*** Would summary information on every collection’s materials be a useful tool?**
Yes. In the UK the Natural Sciences Collections Association crowdsourced similar data for collections in the UK and Ireland (Natural History Near You) in 2014, which has seen more use than we originally envisaged. Knowing what kind of material is held where is a fundamental level of information that facilitates access. A more in-depth body of research condcted in the 1980s (FENSCORE) is also still being used, even though it is out of date and not comprehensive.
*** Who would use this information?**
In our experience the information use is constrained by sign-posting. Curators in collections that contributed information are aware of the resource and use it for their own research and they will often direct researchers that they engage with to the data as a way of tracking down more information on collection holding institutions.
*** What is the minimum level of information (and what is ideal) to support these users?**
This is the difficult question. Different users have a range of different information required. The absolute minimum level of data is the fact that an institution exists, where it is located, that holds a certain type of collection and how to access more information about that collection - this at least allows resources to be found.
However, most researchers want more in-depth information about particular collectors, taxonomic groups etc. which is a considerably more difficult level of data to collect without significant investment.