Re: Barcodes on insect specimens
Subject: Re: Barcodes on insect specimens Date: Thu, 8 Jul 1999 15:47:57 -0000 From: "Robert K. Colwell" <colwell@uconnvm.uconn.edu> To: "John Pickering" <pick@pick.uga.edu> cc: "Jack Longino" <longinoj@elwha.evergreen.edu> Pick, >Code 49 may not be dead. I have a meeting with Sprague Ackley in Athens on >Monday. Sprague is Chief Scientist at Intermec and, by my understanding, >the inventor of code 49. I'm working with him to find a Code 49 solution >that will be acceptable to the museum community as a whole. Bless you! > >Intermec's sales force and literature suggest that Code 49 is no longer >supported. However, according to my understanding through conversations >with Sprague, this is not the case. Intermec's new high-density printer >series (models 3240 and 3440) will print the code 49 labels that we are >currently using and their new imager (model 1470) will read code 49 labels. >What I'm still trying to find out is how to best interface their 1470 >imager with our plethora of different software applications and platforms. >This imager currently interfaces through a RS-232 serial port and should, >within 4 months, interface through a USB port. However, I hope that we can >convince Intermec to find us a solution that interfaces through a wedge >reader that appears to our software applications as a keyboard, thus >avoiding the need for each of us to write the software to accept input from >RS-232/USB ports in addition to our keyboards. Question: As far as I know, Macs do not have an RS-232 port. Is it possible to get a card that has one or something? How about USB ports on cards for older macs? Rob > >If my information is correct and the 1470 imager reads code 49 and the 3x40 >printers print the labels, I would recommend that we stick with code 49, >even if a wedge reader is not available for months to come. It would be a >lot easier to stick with our current labels and write software interface >code for each application than to re-label 4 million plus specimens or have >multiple barcodes to read. I also stongly recommend that we keep a unique >institutional identifier in each barcode. This is important when we share >material, as we are. Doing otherwise would be short-sighted and ultimately >a disaster. > >I will let you and the others know what transpires during my meeting with >Sprague. Hold off on any final decisions until then. > >Cheers, >Pick
| Discover Life in America | Science | Unique Identifiers & Barcodes | Correspondence | Robert Colwell - 8 July, 1999 |