Museum of Vertebrate Zoology

Main website:	http://mvz.berkeley.edu, see also: http://mvz.berkeley.edu/Grinnell/
Primary contact:	Carla Cicero
Museum description:	The MVZ houses over 640,000 specimens of amphibians, reptiles, birds, bird eggs or nests, and mammals, as well as over 50,000 tissue samples from these vertebrate groups. These research collections are ranked as one of the largest in the United States, and the largest of any university museum. In addition, the Museum has numerous special collections that include archived field notes and photographs, historical annotated maps and correspondence, avian sound recordings, chromosome and histology preparations, Milton Hildebrand anatomical and film collections, artwork related to terrestrial vertebrate natural history, and a library of books, reprints, and journals for curation and research activities. Specimen data are accessible online, and the Museum is working to improve data access to the other collections.
Collection description	The Grinnell Resurvey Project: Celebrating 100 years of study of California biodiversity Nearly a century ago, Joseph Grinnell, the first director of the MVZ, had this vision: “At this point I wish to emphasize what I believe will ultimately prove to be the greatest purpose of our museum. This value will not, however, be realized until the lapse of many years, possibly a century, assuming that our material is safely preserved. And this is that the student of the future will have access to the original record of faunal conditions in California and the west, where-ever we now work” (Joseph Grinnell, 1910). To realize this vision, he and his colleagues documented and collected birds, mammals, amphibians, and reptiles from over 700 locations across California, resulting in a remarkable snapshot of early 20th century biodiversity. As the Museum approaches its centennial anniversary in 2008, it has embarked on an ambitious project to further Grinnell’s vision by extensively resurveying the vertebrates at many of the same historical collecting sites. By documenting changes in faunal communities, and by developing predictive models of how vertebrate diversity will respond to continuing change, the MVZ hopes to increase understanding of the long-term dynamics of vertebrate distribution in California. For more information on this project, see the following website: http://mvz.berkeley.edu/Grinnell/index.html
Project Writeup	Objectives For the Media Vault Proof-of-Concept (POC), the MVZ plans to use a subset of photographs associated with the Grinnell Resurvey Project (Lassen Transect) for the following objectives: Facilitate local management of historical and modern images, and associated metadata, through Extensis Portfolio Provide network access for retrieval of images Show viability of robust, archival storage of historical and modern images, with regular backups Investigate potential solutions for integrating image metadata in Media Vault with Arctos and CalPhotos (i.e., ability to import metadata from the Media Vault into Arctos or CalPhotos, and ability to export image metadata from those sites to the Media Vault). Media and Sizing Of the ~12,000 historical prints in the MVZ collection (ca. 500 GB), a subset of ~600 photographs taken pre-1941 (ca. 60 GB) will be used for the Media Vault Proof-of-Concept. These photographs were taken at or near the Lassen Transect, which has been resurveyed for birds and mammals during 2006 and 2007. Each photograph was scanned in two versions: a 600 ppi image mounted on a data card, and a 1200 ppi scan of the image itself (tiff file format). Both versions will be archived in the Media Vault POC. In addition, modern photographs taken during the 2006-2007 field seasons along the Lassen Transect also will be used for the Media Vault Proof-of-Concept. These photographs were taken by various individuals on different cameras, and probably at different resolutions. The number of photographs in this collection probably range between 1000-2000 (ca. 6GB?). Although the POC will focus on a subset of photographs, the production service would ideally include our entire collection of images (including field notebook scans) as well as other kinds of collections (e.g., digital audio). Criteria for Success The Media Vault Proof-of-Concept project should provide the MVZ with a long-term solution of managing, archiving, and accessing its digital assets (both locally and online). The most important criteria are demonstration of: (1) the ability to manage images and associated metadata locally, (2) the viability of a robust solution for archival storage, and (3) the feasibility of integrating images and data in the Media Vault with Arctos and CalPhotos. Timing The MVZ is planning celebrations for its centennial in 2008. Thus, launching of a Media Vault website with historic and modern images from the Grinnell Resurvey Project by January 2008 would be a laudable goal. Expected Users Contributors to the Media Vault Proof-of-Concept: MVZ curatorial staff (2-3 users). Users: MVZ curatorial staff; UC Berkeley faculty, staff, students; researchers at other institutions; natural resource agencies and environmental consultants; general public.