[Nhcoll-l] global unique identifiers and naturalhistory collections

Jim Croft jim.croft at gmail.com
Mon Oct 15 17:14:40 EDT 2012 

If TDWG is going to take this on, it is going to have to reembrace
'content standards'.  And I think it should. From memory, Index
Herbariorum was once an endorsed TDWG standard, but ended up slipping
into the background as a 'prior standard', along with a number of
other botanical standards specifying 'standard' content for specimen
and related data.

It would be nice to have another go at this for all biological
collections. http://www.biorepositories.org/ is the logical foundation
for this and it is pleasing to see IH going in that direction. But it
is not going to be easy. I can't see any herbarium willingly want to
give up its long held handle because some museum wants to use it.

Anybody out there want a piece of CANB? Yeah, right. Bring it on! :)

jim

On Tue, Oct 16, 2012 at 1:58 AM, Chuck Miller <Chuck.Miller at mobot.org> wrote:
> Sounds like an issue for TDWG.  There is a Natural Collections Descriptions interest group that this might fit within.  But we would need a new task group to address unification of institutional codes and we would need someone to volunteer to lead it.
>
> Chuck
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu [mailto:nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu] On Behalf Of Thiers, Barbara
> Sent: Monday, October 15, 2012 8:57 AM
> To: Poly, William; NH-COLL listserv
> Subject: Re: [Nhcoll-l] global unique identifiers and naturalhistory collections
>
> I'm not aware of an effort to resolve institution codes across disciplines -- would love to know more about that.  Maybe these are within animal collections?  No one has approached me on this subject regarding herbarium codes.
>
> 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: Poly, William [mailto:WPoly at calacademy.org]
> Sent: Monday, October 15, 2012 9:52 AM
> To: Thiers, Barbara; NH-COLL listserv
> Subject: RE: [Nhcoll-l] global unique identifiers and naturalhistory collections
>
> Agreed, but the goal of the standardization is to correct and prevent such overlap.  The cases of overlap can be resolved (many have already).
>
> ________________________________________
> From: Thiers, Barbara [bthiers at nybg.org]
> Sent: Monday, October 15, 2012 9:44 AM
> To: Poly, William; NH-COLL listserv
> Subject: RE: [Nhcoll-l] global unique identifiers and naturalhistory collections
>
> 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" &lt;<a
>>> class="smarterwiki-linkify"
>>> href="mailto:abentley at ku.edu">abentley at ku.edu</a>&gt;</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>"
>>> &lt;<a class="smarterwiki-linkify"
>>> href="mailto:nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu">nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu</a>
>>> &gt;, John Deck &lt;<a class="smarterwiki-linkify"
>>> href="mailto:jdeck at berkeley.edu">jdeck at berkeley.edu</a>&gt;, Nico
>>> Cellinese &lt;<a class="smarterwiki-linkify"
>>> href="mailto:ncellinese at flmnh.ufl.edu">ncellinese at flmnh.ufl.edu</a>&gt;</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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>
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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:
>
> Bavarian Natural History Collections
> The Bavarian State Collection of Zoology Dirk Neumann, Section Ichthyology / DNA-Lab Muenchhausenstr. 21
> 81247 Munich (Germany)
>
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-- 
_________________
Jim Croft ~ jim.croft at gmail.com ~ +61-2-62509499 ~ http://about.me/jrc
'Without the freedom to criticize, there is no true praise.
- Pierre Beaumarchais
'Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it's time to
pause and reflect.'
- Mark Twain
'A civilized society is one which tolerates eccentricity to the point
of doubtful sanity.'
 - Robert Frost

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