowledge at regional, national, and global scales. Commitment by dedicated staff, collectors, and volunteers, institutional investments, philanthropy, and governmental funding have built and maintained these collections and their support infrastructure. Efforts by the North American malacological collection community since the early 1970s led to coordination in database design but left the data isolated in individual institutions. Collection digitization developed through a combination of individual/institutional initiatives and federally supported projects funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS). Advances in digital technology enabled the shift toward nationally and globally unified collections. Networking and collaboration were greatly accelerated by NSF’s Advancing Digitization of Biodiversity Collections (ADBC) program, which created a central coordinating organization (iDigBio) and funded Thematic Collections Network (TCN) projects. One such TCN was developed to mobilize nearly 90% of the known U.S. museum-collections-based data of the U.S. Atlantic and Gulf coasts (Mobilizing Millions of Marine Mollusks of the Eastern Seaboard—ESB). The project, involving 16 museum collections (plus the Smithsonian Institution as federal partner), combines data from approximately 4.5 million specimens collected from the ESB region and makes them available to the TCN portal InvertEBase and other aggregators such as iDigBio and GBIF. In addition to fostering community and expanding the corpus of available digitized mollusk records through new data entry and georeferencing (GEOLocate, CoGe) and standardizing taxonomy, the project drove key innovations for the invertebrate collections community. For instance, it worked with the Biodiversity Information Standards (TDWG) group to create a new Darwin Core standard term, “Vitality”, expanded GEOLocate to support complex geospatial types, integrated global elevation and bathymetric datasets directly into georeferencing workflow, and developed various education and outreach public outreach products. Synthesizing from the 15 following articles with individual histories of ESB-participating mollusk collections, several topics are discussed—such as what defines a “good” mollusk collection in the digital age and the importance of federal support for this national resource. 

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3. Assessment of North American arthropod collections: prospects and challenges for addressing biodiversity research

   https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.8086  

   Cobb, Neil S.; Gall, Lawrence F.; Zaspel, Jennifer M.; Dowdy, Nicolas J.; McCabe, Lindsie M.; Kawahara, Akito Y. (January 2019, PeerJ)

   Over 300 million arthropod specimens are housed in North American natural history collections. These collections represent a “vast hidden treasure trove” of biodiversity −95% of the specimen label data have yet to be transcribed for research, and less than 2% of the specimens have been imaged. Specimen labels contain crucial information to determine species distributions over time and are essential for understanding patterns of ecology and evolution, which will help assess the growing biodiversity crisis driven by global change impacts. Specimen images offer indispensable insight and data for analyses of traits, and ecological and phylogenetic patterns of biodiversity. Here, we review North American arthropod collections using two key metrics, specimen holdings and digitization efforts, to assess the potential for collections to provide needed biodiversity data. We include data from 223 arthropod collections in North America, with an emphasis on the United States. Our specific findings are as follows: (1) The majority of North American natural history collections (88%) and specimens (89%) are located in the United States. Canada has comparable holdings to the United States relative to its estimated biodiversity. Mexico has made the furthest progress in terms of digitization, but its specimen holdings should be increased to reflect the estimated higher Mexican arthropod diversity. The proportion of North American collections that has been digitized, and the number of digital records available per species, are both much lower for arthropods when compared to chordates and plants. (2) The National Science Foundation’s decade-long ADBC program (Advancing Digitization of Biological Collections) has been transformational in promoting arthropod digitization. However, even if this program became permanent, at current rates, by the year 2050 only 38% of the existing arthropod specimens would be digitized, and less than 1% would have associated digital images. (3) The number of specimens in collections has increased by approximately 1% per year over the past 30 years. We propose that this rate of increase is insufficient to provide enough data to address biodiversity research needs, and that arthropod collections should aim to triple their rate of new specimen acquisition. (4) The collections we surveyed in the United States vary broadly in a number of indicators. Collectively, there is depth and breadth, with smaller collections providing regional depth and larger collections providing greater global coverage. (5) Increased coordination across museums is needed for digitization efforts to target taxa for research and conservation goals and address long-term data needs. Two key recommendations emerge: collections should significantly increase both their specimen holdings and their digitization efforts to empower continental and global biodiversity data pipelines, and stimulate downstream research. 

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4. Natural history museums are missing an opportunity to present research and collections on YouTube

   https://doi.org/10.1101/2025.09.16.676522  

   Ruzi, Selina A; Smith, Adrian A; Lee, Nicole M; Galvez, Nicolás J; Dinh, Timothy A (September 2025, bioRxiv)

   Abstract There have been repeated calls in the US for scientists to communicate the importance of biological collections to both a general public audience and to policy makers. Natural history museums that house both collections and research staff while maintaining online media presences, are well positioned to communicate that value. Our study aims to understand how these museums present themselves and their research and collections via YouTube. We created a standardized and repeatable 15-question codebook to categorize content and production choices in museum account YouTube posts. In total, we analyzed 437 videos posted by 28 natural history museums in the US in 2019 and 2023, showing that messages featuring museum science are uncommon. Instead, YouTube users are likely to encounter live event recordings or promotional content related to museum or exhibit information. Research and collections themed content represents an opportunity gap for museums to engage YouTube audiences in science. If natural history museums that maintain both collections and research staff want to answer the repeated calls of communicating the importance of collections in research, then we recommend either (1) incorporating research and collections into their other video types, and/or (2) looking to other YouTube channels, some of which are subsidiary to museum institutional accounts, as a model for research and collections content strategies. 

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5. A framework for the assessment of outreach drawers in insect collections

   https://doi.org/10.3897/nhcm.2.153644  

   Gonzalez, Victor H; Wiggins, Kelsey L; Bonnell, Kade; Girón, Jennifer C (August 2025, Natural History Collections and Museomics)

   Insect research collections often include outreach drawers displaying specimens to enhance public awareness and access to scientific knowledge at various events. Despite their educational value, there is limited understanding of how these drawers are designed, used, or evaluated for quality. As a first step towards understanding these aspects, we surveyed members of the community who use insect drawers for public outreach. Survey results indicate that curators and collection managers consider outreach drawers important and use them widely at events, though they are rarely assessed beyond aesthetics and/or anecdotal audience feedback. The number and thematic scope of these drawers vary significantly among institutions, from as few as 3 to more than 50, and covering topics from collection history to pollinator conservation. However, few institutions display these collections online, limiting access to in-person events. Their maintenance and development are also often constrained by limited funding and staff availability. To guide decisions and efforts to enhance the educational impact and accessibility of outreach drawers, we introduce a quick-assessment tool based on five criteria: information, relevance, aesthetics, potential for engagement and inspiration. The next step is to apply appropriate tools to measure public engagement with these displays. 

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