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 38 · DO #5031 · 179_Langman_Bx2FF6_r

Collection
Ida Kaplan Langman (1904–1991) papers
Item/Folder
Reprints and accompanying correspondence (6 of 7), 1948–1951
Digital Object
DO #5031, page 38
Collection-level dates
1919–1980
Open PDF at page 38 ↗

Page transcription

Aunque sean incompletas, mis investigaciones han revelado muchos datos que creo serán de interés para quienes se dediquen a la botánica mexicana y a la literatura relacionada con ella. Por ejemplo, en la biblioteca de la American Philosophical Society en Filadelfia, encontré un manuscrito, firmado por Martín Sessé (pero probablemente escrito por un escribano suyo), intitulado "Catálogo de Animales y Plantas Mexicanas". Consta este manuscrito de 82 páginas y lleva la fecha de 1794. Trae una lista de plantas con anotaciones especiales para señalar cuáles de ellas se consideraban especies nuevas, de cuáles se hicieron dibujos, y de cuáles se colectaron ejemplares para el herbario.

Otro interesante hallazgo fue la colección de Calendarios Botánicos de varias partes de la república, que se publicó en el Boletín del Ministerio de Fomento en los años de 1876 a 1883. El Dr. León no los menciona ni tampoco los ha visto mencionados en ninguna otra publicación.

En Ciudad del Carmen, la Sra. María Pacheco me enseñó un Álbum Carmelita, publicado en 1910, que no he visto en ningún otro lugar de México. Para la bibliografía mexicana de botánica es importante porque contiene una "Flora del Partido del Carmen", escrita por Francisco Campos Bautista.

Esta por demás decir que se encuentra un gran número de manuscritos que nunca llegaron a publicarse. Un grupo de ellos, de interés botánico, están en la Biblioteca de la Sociedad Mexicana de Geografía y Estadística. Son trabajos de Pablo García Abarca, hermano de Crescencio García. Parece que, mientras este tuvo la fortuna de ver en letras de molde muchos de sus trabajos, su hermano Pablo no encontró la misma suerte, y quedan en el acervo de dicha biblioteca varios de sus trabajos sobre plantas del estado de Michoacán.

Una cosa que siempre provoca el interés del Bibliógrafo es encontrar dos trabajos bajo distintos títulos y con nombres de autores distintos. A veces resulta que se trata de la misma obra. Bastará señalar dos ejemplos. En St. Augustine, Florida, se publicó en 1863 un trabajo intitulado "Rudo Ensayo - Tentativa de una Previsional Descripción Geográfica de la Provincia de Sonora". El autor de este trabajo se firma "Un Amigo del Bien Común". Curiosa es que la misma obra se publicó antes, en los "Documentos para