Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation
A Research Division of Carnegie Mellon University

Hunt Institute Archives Text Discovery Platform

Search a large and growing portion of our online collections, including handwritten documents.
PROTOTYPE

This prototype uses state-of-the-art artificial intelligence, including a vision-language model (VLM) capable of reading handwritten documents as well as typed and printed text, to create searchable transcriptions of digitized materials in the Hunt Institute Archives. This makes it possible to search the textual contents of individual pages, including material that may not be described in the archival catalog.

Use Keyword search for specific words, names, dates, scientific names, or phrases. Try Semantic search (experimental) to describe a topic, question, or kind of material when you do not know the exact wording used in the documents.

About the AI-generated transcriptions

The transcriptions are generated automatically from page images and may contain errors, especially with difficult handwriting, unusual names, multiple languages, image-quality problems, or complex layouts. They are intended primarily as a discovery aid rather than authoritative transcriptions.

Each result provides the generated transcription and links to the original digitized material and associated archival description so that readings can be checked against the source. The transcription workflow uses AI models run locally by the Hunt Institute.

About Keyword and Semantic search

Keyword search is the default and matches the wording in the transcriptions. Results contain all your terms. Use quotes for an exact phrase. Substring matching is supported, so aceae can find plant-family names ending in -aceae.

Semantic search (experimental) is useful when you know what kind of material you are looking for but do not know the words used in the documents. It ranks transcribed passages by similarity of meaning, so relevant results may not contain the exact words in your query.

Semantic queries can be broad research topics, descriptions of activities or relationships, or natural-language questions. For example:

Semantic search is not a chatbot: a question is used as a search query, and the system returns archival passages that appear conceptually related to it rather than generating an answer or summary. Short descriptions and ordinary research questions generally work better than lists of disconnected keywords. Quotation marks have no special meaning in Semantic mode. Cross-language matching may work in some cases, but it should not be treated as translation.

Keyword and Semantic search are complementary. Keyword search lets you require particular wording; Semantic search can surface differently worded passages about the same subject. Depending on the research question, trying both can reveal different useful material.

Open a result: use the prominent page-and-transcription link to see the metadata, PDF, and full transcription. Keyword-search terms are highlighted in the transcription.

Archives Collections Database (ArchivesSpace): the Collection, Item/Folder, and Digital Object links open the corresponding archival records. Collection-level dates describe the collection as a whole, not necessarily the specific item or page.

If a PDF does not load: on the detail page, use the Digital Object link, click “Go to file” in ArchivesSpace, and navigate to the page number shown here.

Current limitations
  • Automated transcriptions can contain missing or incorrect text or unintended repetition. Difficult handwriting, image quality, unusual layouts, and multiple languages can reduce accuracy. Always consult the original page image when an exact reading matters.
  • Semantic search remains experimental. Its rankings are an additional discovery aid, not a complete or definitive set of relevant results, and highly ranked pages can sometimes be only broadly related.
  • This is an active prototype. Search coverage, transcriptions, functionality, and the interface may continue to change as additional archival material is processed and the system is improved.

← Back to results

Page 72 · DO #1191 · 43_Trelease_Bx1FF1r

Collection
William Trelease (1857–1945) papers
Item/Folder
Correspondence 1, 1893–1928
Digital Object
DO #1191, page 72
Collection-level dates
1893–1944
Open PDF at page 72 ↗

Page transcription

INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF PLANT SCIENCES
(FOURTH INTERNATIONAL BOTANICAL CONGRESS)

OFFICERS
L. H. Bailey, President and Presiding
Chairman
M. W. Beijerinck, J. I. Briquet, A. K.
Cafaro, E. C. Chamberlain, F. C. Farwell,
Goebel, W. L. Johannesen, Pacheco
Leao, D. McAlpine, Kingo Miyabe,
E. B. Pratt, G. H. Robinson, S. Sakai,
David Prain, Arrigi Serpieri, Richard
Wells, and J. de Wilde; Honorary Chairmen
J. M. Coulter, Vice-Chairman
The General Secretary
The Treasurer

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
B. M. Dugger, Chairman, General Secretary of the Congress (National Research Council, Washington, D. C.)
H. C. Cowles, Secretary of the Executive Committee (University of Chicago, Chicago, Ill.)
H. H. Whetzel, Chairman Committee on Local Arrangements (Cornell University, Ithaca, New York)
J. R. Schramm, Chairman Program Committee (University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pa.)
L. W. Sharp, Secretary Program Committee (Cornell University, Ithaca, New York)
George T. Moore, Treasurer of the Congress (Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, Missouri)

SECTIONS OF THE CONGRESS
Chairmen of Sections: (Chosen from among the citizens of the United States and citizens from abroad—to be announced later)
Secretaries of Sections: (A list of the Directors of the Section with the Secretaries [largely resident in Ithaca] in executive charge of sectional arrangements will be published later)
R. G. Wiggans, (Agronomy) Cornell University, Ithaca, N. Y.
J. M. Sherman, (Bacteriology) Cornell University, Ithaca, N. Y.
L. W. Sharp, (Cytology) Cornell University, Ithaca, N. Y.
D. D. Keen, (Anatomy, Histology and Paleobotany) Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Md.
H. H. Shurtleff, (Botany) Bureau of Plant Industry, Washington, D. C.
R. S. Hosmer, (Forestry) Cornell University, Ithaca, N. Y.
C. E. Allen, (Genetics) University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wis.
A. J. Heinrichs, (Horticulture) Cornell University, Ithaca, N. Y.
O. F. Curtis, (Physiology) Cornell University, Ithaca, N. Y.
Donald H. Davis, (Pathology) Cornell University, Ithaca, N. Y.
H. W. Youngken, (Pharmacognosy and Pharmaceutical Botany) Massachusetts College of Pharmacy, Boston, Mass.
K. M. Wiesend, (Taxonomy) Cornell University, Ithaca, N. Y.
H. M. Fitzpatrick, (Mycology) Cornell University, Ithaca, N. Y.

To be held at Ithaca, New York, U.S.A., Aug. 16-23, 1926, under the auspices and with the cooperation of the American Research Societies in the Plant Sciences.

Ithaca, N. Y.
July 23, 1926

Dr. William Trelease,
Urbana, Ill.

My dear Trelease:

I thank you for the check of $25, which will be of real service to us in our efforts to raise an entertainment fund. In due time you will hear regularly from the Secretary of the Congress.

I trust you are to be in attendance.

Yours sincerely,
H. Bailey