CIRSS Seminar: Andrea Thomer

Doctoral candidate Andrea Thomer will present, "A framework for the curation of digital collections from scientifically significant sites."

Abstract: Scientifically significant sites such as national parks and other protected lands have unique and complex digital curation needs, driven by the unique natural phenomena at these sites as well as the complex needs of their stakeholders. However, these needs are not well served by existing digital curation best practices. Through case studies of geobiology research at Yellowstone National Park and paleontology research at the La Brea Tar Pits, I develop a framework for the curation of digital collections at scientifically significant sites. This framework identifies three classes of information that must be captured to create robust site-based collections: information about a collecting event; information about a measurement, specimen or sample; and information about a site's structure.

Thomer conducts research in the areas of digital curation, natural history museum informatics, information organization, and information system usability. She is particularly interested in the long-term usability of digital collections and their infrastructures. She currently holds early career fellowships with the Research Data Alliance, and the Earth Science Information Partners Federation. Prior to her graduate studies, Thomer was an excavator at the La Brea Tar Pits; she continues to draw on her experience in paleontology and museums in her work.