Sedge master files

The sedge set is the largest single collection in the archive. It holds 1,140 master images made from 180 sheets. Each sheet was photographed front and back, and again in close detail where the spikelets are too small to read at full-sheet scale. The total size is 412 GB.

The files are stored in three folders, G7, G8 and G9, which match the sedge folders in the grass section. Because the folders are so large, each is split into archive parts of roughly 46 GB, and the parts are checked separately.

Folders

Working with the set

A sedge sheet is usually photographed from above at three distances. The full-sheet capture shows the arrangement of the spikes. The middle distance shows the bracts and the way they sheath the stem. The close capture shows the utricles and beaks, which are the features that separate most of the species in the set.

The masters are kept whole. A reduced file is made for each sheet, and the G9 index sheet records which image shows which feature, so a reader can move from a species name to the right capture without opening every file in the folder.

The set is described here by its folders and its parts. The parts themselves are described on the scanning and storage page, with their checksums and the schedule on which they are checked.