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Hi, Andy,</div>
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We've had discussions about this in the Interagency Working Group on Scientific Collections (IWGSC; see usfsc.nal.usda.gov). If the digital representations of an object are not published, they would be archival material directly related to the specimen, and
therefore part of the collection. They would be equivalent to field notes, locality maps, audio and video recordings, etc. lf they are submitted to a public database or other open access data repository (GenBank, CTBase, etc.) then these are publication
events that can (and in a perfect world, would be) linked to the specimen record along with scholarly publications in which the specimen is cited. </div>
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In both cases, a comprehensively curated system of specimen digitization would allow users to discover and navigate to all these assets.</div>
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Best regards and stay well -</div>
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David</div>
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David E. Schindel, Research Associate</div>
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<div id="divRplyFwdMsg" dir="ltr"><font face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size:11pt" color="#000000"><b>From:</b> Nhcoll-l <nhcoll-l-bounces@mailman.yale.edu> on behalf of Bentley, Andrew Charles <abentley@ku.edu><br>
<b>Sent:</b> Monday, August 24, 2020 4:16 PM<br>
<b>To:</b> nhcoll-l@mailman.yale.edu <nhcoll-l@mailman.yale.edu><br>
<b>Subject:</b> [Nhcoll-l] Digital objects vs. physical objects in collection management databases and how to manage them</font>
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<p class="x_MsoNormal" style="line-height:12.0pt; background:#FFEB9C"><b><span style="font-size:9.0pt; font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif; color:#9C6500">External Email - Exercise Caution</span></b></p>
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<p class="x_MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">I am trying to resolve a philosophical conundrum brought on by the ever-increasing mountain of digital data being produces from and associated with natural history collections. My question is whether digital
representations of an object (images, CT scans, etc.) should be treated as preparations of an object in a collections database similar to other physical preparations or treated differently? For instance, in a fish collection like mine, you have a lot that
has a certain number of specimens. Some of those may be subsequently cleared and stained or have skeletons prepared. These are traditionally handled as preparations of the original lot with the same catalog number (although in some collections they are treated
as separate catalog numbers). Now, however, you have digital representations of those physical objects such as images, CT scans, etc. Should these also be treated as preparations or be treated differently - as digital products or linked as attachments to
the physical objects? To me, they are not physical objects but digital representations of the original object. As such, they are somewhat different to a preparation. This has implications when totaling traditional counts of objects in a collection as well
as when publishing data from a collection to the aggregator community. In some instances, this may be governed by the data model and business rules of the CMS you are using or by your personal preference.</span></p>
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<p class="x_MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">I would be interested in hearing your views on this and how you handle this in your collection as I am not sure there is any community consensus as to which way to handle these. I have heard of both methods
being used in various collections.</span></p>
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<p class="x_MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">Thanks in advance</span></p>
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<p class="x_MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">Andy</span></p>
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<p class="x_MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt; color:black">Andy Bentley</span></p>
<p class="x_MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt; color:black">Ichthyology Collection Manager</span></p>
<p class="x_MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt; color:black">University of Kansas</span></p>
<p class="x_MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt; color:black">Biodiversity Institute</span></p>
<p class="x_MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt; color:black">Dyche Hall</span></p>
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<p class="x_MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt; color:black">Lawrence, KS, 66045-7561</span></p>
<p class="x_MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt; color:black">USA</span></p>
<p class="x_MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt; color:black"> </span></p>
<p class="x_MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt; color:black">Tel: (785) 864-3863</span></p>
<p class="x_MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt; color:black">Fax: (785) 864-5335 </span></p>
<p class="x_MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt; color:black">Email: <a href="mailto:abentley@ku.edu"><span style="color:blue">abentley@ku.edu</span></a> </span></p>
<p class="x_MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt; color:black"><a href="https://nam02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fichthyology.biodiversity.ku.edu%2F&data=02%7C01%7Cschindeld%40si.edu%7C05bb69872c7b4aa324d208d8486a936a%7C989b5e2a14e44efe93b78cdd5fc5d11c%7C0%7C0%7C637338969870562799&sdata=05wkr90YzamCsPVnBhhcDKJXZOvQO4CCkun82aj8z3s%3D&reserved=0" originalsrc="http://ichthyology.biodiversity.ku.edu/" shash="yJjg64AqHuwBVamr20c7pHOm/dWlzdnWsMugeQBKfHcDo6KzyHJ413TlGbyaQFApYin2loUaHn/2fRPtGQ26O3ilawDnF3HoTZ7UQvFdd6l3hRxNQThogDcVMdP+ZOgL+DC18F8GS5vxMQOt9iju1H30YAhnwvO+xbeU2JK/HP8="><span style="color:blue">http://ichthyology.biodiversity.ku.edu</span></a></span></p>
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