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:

plant collecting and fieldwork in South America medicinal, culinary, or other traditional uses of plants chromosomes and plant classification early herbals and botanical illustrations botanical institutions exchanging plants, seeds, and specimens microscopy and photomicrography in botanical research How did botanists and gardeners introduce plants from one region to another? grafting, budding, and propagation of tropical fruit crops

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 133 · DO #424 · 204_Popenoe_Bx31FF21r

Collection
Wilson Popenoe (1892–1975) family papers
Item/Folder
Volkwagen - correspondence, 5 March–22 December 1958
Digital Object
DO #424, page 133
Collection-level dates
1882–1975
Open PDF at page 133 ↗

Page transcription

him in regard to the location for a budwood garden and small demonstration field planting, authorized by the United Fruit Company.

COSTA RICA. The building program still continues at the Turrialba experiment station. However, this has now progressed sufficiently to permit major attention to experimental work. Dr. Theodore J. Grant is now established at Turrialba and writes enthusiastically of the splendid cooperation of Dr. Luis Cruz B., Director of the Departamento Agricola Nacional, and of other officials of the Costa Rican Government. The planting of more than a million clonal seeds for blight-resistance tests represents the most important current activity.

Mr. W. E. Klippert, Manager of the Central American plantations of the Goodyear Rubber Plantations Company, was in Washington recently and plans for cooperative work in Costa Rica were discussed with him. After his return to Costa Rica the details of clone-testing experiments were discussed in a conference including Mr. Klippert and Dr. Walter N. Bangham of the Goodyear Rubber Plantations Company and Drs. Grant and Michael H. Langford of the Division of Rubber Plant Investigations, U. S. Department of Agriculture. This plan visualizes the planting of clones to be tested between nursery beds of seedlings highly susceptible to the South American leaf blight to insure maximum and continued exposure to this disease. Duplicate tests will be conducted by this Division and by the Goodyear Company.*

Dr. Langford is applying artificial inoculation to large numbers of clonal seedlings at Turrialba to assure as severe a test as possible to nurseries from which plants resistant to the South American leaf blight are to be selected. This is one of the important phases of our cooperative project with the Goodyear and Firestone companies and should result in the isolation of new clones for use in the assured development of commercial areas.

HONDURAS. The most important activity has been the budding of thousands of seedlings to the clones from the first shipment of budded stumps from the Philippines in 1940. Shipments of budded stumps have been made to Mexico, and stumps as well as budwood to Guatemala, while consignments to other countries are in progress as this is written. Arrangements also have been completed for cooperative plantings with the Government of Honduras.

During the absence in Guatemala of Mr. Edward T. Stanwood, Mr. O. Salvador Cordova, of the Honduran Ministry of Agriculture, has acted in charge of the station operations. This very kind cooperation of the Honduran Government has permitted the uninterrupted continuation of station operations at a time when interruption would have been serious.

Arrangements are being completed for important distribution of budded stumps to cooperating countries in Central and South America during the present month.