Zoological Collection – digitisation of flash cards and associated objects

Aim of the project

The objective of this project is to digitise a series of flash cards and associated objects of ETH Zurich’s Zoological Collection in order to enable their use in teaching.

Description of the project

The Zoological Collection includes a series of 40 hand-drawn flash cards (original colour drawings on cardboard). These cards are very detailed, labelled dissection overviews and anatomical overviews of skulls and, in each case, supplement the associated objects (dry or wet preparations) that are also exhibited in the collection. Digital copies of these cards are important for teaching purposes at ETH Zurich; this is partly because they illustrate dissections that are still important and popular activities during the practical part of the zoology course (e.g. starfish, squid or bony fish). Although the origin and authorship of the cards is not precisely known, they certainly date from a period prior to 1953 and form an attractive and integral part of the collection. As all of the original flash cards and objects are exhibited permanently in the atrium of the LFW building, this project will also help to protect their current condition through the creation of digital copies.

Time frame

04.2022–10.2022