© Commonwealth of Australia (Geoscience Australia) 2017. This material is released under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence. (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode)

Breathing new life into old collections: Revitalising Geoscience Australia’s microscope slide-based collections through the use of Citizen Science

For Further Information: John Pring Email: john.pring@ga.gov.au Ph: +61 2 6249 9108 Web: www.ga.gov.au

Introduction Over the last century or so Geoscience Australia, and its predecessors, have been collecting rock samples from around the world, with a particular focus on Australia and the region. Some 250 000+ thin section microscope slides have been produced from these samples and we continue to produce them today. The management system for this collection has evolved organically in parallel with the collection of the samples but has remained largely hardcopy based (Figure 1) and has suffered from a lack of resourcing. While the collection is technically publicly available the hardcopy management system has acted as an inhibitor to the wider use of this public asset.

Defining the Issue What is a ‘Thin Section’ Microscope Slide Thin sections were, and still are, used to assist geologists in the study of rocks and rock formations. In most cases they consist of very thin (≈30µm) slivers of rock mounted on a glass slide (Figure 2). These slides are viewed/imaged under different lighting (plane and cross polarised light) to highlight aspects of the mineralogy of the rock.

Modern World Because the collections have not been readily available in digital form their use and access has been much reduced. This is a valuable resource with an estimated cost of reacquiring and reproducing in excess of $100M (Aus). In many cases it may also be difficult to impossible to recollect as many are from very remote locations.

The solution The Use of Citizen Science The use of citizen science is a relatively new way of working within Geoscience Australia and the idea of using the process for the transcription of geological records by non-expert citizens was initially met with scepticism in some areas.

Through the use of the DigiVol platform developed by the Australian Museum in collaboration with the Atlas of Living Australia, the enthusiastic efforts of web-based volunteers and their eye for detail (Figure 3), approximately 35 000 records will be loaded into the electronic databases. This was done over approximately 9 months as part of a pilot project. Once loaded these records (including IGSN (Ref 4)) will be available over the internet via OGC Web

services. The non-tangible benefits of using the DigiVol platform (Figure 4) includes raising the profile of Geoscience Australia with a section of the community that has had no previous association with the agency. A number of the volunteers also commented on the positive mental stimulus that the process provided.

In house volunteers The transcription process was also assisted greatly by having access to retired employees returning to the organisation in a volunteer capacity. These people aided in the deciphering of the original cataloguing systems. The careers of these individuals started in the early 1960s, when many of the samples were collected or the geologists who collected them were known to the volunteers. With the reducing availability of these individuals a certain time pressure to transcribe the records is evident and the process will become exponentially harder with the passage of time.

Longer Term In an ideal world The transcription of all 250 000+ records will take some years, and the continued enthusiasm of volunteers.

These data will progressively become available via OGC compliant web services. Through the use of linked data, and the provision of IGSN and images of the slides, the slides themselves could be made available in a similar manner to the British Geological Survey (Figure 5).

Interesting Discoveries While working with these slides a number with potential historical significance have emerged. (Figures 6 & 7)

John Pring, Richard Blewett, Billie Poignand, Oliver Raymond, David Champion, Irina Bastrakova, Neal Evans, Peter Butler and Alastair Stewart

GA 15-xxxx | eCat 112185

References 1. DigiVol citizen science transcription site available from https://volunteer.ala.org.au/ accessed 1

August 2017 2. Geoscience Australia eCat Record http://pid.geoscience.gov.au/dataset/112185, created 28 Aug

2017 3. British Geological Survey

(http://www.bgs.ac.uk/data/britrocks/britrocks.cfc?method=searchBritrocks) (Sample #S79530) accessed 14 September 2017

4. IGSN (International Geo Sample Number) http://www.geosamples.org/igsnabout accessed 14 November 2017

Figure 1: Drawers of Sample Submission cards. (Insert clockwise from top) 1967 Example Submission form; 1972 Example

Submission form; Partial page from Minerals register (entries dated 1928)

Figure 2: Pictorial representation of a Thin Section Microscope Slide. (Insert from left) Camping out in Sand Dunes area, SW Canning Basin WA 1956 (Geoscience Australia (Ref G/5016)); Example Rock (Sample ID 98968018B); Example Thin Section Microscope Slide (Sample ID 98968018B) Images from example slide (Sample ID 98968018B) (Left – Plane

polarised light; Right – Cross Polarised light)

Figure 3. DigiVol Volunteers (examples)

Figure 4: Example DigiVol Transcription screen

Figure 5: Example Page (British Geological Survey (Ref 3) with image of slide

Figure 6: Microscope slides produced from samples collected by Sir Douglas Mawson Antarctic expedition (1911-14)

Figure 7: Microscope slides produced as part of early investigations for the Snowy Mountain scheme (c 1948)

AGU Abstract Number - 237531John