The Digital Services unit at the University Libraries has recently digitized mineral thin sections from the Great Basin Science Sample and Records Library (GBSSRL), Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology. The rock samples were gathered by geologist Robert Coats in the 1950s, from different quadrangles in Elko County. The samples were made into rock thin sections and mounted in microscope slides.
Nathan Gerth and Katherine Dirk in Digital Services collaborated with Emily O’Dean, Geoscience Data Manager and GBSSRL Manager, and David Davis, Geologic Information Specialist, to identify samples that could be digitized. O’Dean and Davis provided expertise on the materials, descriptive metadata, and proper lighting. To make these samples available online, the Head of Metadata and Cataloging, Emily Boss, used the metadata from GBSSRL to make the samples searchable in the Digital Archive.
“This was an interesting project because we had not captured thin sections before,” Dirk said. “My team essentially had to create a microscopic view, with our 120 mm camera lens and lightbox. While we regularly digitize negatives on a lightbox, with the thin sections, we had an added element of capturing them in regular lighting and in cross-polarized light using polarized film sheets.”
When viewed under polarized light, minerals present in the sample will appear in different colors and intensity, making them easy to identify.
University students, faculty, and staff can access the thin section samples at the University of Nevada, Reno Libraries' Digital Archive, in the Great Basin Science Sample and Records Library, Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology digital collection. Users interested in viewing other digital collections of unique materials, can browse them on the Libraries’ Digital Archive.
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