Comments on: Using the iPad in museum work http://woostergeologists.scotblogs.wooster.edu/2011/08/08/using-the-ipad-in-museum-work/ A World to Explore Mon, 17 Jun 2013 21:47:26 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.5.1 By: Mark Wilson http://woostergeologists.scotblogs.wooster.edu/2011/08/08/using-the-ipad-in-museum-work/comment-page-1/#comment-5634 Mark Wilson Tue, 09 Aug 2011 20:57:46 +0000 http://woostergeologists.scotblogs.wooster.edu/?p=4669#comment-5634 Hey Kathy! And what great collections you have. For me lower quality images are fine — if the specimen is worth pursuing, I’ll take the higher quality photographs later. It does matter that at least a paleontologist takes the catalog photos. I recall a guide to fossils with museum photos taken by a non-paleontologist who simply didn’t know what was important. The images are mostly unhelpful. (A photo of dozens of tiny spiriferids in a tray isn’t useful for identifying the species!)

]]> By: Kathy Hollis http://woostergeologists.scotblogs.wooster.edu/2011/08/08/using-the-ipad-in-museum-work/comment-page-1/#comment-5633 Kathy Hollis Tue, 09 Aug 2011 20:47:49 +0000 http://woostergeologists.scotblogs.wooster.edu/?p=4669#comment-5633 I love this! I’ve been thinking of ways to use iPads to quickly catalog, photo, and barcode specimens here at NMNH.

Our approach to imaging specimens so far is to take the best quality photo possible with DSLRs and copystands. The images are then attached to specimens’ catalog records and can be viewed on our online database: http://collections.nmnh.si.edu/search/paleo/
This approach is time consuming and expensive especially considering the enormousness of the Paleo collections.

There are pros and cons to both low quality and high quality imaging approaches. In your opinion, would having specimen images like yours above be just as beneficial to your research as higher quality images? Does it matter that you took them and not someone unfamiliar with the specimens?

]]> By: Mark Wilson http://woostergeologists.scotblogs.wooster.edu/2011/08/08/using-the-ipad-in-museum-work/comment-page-1/#comment-5631 Mark Wilson Tue, 09 Aug 2011 14:15:02 +0000 http://woostergeologists.scotblogs.wooster.edu/?p=4669#comment-5631 I’ll try it, Meagen. How cool will that be?!

]]> By: Meagen Pollock http://woostergeologists.scotblogs.wooster.edu/2011/08/08/using-the-ipad-in-museum-work/comment-page-1/#comment-5630 Meagen Pollock Tue, 09 Aug 2011 13:21:02 +0000 http://woostergeologists.scotblogs.wooster.edu/?p=4669#comment-5630 I just learned that the iPad can be used to take images of thin sections (even in crossed polars with polarizing film). Since the iPad is so portable, an iPad thin section library would be a useful reference for lab.

]]> By: Mark Wilson http://woostergeologists.scotblogs.wooster.edu/2011/08/08/using-the-ipad-in-museum-work/comment-page-1/#comment-5626 Mark Wilson Tue, 09 Aug 2011 01:04:11 +0000 http://woostergeologists.scotblogs.wooster.edu/?p=4669#comment-5626 Thanks, Bob. I love that phrase: “geo out”!

]]> By: bob davies http://woostergeologists.scotblogs.wooster.edu/2011/08/08/using-the-ipad-in-museum-work/comment-page-1/#comment-5625 bob davies Tue, 09 Aug 2011 01:00:20 +0000 http://woostergeologists.scotblogs.wooster.edu/?p=4669#comment-5625 Great post, I would have loved to have had the ipad while rummaging through drawers working on my thesis. I love my wife’s ipad2…. soon, i’ll have one to geo out on. :)
Thanks for the info- the Crinoid Tree of life on Prof Ausich’s page is one I’ll refer to students.
http://tolweb.org/Crinoidea/19232

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