[Nhcoll-l] global unique identifiers and naturalhistory collections
John O. Reiss
John.Reiss at humboldt.edu
Mon Oct 15 10:06:48 EDT 2012
All-
It would seem that a solution would be to develop a unique numeric
collection code that would go along with (rather than replace) the
traditional alphabetic one. Thus a specimen might be something like:
13429 AAU 001 for Addis Addaba University specimen 001
and
11946 AAU 001 for Aarhus University specimen 001
This would preserve the traditional information, but eliminate ambiguity.
Codes would need to be assigned for collections, not institutions, because
many institutions of course have more than one collection, often identified
by the same code. Assigning new numbers would probably be easier and less
disruptive than trying to resolve all cases of conflict. In publications
with multiple specimens from the same collection, it would only be
necessary to cite the unique identifier once.
On Mon, Oct 15, 2012 at 6:44 AM, Thiers, Barbara <bthiers at nybg.org> wrote:
> Well, here is a problem with institutional codes - they overlap:
>
> AAU: ASIH = Addis Abbaba University
> In Index Herbariorum = Aarhus University
>
> AMNH: ASIH: American Museum of Natural History
> IH: Icelandic Natural History Museum, Akureyri
>
> CUP: ASIH: Charles University
> IH: Cornell Plant Pathology herbarium.
>
> A few are the same, though: BYU, CAS, CM.
>
> Dr. Barbara M. Thiers
> Director, William and Lynda Steere Herbarium
> Editor, Index Herbariorum
> The New York Botanical Garden
> 2900 Southern Blvd.
> Bronx, NY 10458-5126
> bthiers at nybg.org
> 718 817 8622
> 718 817 8809 (fax)
> Download registration form for Index Herbariorum:
> http://sciweb.nybg.org/science2/IndexHerbariorum.asp
> Follow Index Herbariorum updates on twitter: @ihupdates
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu [mailto:
> nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu] On Behalf Of Poly, William
> Sent: Monday, October 15, 2012 9:34 AM
> To: NH-COLL listserv
> Subject: Re: [Nhcoll-l] global unique identifiers and naturalhistory
> collections
>
> All,
>
> Expanding on what Mark just wrote, standardization of institutional codes
> for museums has been going on for decades:
>
> 1) http://www.biodiversitycollectionindex.org/static/index.html
>
> 2) Leviton, A.E., R.H. Gibbs, Jr., E. Heal, and C.E. Dawson. 1985.
> Standards in herpetology and ichthyology: Part I. Standard symbolic codes
> for institutional resource collections in herpetology and ichthyology.
> Copeia 1985(3): 802-832.
>
> 3) Leviton, A.E. and R.H. Gibbs, Jr. 1988. Standards in herpetology and
> ichthyology. Standard symbolic codes for institution resource collections
> in herpetology and ichthyology. Supplement No. 1: additions and
> corrections. Copeia 1988(1): 280-282.
>
> 4) http://www.asih.org/codons.pdf
>
> These acronyms and associated catalog numbers are used widely in the
> literature. What is the need for a new system that is "global?" Museum
> acronyms convey useful information that is easy to interpret, whereas a
> long numeric code alone or an alphanumeric string such as "A3P578930ZBW"
> does not. When typos occur in long strings how does one even begin to
> discern the intended object? A typo in CAS 20050 as CAS 20059 can be
> tracked much more easily. Similarly, when a typo occurs in GPS coordinates
> without an associated locality description, it's difficult or impossible to
> resolve.
>
> Bill
>
>
> ________________________________________
> From: nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu [nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu]
> On Behalf Of Dirk Neumann [Dirk.Neumann at zsm.mwn.de]
> Sent: Monday, October 15, 2012 3:35 AM
> To: CSTURMJR at pitt.edu
> Cc: NH-COLL listserv; John Deck; Nico Cellinese; tomc at cs.uoregon.edu;
> Robert Guralnick
> Subject: Re: [Nhcoll-l] global unique identifiers and natural history
> collections
>
> Hi all,
>
> at least for some collections unique (and published) identifiers are
> available (e.g. provided via the Eschmeyer Catolg of fishes @
>
> http://research.calacademy.org/redirect?url=http://researcharchive.calacademy.org/research/Ichthyology/catalog/fishcatmain.asp
> )
>
> It might be essential to have unique identifiers for scientific material
> in near future - mainly depending on how the Access Benefit Sharing will
> implement regulations to track down single samples to allow equitable
> sharing of these (genetic) resources. For botany specimens something
> similar is already in place called IPEN:
> http://www.bgci.org/resources/ipen/
>
> However, it is crucial that the registration numbers are tied to
> collections and specimens in the collection, therefore I would rather
> favour to have the museum acronyms & specimen numbers included in such a
> code (what would be easily feasible if using a combined alpha numeric &
> alphabetical coding system). Problem here surely lies with the
> entomological collections, which can't be individualised in near future,
> but in the light of ongoing barcoding campaigns one should have in mind
> that many modern samples (which do have e.g. individual barcodes generated
> by BOLD) do have unique identifiers as soon as they are processed (this
> applies also for historic specimens picked form the pin)
> - even if the analyses fails.
