[Nhcoll-l] collections based database software

Thu May 21 15:58:41 EDT 2020

Hi Folks,

Just a quick observation, surely not lost on this group, but "the cloud" is just a computer or computers. Maybe it's in your building. Maybe its in another town. Maybe its in a giant data center. Maybe its in another university setting kind of like yours.

In any case not all clouds are equal and comparisons should not be made off the cuff.

If one is making one's evaluation on what thingamajig to select partly on the cloud-computing component with which it is associated, one will presumably want to evaluate said cloud carefully.

Best wishes,

Rob

________________________________
From: Nhcoll-l <nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu> on behalf of Amanda Bremner <Amanda.Bremner at nbm-mnb.ca>
Sent: Thursday, May 21, 2020 3:12 PM
To: Derek Sikes; Mayfield, Teresa
Cc: Ginzbarg, Steve; nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu; Arctos Working Group
Subject: Re: [Nhcoll-l] collections based database software

[External Email]
Yes, definitely a lot of priceless time is put into these records.
Thank you again Derek ☺

Amanda

From: Derek Sikes [mailto:dssikes at alaska.edu]
Sent: Thursday, May 21, 2020 4:06 PM
To: Amanda Bremner; Mayfield, Teresa
Cc: Carla Cicero; Ginzbarg, Steve; nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu; Arctos Working Group
Subject: Re: [Nhcoll-l] collections based database software

Amanda,

Arctos is cloud-based computing like gmail. It's accessed entirely through web browsers. This has the advantage of never having to worry about loss of data on local computers or maintaining backups yourself (I've had computers crash & be stolen). Prior to moving to Arctos I had hundreds of thousands of records in a home-made database on a computer in my office & I became increasingly worried about the safety of the data. After spending a decade and hundreds of thousands of dollars getting the data into a database it becomes very very important that the data are safe. Buildings sometimes burn or flood etc. Having all your data in the 'cloud' is very reassuring. It's arguable that the data are safer than the specimens!

I've cc'd Teresa Mayfield who I'm pretty sure can help with providing you a way to take Arctos for a 'test drive'.

Cheers,
Derek

On Thu, May 21, 2020 at 10:43 AM Amanda Bremner <Amanda.Bremner at nbm-mnb.ca<mailto:Amanda.Bremner at nbm-mnb.ca>> wrote:
Dear Derek, Carla and Steve,
Thank you all for your responses ☺.

I do have a question a couple of questions: Can you download Arctos on a single workstation to try it out for a small representative sample of records to test it out?

Steve, can you elaborate a bit on what you mean by “I think that Sustain Specify making their code available is defeating the purpose of having one unified program that serves many users”?   I am very new to this.

Cheers,
Amanda

From: Derek Sikes [mailto:dssikes at alaska.edu<mailto:dssikes at alaska.edu>]
Sent: Wednesday, May 20, 2020 3:51 PM
To: Carla Cicero
Cc: Ginzbarg, Steve; Amanda Bremner; nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu<mailto:nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu>; Arctos Working Group
Subject: Re: [Nhcoll-l] collections based database software

I've been happily using Arctos for the University of Alaska Museum Insect Collection<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.uaf.edu_museum_collections_ento_&d=DwMGaQ&c=sJ6xIWYx-zLMB3EPkvcnVg&r=MCIx6IevDpZN7oPx8SAIb6_HvqHJFo2if2SZHHR4kiQ&m=Yn_XqAH-fUIoUzzAysFQCJvh0kF-LjwYm0rghlpeFL8&s=7cD-fdvj8KZKzcUGyR-Xb276cWX6WVFMMIhiYhPk-4E&e=> since 2012 and am also happy to answer any questions about it.

Cheers,
Derek

On Wed, May 20, 2020 at 10:12 AM Carla Cicero <ccicero at berkeley.edu<mailto:ccicero at berkeley.edu>> wrote:
Hi Steve - Thanks for this email. I just sent Amanda a separate email suggesting that they also consider Arctos, with a few details about the system and community.

We are happy to answer any questions Amanda might have about Arctos.

Best,
Carla

On Wed, May 20, 2020 at 11:09 AM Ginzbarg, Steve <sginzbar at ua.edu<mailto:sginzbar at ua.edu>> wrote:
Dear Amanda,

I am looking at Arctos, https://arctosdb.org/<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__arctosdb.org_&d=DwMGaQ&c=sJ6xIWYx-zLMB3EPkvcnVg&r=MCIx6IevDpZN7oPx8SAIb6_HvqHJFo2if2SZHHR4kiQ&m=Yn_XqAH-fUIoUzzAysFQCJvh0kF-LjwYm0rghlpeFL8&s=BBNTdJdpMOb3e0Lp4doeXRU06m1yXleot7G_kqc_Bxc&e=>. I like their business model. If you want a feature and they think it will be useful to others they will incorporate it. If not, you pay them to add it. Cost of the software is based on number of specimen records.

I think that Sustain Specify making their code available is defeating the purpose of having one unified program that serves many users.

