Mobilising Historical Botanical Data as Research

Abstract The ‘Vegetable Substances’ collection consists of 8,811 surviving botanical objects and a manuscript catalogue that contains over 12,700 handwritten descriptions of the contents of these boxes, according to the collector, Hans Sloane (1660–1752). This pre-Linnean collection forms part of the founding botanical collection of the Natural History Museum in London, and currently sits at the top of the Darwin Centre. The process of transforming this physical historical collection into something digital began over a decade ago and this focus piece reflects on this digital practice to date. It describes the different stages of creating a public-facing digital resource, and how this practice of mobilising data functions as research.