Decipher our collections,
discover hidden archives
and contribute to knowledge

The Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh has around 32 historical accession books, spanning over a century, that hold invaluable information about plant introductions, collectors, distribution, and horticultural priorities across generations. 

We are working with an Intern to digitise the books and now need to find the most appropriate method to obtain transcription of the data held within.

The early books are in an extremely cursive script that can be hard to read, and they have been a major source of information for over 140 years, so they are well used documeents.

The project aims to integrate these datasets into the current Living Collection Management system and investigate what historical analyses may be possible.