Schweizer Netzwerk Naturhistorische Sammlungen (SwissCollNet)

The Swiss Academy of Sciences (SCNAT) and a large network of experts from museums, botanical gardens, institutions of higher education and partners have joined forces to launch SwissCollNet, the Swiss Natural History Collections Network.

With more than 60 million specimens of animals, plants, fungi, rocks, soil samples and fossils, Switzerland’s museums, universities, and botanical gardens store a remarkable scientific and patrimonial national treasure. However, less than one in five of these objects is digitized. This means that a large part of some unique data on biodiversity and the environment is not easily accessible for research, education and society.

Objectives

• Promote modern standards in management and curation of collections
• Modernise and digitise natural history collections
• Provide open access to harmonised specimen data of Swiss institutions through an online-portal, the Swiss Virtual Natural History Collection (SVNHC)
• Promote and support the scientific potential of collections for research
• Integrate the Swiss natural history collections into international initiatives