The MBLWHOI Library Herbarium (SPWH), formerly the Marine Biological Laboratory Herbarium, documents the flora of Cape Cod, Massachusetts and adjacent islands. The collection, dating back to the 1850's, consists of approximately 7,000 vascular and 2,000 non-vascular plant specimens. The non-vascular collection consists primarily of marine algae of Cape Cod and the Islands. The Digital Herbarium is a fully searchable database of specimen images and data, serving as an online compendium of the marine, freshwater and terrestrial flora of Cape Cod and the Islands. This work has been supported, in part, by a grant from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Sea Grant Program, Project No. A/S-47-PD. Digitization of the marine algae collection is a joint project with the Northeast Algal Society. Current taxonomy, authorities and species biological data, including descriptions of geographic range, habitat and seasonality, are taken from the NEAS Keys to Benthic Marine Algae of the Northeastern Coast of North America from Long Island Sound to the Strait of Belle Isle ©. The MBLWHOI Library would like to thank NEAS and James Sears for kindly granting us permission to use this data. The MBLWHOI Library is digitizing and cataloging its herbarium collection of more than 8000 specimens. The MBLWHOI Library Digital Herbarium is a fully searchable, online database of specimen images and associated data. Why a Digital Herbarium? The MBLWHOI Library Herbarium documents the flora of Cape Cod, Massachusetts and associated coastal islands. Cape Cod is a region of great botanical and ecological interest. Most of Massachusetts. rare plants occur on Cape Cod or in the Connecticut River Valley. The Cape is well known to marine botanists as a phytogeographic boundary between the cold water flora typical of more northerly regions, and the flora of warmer waters to the south. As such, the Cape is unique in the number of marine algal species found there. The herbarium collection, dating back to the 1850.s, documents this important and diverse flora. Placing specimen images and data into a fully searchable, web-accessible database will: Greatly facilitate the study of floristic and environmental changes over time, including changes in geographic ranges of species. Make the collection available to researchers throughout the world. Create an online compendium of the flora of Cape Cod and the Islands. Contribute towards preservation of the collection. Each database record contains specimen data from the herbarium labels and other available records. Species-specific information including current and antiquated taxonomy, geographic and vertical distribution, and seasonality, is added to each record, creating a content-rich compendium of the marine and terrestrial flora of the region. Digitization of the marine algae collection is a joint project with the Northeast Algal Society. Biological information about each species is taken from the NEAS Keys to Benthic Marine Algae of the Northeastern Coast of North America from Long Island Sound to the Strait of Belle Isle. As stated in the Keys, a goal of the Northeast Algal Society is to bring together information on the diversity of algal species and their distributions along the northeastern coast of North America. It is our hope that this database will contribute to this endeavor. Acknowledgments This work has been supported, in part, by a grant from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Sea Grant Program, Project No. A/S-47-PD. Digitization of the marine algae collection is a joint project with the Northeast Algal Society. Current taxonomy, authorities and species biological data, including descriptions of geographic range, habitat and seasonality, are taken from the NEAS Keys to Benthic Marine Algae of the Northeastern Coast of North America from Long Island Sound to the Strait of Belle Isle ©. The MBLWHOI Library would like to thank NEAS and James Sears for kindly granting permission to use this data. Authority names for species not listed in the NEAS Keys are taken from AlgaeBase (Guiry and Nic Dhonncha, 2004). The developers of vPlants" (a virtual herbarium of the Chicago region) provided valuable technical assistance and advice with regard to the selection and setup of scanning equipment. We gratefully acknowledge their assistance. The MBL/WHOI Library would like to thank the following people for their hard work on the Digital Herbarium Project: Nancy Stafford Jackie Webster Maggie Rioux Tom Gregg Frank Child Paul Freyheit Arlene Rogers Nancy McDonald Alan Perlmutter Julie Child Sallie Giffen Nancy Wigley Llewellya Hillis Marge Zinn © Copyright MBLWHOI Library