The archive and library of the National Museum of Natural Sciences (MNCN-CSIC), in collaboration with the Scientific Information Resources Unit for Research (URICI) of the CSIC, have completed a digitization campaign that has resulted in the publication of 35,000 images. These materials, which include approximately a thousand files and 1400 iconographic documents, are now accessible to all citizens through the CSIC's digital archives and libraries portal, named SIMURG.
Mónica Vergés, head of the MNCN's documentary archive, highlighted the importance of this initiative: “By digitizing the documents, in addition to allowing universal access and exponentially favoring their dissemination, we achieve their preservation by avoiding constant handling”.
Among the highlighted documents is the Fondo Cátedras (Chairs Fund), which encompasses the academic documentation of the chairs of Botany, Agriculture, Mineralogy, and Physics and Chemistry established at the Museum and Botanical Garden since the late 18th century. The Fondo Mariano de la Paz Graells has also been incorporated, containing the scientific and personal documentation of this 19th-century naturalist, discoverer of the butterfly Graellsia isabellae and director of the Museum for almost 25 years. The additions are completed by the Fondo Instituto Español de Entomología (1940-1985) and administrative and economic documentation of the Museum from the late 19th century.
Regarding the iconographic collection, works by Ángel Cabrera Latorre and a collection of drawings of marine life (polychaetes, crustaceans, mollusks, echinoderms, and coelenterates) by Enrique Rioja, José Rioja, José Fernández Nonídez, Josefa Sanz, and Luisa de la Vega have been cataloged and digitized.
From the MNCN library, the digitization of an 18th-century manuscript by Antonio Martras is highlighted, which, despite its initial pages being torn out, contains over 500 pages with 97 plates featuring 580 pen drawings of animals, plants, and minerals. Additionally, a first French edition of Rousseau's The Social Contract (1762) has been included, along with the complete collection of the Anales de la Junta para la Ampliación de Estudios (Annals of the Board for the Advancement of Studies). Isabel Morón, head of the library, noted that this addition to the digital catalog offers an “authentic work of art” that journeys through the Real Gabinete (Royal Cabinet), the origin of the MNCN, through beautiful drawings.
