Shropshire Botanical Society

Project: Herbaria at Home

2009 OPAL grant awarded: £2,000

Shropshire Botanical Society used its OPAL grant to develop the social networking features of the Herbaria at Home website.

Herbaria at Home is a ground-breaking project in which enthusiasts and scientists across the country are helping to digitise the UK’s herbarium sheet collections.

A herbarium sheet consists of a pressed plant and key details about it. The UK has the world's largest collection of these sheets, held by museums, schools and universities.

As a record of plant biodiversity this resource is unparalleled and Herbaria at Home aims to make this information accessible to all. More than 50,000 sheets have already been digitised.

With the website growing in popularity, the Shropshire Botanical Society used its OPAL grant to improve the user experience, enhance the search functionality and develop the message boards to encourage discussion and the sharing of ideas.

The Shropshire Botanical Society has reported that the changes have been a great success, with Herbaria at Home recording its highest level of use in the first two months of 2010. Access to records has also been improved.

Interested in getting involved?
Anyone can contribute to the Herbaria at Home project, and as the title suggests you can do it from the comfort of your own home.  All you need to do is read the labels on the scanned herbarium sheets and type up the information.