[Nhcoll-l] software to automate database entries into tags

[Katelin Pearson]

Hi Catherine,

Have you considered using a Symbiota portal? You can import data via a CSV
file, and they have pretty customizable label-printing functions, depending
on what exactly you want:
https://biokic.github.io/symbiota-docs/editor/label/

You might reach out to someone at the Minnesota Biodiversity Atlas (
https://www.bellmuseum.umn.edu/atlas/) to see if they'd create a collection
profile for you. If not, you could always make a collection in the
Consortium of Small Vertebrate Collections portal (
https://csvcoll.org/portal/).

Best,
~Katie

On Thu, May 11, 2023 at 12:53 PM Alison H. Harrington <alisonhh at umich.edu>
wrote:

> Hi Catherine,
>
> To second Tom, I had the same question and reached out to some other
> herbarium colleagues. The overwhelming answer I got was also to use the
> MailMerge function in Microsoft. There are some decent tutorials on it and
> it is pretty flexible in terms of formatting. We use Specify as the
> database of record and although it has a label generation function, that
> function seems to have broken before I started my position and I've never
> used it.
>
> Mailmerge has a couple of minor quirks but it is a broadly used tool so
> there are many answered questions online.
>
> best,
> Alison
>
> --
> *Alison H. Harrington, PhD*
> *Research Collections Manager | Fungi, Lichens, Bryophytes*
> University of Michigan Herbarium (MICH) | Research Museums Center
> 3600 Varsity Drive #1042 | Ann Arbor, MI 48108-2228
> Collection of Zoosporic Eufungi at UM (CZEUM) | czeum.herb.lsa.umich.edu
> alisonhh at umich.edu | 734.936.8028
>
> On Thu, May 11, 2023 at 3:46 PM Thomas J Trombone <trombone at amnh.org>
> wrote:
>
>> Hi Catherine,
>>
>>
>>
>> Do you have access to Microsoft Office, and if so, have you considered
>> using the mail merge functionality in Word to link a template document to
>> an Excel spreadsheet containing your specimen data? That’s how we often
>> print labels for our specimens. (We use EMu for our collections database,
>> but we like to modify our printed labels in ways that are far too
>> idiosyncratic to be easily generated by EMu and Crystal Reports.)
>>
>>
>>
>> Best,
>>
>> Tom
>>
>>
>>
>> Thomas J. Trombone | Data Manager | Department of Ornithology
>>
>> American Museum of Natural History | Central Park West @ 79th Street |
>> New York, NY 10024-5192
>>
>> (212) 313-7783 | trombone at amnh.org |
>> http://www.amnh.org/our-research/vertebrate-zoology/ornithology
>>
>>
>>
>> *From:* Nhcoll-l <nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu> * On Behalf Of *Catherine
>> Early (she/her)
>> *Sent:* Thursday, May 11, 2023 3:35 PM
>> *To:* nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu
>> *Subject:* [Nhcoll-l] software to automate database entries into tags
>>
>>
>>
>> *EXTERNAL SENDER*
>>
>>
>>
>> Hi all,
>>
>>
>>
>> We are preparing for a digitization project where we will associate field
>> data with specimens that do not currently have data tags, just field
>> numbers. Because the field notes are idiosyncratic and not in a
>> standardized format, we (staff) will be entering the specimen's data
>> directly into our database rather than photographing standard format data
>> tags that can be easily transcribed by volunteers into a database. After
>> the data have been entered in the database, we would like to print data
>> tags to attach to each specimen.
>>
>>
>>
>> I'm looking for a software program that can take a CSV from a specimen
>> database (we use Re:discovery and do not have the resources to switch any
>> time soon) and automatically populate the fields of a data tag template
>> with the appropriate information from the CSV. Obviously the user would
>> have to map the fields of the CSV to the field of the data tag, but once
>> that is done, it would be a simple importing step then checking to make
>> sure it worked. Does this kind of program exist already?
>>
>>
>>
>> Best,
>>
>> Catherine
>>
>>
>>
>> *Catherine M. Early, PhD*
>>
>> *she/her/hers*
>>
>> Barbara Brown Chair of Ornithology
>>
>> cearly at smm.org
>>
>> https://catherineearly.wixsite.com/home
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> We envision a world where everyone has the power to use science to make
>> lives better,
>> and we are committed to using STEM as a tool to advocate for justice and
>> equity.
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Nhcoll-l mailing list
>> Nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu
>> https://mailman.yale.edu/mailman/listinfo/nhcoll-l
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> NHCOLL-L is brought to you by the Society for the Preservation of
>> Natural History Collections (SPNHC), an international society whose
>> mission is to improve the preservation, conservation and management of
>> natural history collections to ensure their continuing value to
>> society. See http://www.spnhc.org for membership information.
>> Advertising on NH-COLL-L is inappropriate.
>>
> _______________________________________________
> Nhcoll-l mailing list
> Nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu
> https://mailman.yale.edu/mailman/listinfo/nhcoll-l
>
> _______________________________________________
> NHCOLL-L is brought to you by the Society for the Preservation of
> Natural History Collections (SPNHC), an international society whose
> mission is to improve the preservation, conservation and management of
> natural history collections to ensure their continuing value to
> society. See http://www.spnhc.org for membership information.
> Advertising on NH-COLL-L is inappropriate.
>


-- 
Katie D. Pearson
Project & Data Manager
Symbiota Support Hub, iDigBio
Arizona State University
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mailman.yale.edu/pipermail/nhcoll-l/attachments/20230511/a9116986/attachment.html>