The Natures of Digital Practices. People, Objects, and Data Mobilities in Natural History Collections

Natural history collections play a vital role in biodiversity conservation, climate monitoring, and public health protection. However, challenges such as the loss of historical collections in museums, the crisis in taxonomic research, and the decline of sampling activities have compromised their integrity. Can digitisation offer solutions to these issues? On the one hand, this multidisciplinary Focus explores the role of digital practices in managing natural history collections and the contribution made by the humanities and social sciences. On the other, it examines the impact of ‘digital natural history objects’ on the history of science and museum studies. Topics include the digitisation process, the relationship between physical and digital objects, social aspects of digitisation projects, and potential biases in digital platforms. The contribution of archival sources to the study of natural history collections and decolonising practices are also discussed.