label-butterflies.com, a crowd-sourced science project.
Sept 3, 2013 7:57:37 GMT -8
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Post by nomihoudai on Sept 3, 2013 7:57:37 GMT -8
It is now time to reveal the mystery. I can proudly announce that my new website is finally finished. A concept which came to my mind over a year ago.
During the last centuries an invaluable amount of information has been gathered by a vast number of entomologists. Numerous journals do exist and have compiled thousands, even millions, of pages. Another very important information resource in an entomologists life are insect collections and their labels. Yet, extracting the information of these labels in bulk proves difficult. Some labels are handwritten, some contain different types of font. Many of them are obstructed partially by the insect pin or butterfly when seen from any angle. Despite all these problems the entomologist has little trouble reading the label.
I have designed a website where people can register accounts and get shown butterfly labels from different museums around the world. The task is now to transcribe the information from the label into an easy form. In this way the data becomes digitally available to researchers. In order to make this a joyful experience I have added a little game. For each label you transcribe, you earn a credit. With these credits you can try to unlock 30 different butterflies that will be on display in your profile.
A tutorial will guide you through the process and explain everything about the website.
As many here will recognize, the butterflies that you will see are entirely out of the Lycaenidae family. The transcribed data will be made public and free to use via another website that I am working on. This website should become a compendium of the biology and taxonomy of the Lycaenidae family.
I hope that the page will be a lot of fun. I thank already anyone that wants to participate and contribute. This thread here is open for discussions.
Thanks, Claude.
During the last centuries an invaluable amount of information has been gathered by a vast number of entomologists. Numerous journals do exist and have compiled thousands, even millions, of pages. Another very important information resource in an entomologists life are insect collections and their labels. Yet, extracting the information of these labels in bulk proves difficult. Some labels are handwritten, some contain different types of font. Many of them are obstructed partially by the insect pin or butterfly when seen from any angle. Despite all these problems the entomologist has little trouble reading the label.
I have designed a website where people can register accounts and get shown butterfly labels from different museums around the world. The task is now to transcribe the information from the label into an easy form. In this way the data becomes digitally available to researchers. In order to make this a joyful experience I have added a little game. For each label you transcribe, you earn a credit. With these credits you can try to unlock 30 different butterflies that will be on display in your profile.
A tutorial will guide you through the process and explain everything about the website.
As many here will recognize, the butterflies that you will see are entirely out of the Lycaenidae family. The transcribed data will be made public and free to use via another website that I am working on. This website should become a compendium of the biology and taxonomy of the Lycaenidae family.
I hope that the page will be a lot of fun. I thank already anyone that wants to participate and contribute. This thread here is open for discussions.
PLEASE SHARE THE LINK WITH YOUR FRIENDS IF YOU LIKE THE CONCEPT.
Thanks, Claude.
