Research and Responsibility: Virtual access to integrated fossil and archival material from the German Tendaguru Expedition (1909-1913)

• Applicant: Dr. Daniela Schwarz
• Subject Area: African, American and Oceania Studies ; Geology ; History of Science
• Term: since 2023
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 511945957

From 1909 to 1913, scientists of the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin organized and conducted the ‘German Tendaguru Expedition` to southern Tanzania (at that time the German colony ‘Deutsch Ostafrika’). The collection of fossil vertebrates and related written and visual material that the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin holds from this expedition is unique in its paleontological and historical significance. The core of the collection is formed by the 230 tons of dinosaur material, which can be regarded in equal measure as part of the world cultural and natural heritage due to its outstanding scientific significance. In addition to the fossils themselves, the extensive archived photographs, correspondences, administrative files, account books, diaries, drawings and the like form a unique source for dealing with palaeontological and historical questions, with a specific focus on the colonial background of the expedition. The current patchy state of digitization of the paleontological and historical Tendaguru materials does not do justice to the outstanding importance of the collections for natural and social science research, which is increasingly based on comprehensive digital resources. Thus, the overall goal of this project is to make the collection accessible worldwide by combining all digital contents (object digital models, data, images and documents, archival materials, results, publications) of the historic German Tendaguru Expedition in one data portal (the “Datenportal” of the MfN) , make them jointly researchable and usable for specific target groups across all object groups, and allow linking an export of data to other specific databases (e.g., GBIF, FossilWorks). We aim to create a digital collection that is globally accessible for scientists and corresponds to the FAIR data principles of the European Commission Expert Group on FAIR Data principles. Making the data available worldwide will serve as a resource for different communities of all countries to develop their own research approaches or use the data for publicity for variable purposes, and will support those people in their research/approach, who cannot afford to travel abroad to visit other collections, thereby contribution to a reduction of the inequality of chances in science. Through the process of this project, it is also aimed to establish workflows and models for suitable methods of 3D digitization of larger collections of fossil vertebrates as well as to establish workflows and guidelines for integrating and making digitally available research objects from colonial contexts.

• DFG Programme: Cataloguing and Digitisation (Scientific Library Services and Information Systems)
• Co-Investigators: Dr. Frederik Berger; Dr. Ina Heumann; Kristin Mahlow; Sandra Miehlbradt; Dr. Mareike Petersen