Be a digital volunteer for the Museum. Extract research data from microscope slides of some of the world's smallest fossils.
Why we are doing the project
The Museum is on a mission to digitise the 80 million specimens in its collection. We want to make the information the specimens hold about the natural world more openly available to scientists and the public.
Among the thousands of microscope slides we have imaged are a collection of microscopic fossils embedded in slices of rock. Now we need your help to transcribe information from the specimen labels so that the data can be used for scientific research.
The smallest shells in the ocean
These thin sections of ancient ocean sediment contain tiny organisms, foraminifera, that lived in shallow tropical seas. The label data will help us learn how our environment, climate and ocean have changed over 500 million years.
How to take part
1. Visit the 'Magnified' group on the Notes from Nature website.
2. (Optional) Register as a member of Zooniverse.
3. Choose 'Miniature Fossils Magnified'.
4. Follow the instructions to transcribe the data from our microscope slides.
Thank you to everyone who helped us transcribe the first 2,071 slides. After these final 1,402 slides have been transcribed, the entire collection will be made publicly available on the Museum's Data Portal.