>
> Definitely YES! and will be needed in near future, I fear (not because I
> would wish to have a unique numbering system / numbers)
>
> All the best
> Dirk
>
>
> Am 15.10.2012 00:09, schrieb CSTURMJR at pitt.edu:
> > Curtis,
> >
> > One problem that comes to mind is CMNH as an identifier.
> > I have seen this used for:
> > Carnegie Museum of Natural History ( my preference!) Cleveland Museum
> > of Natural History Cincinnati Museum of Natural History
> >
> > It could also be used for:
> > Colorado (University) Museum of Natural History Canadian Museum of
> > Natural History.
> >
> > Thus, one would have to standardize museum acronyms.
> >
> >> <font face="Default Sans Serif,Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"
> >> size="2"><div>Forgive my ignorance, as I'm new to the collections
> >> world, but could someone please provide more detail about what you
> >> are talking about exactly? What is wrong with the use of museum
> >> acronyms followed by numbers? Or...am I missing something? Aren't
> >> these "global unique identifiers"? What are the drawbacks to using
> >> these in the traditional manner? Also, how feasible would it be for
> >> all the collections to essentially renumber their entire collections
> >> to participate in this new system? Please help me understand what
> >> this discussion is
> >> about.</div><div><br></div><div>Thanks!</div><div><br></div><div>Curt
> >> is<br><br>______________________________<br><br>Curtis
> >> J. Schmidt<br>Zoological Collections Manager<br>Sternberg Museum of
> >> Natural History<br>Fort Hays State University <br>3000 Sternberg
> >> Drive<br>Hays, KS 67601<br>(785) 628-5504 (collections)<br>(785)
> >> 650-2447 (cell)<br>______________________________</div><br><br><font
> >> color="#990099"><span><a class="smarterwiki-linkify"
> >> href="mailto:-----nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu">-----nhcoll-l-bo
> >> unces at mailman.yale.edu</a>
> >> wrote: -----</span></font><div style="padding-left:5px;"><div
> >> style="padding-right:0px;padding-left:5px;border-left:solid black
> >> 2px;"><span>To: "Bentley, Andrew Charles" <<a
> >> class="smarterwiki-linkify"
> >> href="mailto:abentley at ku.edu">abentley at ku.edu</a>></span><br>From:
> >> Robert Guralnick <robert.guralnick at colorado.edu><br><span>Sent by: <a
> >> class="smarterwiki-linkify"
> >> href="mailto:nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu">
> nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu</a></span><br>Date:
> >> 10/14/2012 01:33PM<br><span>Cc: <a class="smarterwiki-linkify"
> >> href="mailto:tomc at cs.uoregon.edu,">tomc at cs.uoregon.edu,</a> "NH-COLL
> >> listserv <a class="smarterwiki-linkify"
> >> href="mailto:\(nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu\)">\(nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu
> \)</a>"
> >> <<a class="smarterwiki-linkify"
> >> href="mailto:nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu">nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu</a>
> >> >, John Deck <<a class="smarterwiki-linkify"
> >> href="mailto:jdeck at berkeley.edu">jdeck at berkeley.edu</a>>, Nico
> >> Cellinese <<a class="smarterwiki-linkify"
> >> href="mailto:ncellinese at flmnh.ufl.edu">ncellinese at flmnh.ufl.edu
> </a>></span><br>Subject:
> >> Re: %5
> > _______________________________________________
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>
>
> --
> Dirk Neumann
>
> Tel: 089 / 8107-111
> Fax: 089 / 8107-300
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>
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>
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> ---------
>
> Dirk Neumann
>
> Tel: +49-89-8107-111
> Fax: +49-89-8107-300
> email: Dirk.Neumann(a)zsm.mwn.de
>
> postal address:
>
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>
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--
John Reiss
Professor of Zoology
Interim Curator, Vertebrate Museum
Interim Director, Marine Facilities
Humboldt State University
1 Harpst St.
Arcata, CA 95521 USA
Office: Sci A 454A
Office Hours Fall 2012: TR 11-12, F 10-12
Campus Phone: (707) 826-4156, Marine Lab Phone (707) 826-5827
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