From Trout to dace, From dungeon to light

Montana’s fishing has been reeling in anglers and nature lovers for years. MSU’s mountain of data on aquatic insects and fish gathered over the last 100 years confirms this. Sadly, these valuable specimens and field notes haven’t been the easiest to access, but this will change thanks to the art of digitization.

A three-year project named “From the Mountains to the Prairies, From Trout to Dace: Revealing Climate and Population Impacts on Culture, Ecology, and Economy in Montana’s Fisheries” has commenced its digitization and organization process to make the information more accessible. The Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR) gave more than $300,000 in grants to fund this undertaking. Per the CLIR website, it defines itself as “an independent, non-profit organization that strives to enhance research, teaching and learning environments in collaboration with libraries, cultural institutions and communities of higher learning.” The MSU Library, the Department of Ecology and the Montana Entomology Collection make up the team in charge of transforming the old into new.

What will come of this operation is the ability to easily study the biodiversity of Montana’s watery wildlife. A benefit of this project includes transforming data so that children can play with the data through hands-on workshops. The endeavor will take all materials that used to sit on shelves in dark places and bring it to light with the click of a button.