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 321 · DO #486 · 204_Popenoe_Bx41Volume1r

Collection
Wilson Popenoe (1892–1975) family papers
Item/Folder
Field notes: "Central and South American Explorations, 1919–1921", 1919–1921
Digital Object
DO #486, page 321
Collection-level dates
1882–1975
Open PDF at page 321 ↗

Page transcription

Last photograph No. 3005
Last herbarium No. 1372
Last plant seed No. 677

THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS.
FEBRUARY 5, 1921.

BOOK SHELF.
MANUAL OF TROPICAL AND SUBTROPICAL FRUITS, by Wilbur O'Conor, Agricultural Explorer, United States Department of Agriculture. MacMillan & Co., Ltd., London and New York. 474 pages. 12s. net.

This book supplies a mass of information of the greatest value to all interested in the culture of tropical fruits, especially of those not generally known or widely cultivated. The author, who probably is the greatest authority on the subject, speaks from personal experience of many years in various parts of the tropics, as also from long experience in acclimatization experimental stations in Florida and California. He also records his obligations to many others who have made investigations in the subject, as for instance, P. J. Wester in the Philippines, and J. E. Higgins in Hawaii, whose work is well known.

The author states that he has purposely omitted reference to the most important of the tropical fruits at present cultivated on a commercial scale, such as oranges, pine-apples, and bananas, as full information with regard to their culture and value is obtainable from other sources. This book is intended to give the results of the latest researches and practical experience in the cultivation of other promising fruits of the warmer regions of the globe, not at present much known outside of their native habitats, more than a hundred of which are discussed. After an introduction, the book is divided into chapters dealing with various groups of tropical fruits, as for instance, "The Annonaceous Fruits," "The Papaya and its Relatives," "Fruits of the Myrtle Family," etc., while some chapters are devoted to dealing with some specially important fruits individually, such as the avocado, and the mango.

The resulting volume is a mine of information and instruction, clearly conveyed, and charmingly written. To anyone who has a taste in this direction, it is a pleasure to pick it up and dip into it anywhere. The descriptions of the trees are vivid, the qualities of the fruits are plainly set forth, and the quaint instructions are on the point. Another thing which adds to the value of the book is the numerous and excellent illustrations which accompany the text.

It may be possible within the limits of the present notice to enter into any extended review of the contents of the volume; it is sufficient to say that it would seem to be indispensable to anyone undertaking the cultivation of tropical fruits, either on a large or a small scale.

Tropical fruits, with a few exceptions, received very little cultural attention in the past, and such a book as this may well stimulate interest in their improvement by selection and vegetative reproduction.

In conclusion it may be noticed that there is a careful and comprehensive index attached, which is a most desirable feature in a book like this, meant for reference.