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.

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Page 4 · DO #4535 · 116_Van%20Schaack_Bx7FF3_r

Collection
George B. Van Schaack (1903–1983) papers
Item/Folder
Correspondence L–M (1 of 2), 1964–1972
Digital Object
DO #4535, page 4
Collection-level dates
1918–1981
Open PDF at page 4 ↗

Page transcription

MISSOURI BOTANICAL GARDEN
SHAW'S GARDEN

September 28, 1969.

Dear George,

Today is a lovely Sunday and here I sit in the library trying to do some homework and, of course, realizing that I need your help desperately. You know that the covers of the 1969 Bulletin were all illustrations out of Schöffer's Herbarius. Now Barbara asked me to suggest a herbal from which to copy illustrations for the 1970 Bulletin and to write something about the author. I, idiotically, as I realized too late, picked John Parkinson's Theatrum Botanicum, for the simple reason that this was the first that came to mind since it has been used frequently recently. Also Dr. Anderson used it a lot and told me over and over again how good the illustrations, the descriptions of the plants themselves and the descriptions of the virtues were. I really mean the Theatrum and not the Paradisi in Sole, which I really should have chosen, since I find more written about it and certainly more favorable things. But now it is too late, I think, since I invested a lot of work, time and some money in making lots of xerox copies, since I did not want to be surrounded by I don't know how many books. Now let me tell you the books I consulted:

1. Raven, Charles--English naturalists from Neckam to Ray. 1947. p.273 (not much use)

2. Cecil, Alicia Amherst--A history of gardening in England. 1910.

3. Arber, Agnes--Herbals, their origin and evolution. 1912. By the way, was there a later edition of this work?

4. Rohde, Eleanour--The old English herbals. 1922. Most helpful.

I have looked at other books, but didn't find anything I could use. Obviously, there is much controversy about the Theatrum, some authors actually stating that Parkinson stole most of this work from L'Obel, from whom he apparently bought a manuscript! Also, I found that some stated that he is very vague and incorrect as far the localities of his plants are concerned.

I found the Theatrum listed in the Hunt Botanical Catalogue (xerox copy enclosed), please note the note. Please, let me know that the fact that this book is listed in their catalogue means that they have a copy. I am also sending you a xerox copy of the title page of our copy and a xerox copy of the title page as shown in Rohde's The old English herbals. If you think a copy of this book is in the Hunt library and that their copy may have the title page shown in Rohde, I should like to Dr. Lawrence and ask whether I may obtain a photograph of it. He has just written me a very nice letter concerning one of their publications which I was cataloguing and discovered that one page was damaged and part of it torn out completely. I asked for a xerox copy of this page so that we may include it in our copy, but he said he is going to send us a new copy, undamaged. So right now, I have

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