Bailey-Matthews National Shell Museum

The Bailey-Matthews National Shell Museum will improve the accessibility and expand the use of its collection through a comprehensive digitization project that will increase its visibility and strengthen its ability to serve its constituency. The museum will hire two part-time collection associates to work with volunteer curatorial assistants to facilitate the processing, storage, and distribution of images of selected biological specimens and related objects from the collection. The museum will purchase specialized photographic equipment, computer hardware, and software to support the project activities which represent the continuation of a two-phase cataloging project funded by previous IMLS grant awards. Upon completion of the project, the museum will have posted online 50,820 images of 9,240 specimens representing 6,851 species. The images will include, for each specimen, several views of the shell, preserved animals, and original collection labels and notes.