File:Coconis et al 2022 poster.jpg

Abstract: Maximizing the value, utility, and visibility of biodiversity collections through digitization is a major focus of natural history museums. However, small museums with limited staff and resources often struggle to participate in such modernization efforts. Collaborations, such as multi-departmental partnerships within a university and undergraduate internship programs, may provide opportunities for smaller museums to tackle collection digitization initiatives. The University of Nevada Reno (UNR) Museum of Natural History partnered with the University Libraries at UNR to produce 3-D scans of skulls cataloged in our mammal collection and store them on a digital database. With the effort of undergraduate interns both in the Museum and in the Library Makerspace, some of which were funded through university work-study programs, we have increased our digitization efforts and connected students and faculty with biological specimens in the Museum’s collections. This partnership also provided students hands-on experience with new technology that is used across a variety of industries, supporting general professional skills. Inter-university community access to these 3-D scans is available both through an Arctos Project and the UNR Digital Archives Library Page. The initial intent of this project for our museum was to increase virtual educational resources for use by K-12 science educators. We aim to expand the initiative and allow these scans to also be available for scientific research-based use. This project is an example of how interdisciplinary collaboration across an institution can effectively allow small museums to implement cutting edge digitization efforts despite limited resources.