The Natural History Museum, London, is midway through a project to convert the wealth of data locked in its card archives into an online database of biodiversity and taxonomic information.

The museum is partnering with the University of Essex on the development of the database, and has enlisted the aid of Boulder, Colo.-based Parascript, whose FieldScript software is being used to translate legacy typewritten, handprinted, or cursive handwritten data into a digital format.