About the Biological Collections Portal of the Universidad Nacional de Colombia
The Portal of Scientific Collections of the National University of Colombia is an open access web space that aims to make available to society the set of research resources systematically collected for over 150 years by different departments of the University, currently integrated into the Scientific Collections System.
The portal is the digital representation of an immense collection of physical specimens and objects. Around 7 million specimens of diverse nature -along with their associated information- are catalogued and housed in more than 69 scientific collections that safeguard, protect, conserve, document and disseminate this heritage in its cultural, scientific, environmental and natural dimensions. This is a strategy to preserve and maintain over time the knowledge and wisdom about the diversity of the natural world.
The core of the collections are their specimens: representative samples of living organisms or objects. They bear the imprint of the multiple scientific practices undertaken by the University, research to address social, economic and political problems, and local initiatives to safeguard the knowledge that surrounds the diverse communities of the nation.
In this virtual space, the physical object or specimen -along with its associated information- is translated into digital data, accounting for the greatest number of characteristics of the specimens and collections.The data on locality, distribution, taxonomy, behavior, materiality, denomination and the multiple people who participated in their study are systematically integrated for consultation by society.
The scientific collections of UNAL
To date, 69 collections from 7 of the 9 sites of the University have joined efforts with the Vice Rector’s Office for Research to connect and represent together the identity of their scientific, social and biocultural work; work in which they have participated for more than a century. They are historical and contemporary collections, diverse in their typology and in the way they have stored and organized their specimens, because the beings and resources are diverse, the problems of the territories are diverse and the ways in which the collections have participated in their solution are diverse. Accessing them is an opportunity to understand our physical, social and historical environment.
The collections preserve the trace of our interaction with nature over time; multiple ways of understanding and interacting with the other beings and resources that inhabit and have inhabited the national territory. Living organisms, soils, minerals, rocks, fossil records, and archeological objects make up a diverse repertoire consolidated by academic and local communities that have organized each of their collections in a particular and original way.
The nature of the specimens is diverse and includes all kinds of scales: from cell cultures of bacteria, algae and fungi, to samples of plants and animals. From geological records of soil profiles, minerals and fossils, to archaeological objects that show the cultural practices of past human communities in their relationship with their natural environment; conserving artifacts, ceramic pieces and fragments, lithic, bone, xylic, fabrics with fibers and remains of fauna and flora. Finally, the living collections are integrated with botanical gardens, arboretums, interpretation trails and biological stations.
The specimens are accompanied by multiple documentary sources such as inventories, catalogs, logs, photographs, illustrations, publications, historical archives and field notes in physical and digital formats. These resources are preserved in a variety of physical spaces ranging from exclusive conservation sites, research and teaching laboratories, as well as multipurpose spaces for teaching, research and outreach.