In 2021, the Symbiota Support Hub (SSH), a newly-funded domain of iDigBio, was created to support, improve, and expand existing Symbiota-based data portals. Critical to this mission has been Portal Advancement Campaigns: initiatives of approximately one month during which the SSH directs sustained effort and attention to a specific data portal with the goals of:
- Updating collection metadata and facilitating data publishing to global aggregators (e.g., GBIF & iDigBio)
- Identifying data quality and Darwin Core alignment issues that can be fixed in batch and offer batch data cleaning
- Providing additional training to users and admins and/or develop documentation and resources, as needed
- Helping build and expand portal communities
Practically, Portal Campaigns typically consist of four virtual “Office Hours” meetings for a specific Symbiota portal community to discuss key topics related to the goals outlined above. These meetings always include time for questions and open discussion with portal community members. Presentations made during these meetings are recorded for future reference and for anyone who cannot attend synchronously.
Portal Campaign Schedule
Zoom meeting registration links and archived Campaign materials can be found under “Event Docs”:
| Month | Portal Community | Event Docs |
|---|---|---|
| ⭐ Mar/Apr 2026 | Consortium of Northeastern Herbaria (CNH) | CNH Campaign |
| 2024 | ||
| Sept/Oct 2024 | Consortium of Vertebrate Collections (CVColl) | CVColl Campaign |
| Aug 2024 | Consortium of California Herbaria (CCH2) | CCH2 Campaign |
| April 2024 | Consortium of Bryophyte Herbaria & Consortium of Lichen Herbaria | Bryophytes & Lichens Campaign |
| Feb 2024 | Ecdysis | Ecdysis Campaign |
| 2023 | ||
| Nov 2023 | North American Network of Small Herbaria & Northern Great Plains Herbaria | NANSH & NGP Campaign |
| Sept 2023 | Bee Library | Bee Library Campaign |
| June 2023 | Arizona-New Mexico Chapter of SEINet | SEINet AZ-NM Campaign |
| April 2023 | Consortium of Midwest Herbaria | Midwest Campaign |
| March 2023 | Mid-Atlantic Herbarium Consortium (MAHC) | MAHC Campaign |
| 2022 | ||
| Nov 2022 | Texas-Oklahoma Regional Consortium of Herbaria (TORCH) | TORCH Campaign |
| Oct 2022 | Pteridophyte Collections Consortium (PteridoPortal) | Pteridoportal Campaign |
| Sept 2022 | Mycology Collections Data Portal (MyCoPortal) | MyCoPortal Campaign |
| Aug 2022 | Macroalgal Herbarium Consortium | Macroalgae Campaign |
| May 2022 | Consortium of Southern Rocky Mountain Herbaria (SoRo) | SoRo Campaign |
| Feb 2022 | Southeast Regional Network of Expertise and Collections (SERNEC) | SERNEC Campaign |
Portal Campaign Communications
Portal community members can sign up for campaign communications here.
Portal Campaign News
Read highlights from past portal campaigns here.
Campaign Feedback
If you participated in a past Portal Campaign, we’d like to hear from you! Please provide comments about your campaign experience here: