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Odonata Collections and Databases in Dragonflies & Damselflies: Model Organisms for Ecological and Evolutionary Research

The Odonata community has embraced the benefits afforded by the digital age to access specimens, promote and disseminate data, engage with an ever-growing community of enthusiasts, and answer big questions. Global databases offer the capacity to move beyond simple catalogs, link data and data providers, and create a unified and engaged community. There are millions of odonate specimens currently housed in institutional and private collections, with relatively few digitized and/or imaged. This chapter addresses approaches to data capture, including best practices when digitizing museum collections, ways to enhance the value of specimen data, integration of the Big Data of genetic and phenotypic databases, workflows for efficiency of data capture, and how the large and growing odonate enthusiast community can contribute to these efforts. It also covers how some of these digital efforts are resulting in fewer physical specimens being collected in recent years.

Abbott, J.C. & E.L. Sandall. 2023. Odonata Collections and Databases in Dragonflies & Damselflies: Model Organisms for Ecological and Evolutionary Research, 2nd edition. Oxford University Press.