Many of the examples in the Darwin Core quick reference guide, https://dwc.tdwg.org/terms/<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__dwc.tdwg.org_terms_&d=DwMGaQ&c=sJ6xIWYx-zLMB3EPkvcnVg&r=MCIx6IevDpZN7oPx8SAIb6_HvqHJFo2if2SZHHR4kiQ&m=Yn_XqAH-fUIoUzzAysFQCJvh0kF-LjwYm0rghlpeFL8&s=D6iKM5inS6_LehgAgizdmz1YaAY4hy5otWbbWxuWb4Q&e=>, are from Arctos.

Arctos has been around since the 1990s. I like their webinar tutorials.

All data are securely stored at the Texas Advanced Computing Center.

Is anyone using Arctos who could comment on it?

Steve Ginzbarg
Assistant Curator
The University of Alabama Herbarium (UNA)
________________________________
From: Nhcoll-l <nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu<mailto:nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu>> on behalf of Amanda Bremner <Amanda.Bremner at nbm-mnb.ca<mailto:Amanda.Bremner at nbm-mnb.ca>>
Sent: Wednesday, May 20, 2020 9:34 AM
To: nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu<mailto:nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu> <nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu<mailto:nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu>>
Subject: [Nhcoll-l] FW: collections based database software

Hello,

We are considering choosing a new database, either EMu by Axiell or Sustain Specify, for our Natural History collections (Zoology, Botany and Mycology, Geology and Paleontology).  The database we currently use was designed for use in libraries (Inmagic DB/TextWorks).

Have any of you recently reviewed these two databases? Would you be willing to share pros and cons, beyond the fact that one is significantly more costly than the other?

Thanks,

Amanda

Amanda Bremner, M.Sc.

Curatorial Assistant/Adjointe à la Conservation des collections

Department of Natural History/ Département d’histoire naturelle

New Brunswick Museum/Musée du Nouveau-Brunswick

277 Douglas Avenue/ 277, avenue Douglas

Saint John, New Brunswick/ Saint John (Nouveau-Brunswick)

Canada E2K 1E5

Tel: 506-643-7670

Amanda.Bremner at nbm-mnb.ca<mailto:Amanda.Bremner at nbm-mnb.ca>  ]

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Staff Curator of Birds
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http://americanornithology.org/<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.americanornithology.org_&d=DwMGaQ&c=sJ6xIWYx-zLMB3EPkvcnVg&r=MCIx6IevDpZN7oPx8SAIb6_HvqHJFo2if2SZHHR4kiQ&m=Yn_XqAH-fUIoUzzAysFQCJvh0kF-LjwYm0rghlpeFL8&s=kDNga2cVBt0mH3AtFLKWnkc57o0Nv2KeDVdTUiMY6cQ&e=>
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+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Derek S. Sikes, Curator of Insects
Professor of Entomology
University of Alaska Museum
1962 Yukon Drive
Fairbanks, AK   99775-6960

dssikes at alaska.edu<mailto:dssikes at alaska.edu>

phone: 907-474-6278
FAX: 907-474-5469

University of Alaska Museum  -  search 400,276 digitized arthropod records
http://arctos.database.museum/uam_ento_all<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.uaf.edu_museum_collections_ento_&d=DwMGaQ&c=sJ6xIWYx-zLMB3EPkvcnVg&r=MCIx6IevDpZN7oPx8SAIb6_HvqHJFo2if2SZHHR4kiQ&m=Yn_XqAH-fUIoUzzAysFQCJvh0kF-LjwYm0rghlpeFL8&s=6vTo4o_bx89FefvwNFApBcYvi8kkFHahMfUVRaIQajk&e=>
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Interested in Alaskan Entomology? Join the Alaska Entomological
Society and / or sign up for the email listserv "Alaska Entomological Network" at
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--

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Derek S. Sikes, Curator of Insects
Professor of Entomology
University of Alaska Museum
1962 Yukon Drive
Fairbanks, AK   99775-6960

dssikes at alaska.edu<mailto:dssikes at alaska.edu>

phone: 907-474-6278
FAX: 907-474-5469

University of Alaska Museum  -  search 400,276 digitized arthropod records
http://arctos.database.museum/uam_ento_all<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.uaf.edu_museum_collections_ento_&d=DwMGaQ&c=sJ6xIWYx-zLMB3EPkvcnVg&r=MCIx6IevDpZN7oPx8SAIb6_HvqHJFo2if2SZHHR4kiQ&m=Yn_XqAH-fUIoUzzAysFQCJvh0kF-LjwYm0rghlpeFL8&s=6vTo4o_bx89FefvwNFApBcYvi8kkFHahMfUVRaIQajk&e=>
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Interested in Alaskan Entomology? Join the Alaska Entomological
Society and / or sign up for the email listserv "Alaska Entomological Network" at
http://www.akentsoc.org/contact_us<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.akentsoc.org_contact-5Fus&d=DwMGaQ&c=sJ6xIWYx-zLMB3EPkvcnVg&r=MCIx6IevDpZN7oPx8SAIb6_HvqHJFo2if2SZHHR4kiQ&m=Yn_XqAH-fUIoUzzAysFQCJvh0kF-LjwYm0rghlpeFL8&s=nyKfJK1xJpfzxoImbg7p5HJ5MIp9vndD31Hj2XIUjgs&e=>
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