eGovWatch: Zoological Survey celebrates 100 years with digitisation

The Zoological Survey of India is celebrating its 100 years by making its vast repository of natural history records and animal specimens available to the public at the click of a button.

Besides having four million specimens of zoological species, the apex body on animal taxonomy also has one of the largest collection of books, manuscripts, old drawings, photographs and other publications on natural history.

Under a Rs 25 crore modernisation and upgradation project to mark its 100 years of operations, ZSI has already digitised around 4500 publications of more than 3 lakh pages.

“Our e-archive of documents dating back to the 19th century are ready. We will put it up on the website so that anyone in the world can access our rich database,” ZSI Director Dr K Venkataraman said.

Besides its headquarters in Kolkata, the documents are spread across its 16 regional centres. The oldest book in its custody dates back to 1547.

Established on July 1, 1916, to promote survey, exploration, research and documentation on animal taxonomy, ZSI’s centenary celebrations will kick off in a grand way with the launch of the e-archive this July.

The director said after digitisation, citation of ZSI scientists will also increase in international journals.

“Now international scientists have to ask for a copy of our research papers and other publications. But now they will have easy access to all our work which will result in increase in citation of ZSI scientists,” Venkataraman said

In the second phase of the modernisation drive, the premier institution under the union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) is also planning to digitise all faunal specimens under its fold.

Once the funds are sanctioned from the ministry, they will begin with digitisation of type specimens, based on which species are named.

Gradually the entire ZSI collection of more than four million faunal specimens will also undergo hi-tech 3D imaging.

“This will protect our valuable collection and make it available for students, researchers and the general public,” Venkataraman said.

Specimens in their collection include microscopic protozoa, insects, butterflies, birds and even large mammals like tigers, rhino and elephants.

Many of these specimens are more than 200-years-old and belong to various parts of the world and not just India.

With 3D images of high-tech quality, the specimens would be classified into various categories based on whether it is protected, endemic or is a commercial species.

Almost all new species discovered by the ZSI after 1900 are of utmost importance as they belong to the threatened category.

“Some of them are in the rarest of rare category. They are on the verge of extinction due to human interference and habitat destruction,” the ZSI director said.

Till then, they have already started upgrading the physical storage system of its specimens.

“We are using de-humidification technology to preserve our collection,” he said.