TU Berlin’s extensive holdings are well cataloged in analog form. The approximately 100,000 minerals in the collection, which dates back to the 18th century, are documented in inventory books upon receipt. Additionally, a card catalog sorted by mineral name contains further information on the specimens and is available for research.
The goal of the pilot digitization project was to lay the groundwork for the urgent digitization of this historically and scientifically significant collection. To this end, the project digitized minerals collected by a German miner who worked in the Tsumeb Mine in Namibia.
Data from the relevant section of the inventory book was transcribed and linked with the keyword file data for the recorded minerals. Photographs were taken of some of these objects, as well as of their labels, which are often available in multiple copies from different processing periods. The mineral names were enriched with reference data, including taxonomic identification according to several systems, as well as a compilation of scientific and common names in German and English.
Results
Structured, linked data on 1,753 collection objects and 7,635 index card entries; for further processing, the data is temporarily stored in a temporary database (data hotel).
Photographic documentation of 206 selected items, along with corresponding labels. These digital copies have already been shown at an exhibition at the minerals’ place of origin in Tsumeb, Namibia.
Data inspector front-end for visualizing the data, as well as digital copies for internal use.
Calculation basis for the necessary expenditure on work capacity and material resources for a possible future overall digitization of the collection.
The results of the pilot digitization are also used for a demonstrator for object presentation on our collection portal.
