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 61 · DO #4767 · 231_Rogers_Bx5FF17_r

Collection
David James Rogers (1918–2007) papers
Item/Folder
GRC Meeting Turrialba, 1973
Digital Object
DO #4767, page 61
Collection-level dates
1948–1977
Open PDF at page 61 ↗

Page transcription

5

or two branches of the clone. In this way we had Amelonado growing from below and above the clone. This procedure requires much attention to prevent the vigorous root stock from over-growing the often less vigorous clone.

We painted each type of graft with a different color of enamel; the clonal graft white and Amelonado red. Enamels in aerosol cans worked exceptionally well for this. We found that the paint should be applied 1/2 way around the stem of the stock on the opposite side of the graft and that this method must be consistently adhered to otherwise we could easily lose track of which was stock and which was graft. This paint marker had to be renewed every three years.

Field space in which we were able to maintain our cocoa collection was limited, forcing us to plant at closer spacing than we wishes. Although the plants had been held in quarantine for 18 to 24 months in the greenhouse before being planted in the field the possibility of field infection always existed. Insects which could be vectors could become plentiful unless controlled by frequent spraying. Root transmission of virus was considered a possibility, because of the close planting. The keep a close vigil Amelonado seedlings were planted every tenth plant, and when the virologist made his periodic inspections these plants as well as the clonal plants were carefully observed for symptoms.

CULTURAL PRACTICES

Cultural requirements of tropical crops are almost as varied as the crops themselves, so it is impossible to make general recommendations. As mentioned previously, publications and word of mouth advice can be of assistance but regardless of the source, adaptations will be required to fit the local situation. Many special procedures can be adapted to assist in growing a crop. For example, we have found that interrupting the normal long winter night with one hour of artificial light keeps cacao in active growth so that grafting may now be done year-round.

QUARANTINE

Though we are an agency of the United States Government, all plant material sent to us from foreign sources is required to pass through USDA Plant Quarantine inspection facilities. Certain types of restricted vegetative material such as avocado and mango are passed on to us if found to be clean by the quarantine inspectors, but these still must be held for two years under post-entry quarantine. These are maintained in an isolated area within our greenhouses and inspected periodically by Florida State Division of Plant Industry inspectors. These same inspectors look at outgoing material and certify for your protection that to the best of their knowledge the material is free of diseases and insects.