Re: Survey for web registry of unique identifiers
Date: Thu, 29 Jul 1999 22:16:10 +0300
To: pick@pick.uga.edu (John Pickering), sackley@compuserve.com,
ashe@falcon.cc.ukans.edu, ksem@kuhub.cc.ukans.edu,
brianb@mizar.usc.edu, colwell@uconnvm.uconn.edu,
Gladys_Cotter@usgs.gov, christine.deal@intermec.com,
faulzeitler@ascoll.org, mark_fornwall@usgs.gov,
Furth.David@NMNH.SI.EDU, whallwac@sas.upenn.edu, djanzen@sas.upenn.edu,
Johnson.2@osu.edu, mkaspari@ou.edu, longinoj@elwha.evergreen.edu,
scottm@bishop.bishop.hawaii.org, becky_nichols@nps.gov,
Chuck_Parker@nps.gov, msharkey@byron.ca.uky.edu, ctemple@intermec.com,
cthompso@sel.barc.usda.gov, jugalde@inbio.ac.cr,
pin93001@uconnvm.uconn.edu, windsord@tivoli.si.edu, dl@pick.uga.edu,
idg@nhm.ac.uk, KPerry@intermec.com, pick@pick.uga.edu,
mzumbado@inbio.ac.cr
From: Scott Miller <smiller@icipe.org>
Subject: Re: Survey for web registry of unique identifiers
Cc: "Neal Evenhuis" <neale@bishop.bishop.hawaii.org>,
"Gordon Nishida" <gordo@bishop.bishop.hawaii.org>,
"Tony Putter"<Tony.Putter@fao.org>, "John Helly"<hellyj@sdsc.EDU>,
"Ebbe Nielsen"<ebben@spider.ento.csiro.au>,
"Anna Weitzman"<WEITZMAN.ANNA@NMNH.SI.EDU>,
"Robert Robbins"<robbins.robert@NMNH.SI.EDU>, lrogo@icipe.org,
"Susan Kimani-Njogu" <skimaninjogu@icipe.org>,
"Maes K." <kmaes@AfricaOnline.co.ke>
Pick: Thank you for continuing to push this subject forward. A few
thoughts and then some data. ASC would be a good coordinating body (if
they desired) for North America, but I believe their official mandate
really only covers the USA, Canada, and Mexico, so they would not
necessarily be a suitable international repository. BRD, being a
government agency serving the USA, would be even more narrow. On the other
hand there are two nascent, although yet poorly defined organisations that
will evolve over the next year or so: the Global Taxonomy Initiative (GTI)
of the CBD and GBIF of OECD (see recent press releases). At least from the
entomological perspective, this would be an excellent topic for discussion
at the next meeting of the directors of Major Systematic Entomology
Facilities in November.
I hope that any repository of data on unique identifiers is broader than
just entomology. Aside from herbaria being far ahead in the use of bar
codes, many entomologists are sampling hosts, whether they be plants or
vertebrates.
Here at ICIPE, we use unique numbers on our insect specimens (but no bar
codes), but this really on a small project basis, and most of the specimens
will eventually go to National Museums of Kenya.
In my former position at Bishop Museum, we used several hundred thousand
unique number labels on insects (but no bar codes), driven on a project
basis (e.g., Hawaiian insects, New Guinea canopy fogging, etc.). We
continue to use these numbers in our ongoing insect ecology project in
Papua New Guinea.
At 07:05 AM 7/29/99 -1000, John Pickering wrote:
>Folks with uniquely identified specimens --
>
> Given the extremely positive responses and ideas that we're getting
>about standardizing unique identifiers and barcode labels (see recent
>correspondence form Brian, Chris, Dan, Don, Jack, Rob... at
><www.discoverlife.org/sc/ui>), I propose that we start the process of
>putting general information about all specimens with unique identifiers at
>this URL. The primary purposes of this registry will include:
>1) assuring identifiers across projects/museums and taxa are unique by
>avoiding over-lapping institutional/project codes
>2) specifying who (or what URL) we should contact for information about a
>particular labelled specimen
>3) help us share data about uniquely identified specimens
>4) facilitate adoption of machine readable technology such as barcodes
>5) allow us to order bulk label stock and potentially print labels
>collectively.
>
> Below is an 11 question survey that I would like each of you who
>use (or plan to use) unique identifiers to fill in and return to me. View
>this survey as a prototype for one that we will ultimately distribute to
>all herbaria, museums, ecologists, etc. Hence, please make comments on
>what I've left out and how it might be improved. Send your responses to me
>and distribute the survey to selected colleagues as you see fit. My
>immediate goal is to have you help figure what information we want to
>share, whether we need 4 letter acronyms or longer, etc. Then we'll design
>an automated survey and seek help maintaining the database that it creates.
>
>Before we make corrections and automate the data entry using HTML forms, I
>hope this won't snowball into a giant chain letter that overwelms me with
>responses. Hence, all secondary and tertiary contacts should respond using
>the planned automated survey after 1 September.
>
>Ultimately, as Chris suggested, I hope some international organization,
>ASC, BRD, or whomever will take over this task as it grows. I'm simply
>happy to get the process moving. Furthermore, I think that we should
>pursue Rob's suggestion of seeking help from Apple or other government or
>industry folks on how best to design the process. Bobbie, Gladys, Mark,
>are you interested in volunteering your organizations?
>
>For now, I want to avoid the issue raised by Dan regarding also listing
>database fields are linked to each unique identifier. One step at a time.
>Once we build a unique identifier registry, we can deal with that next. In
>short, let's build a registry that merges the institutional identifiers in
>the following three references, associated databases, and currently
>unregistered projects into a database that provides unique identifiers for
>all.
>
>Herbaria (database maintained by New York Botanical Garden)--
>P. K. Holmgren, N. H. Holmgren and L. C. Barnett. 1990. Index Herbariorum.
>Part I. The
>Herbaria of the World. 8th Edition. Regnum Vegetabile 120: 1-693.
>
>Entomology acronyms--
>R. H. Arnett and G. A. Samuelson. 1986. Insect and Spider Collections of
>the World. E. J. Brill:
>Gainesville, FL, pp. 220.
>
>Herpetologists/ichthyologists acronyms--
>Leviton, A. R., R. H. Gibbs, Jr., E. Heal and C. E. Dawson. 1985. Standards
>in Herpetology and
>Ichthyology: Part I. Standard symbolic codes for instructional resource
>collections in herpetology
>and ichthyology. Copeia 1985: 802-832.
>
>____________________________________________________________________
>SURVEY -- Version 1.0
>
>If you have or plan to use uniquely identified specimens (not necessarily
>just barcoded specimens), please answer the following 11 questions.
>
> [I've put my own response in square brackets, as examples, thus.]
>
>1) What is your collections "official" full name -- the one appearing on
>your letterhead or website?
>
> [Insect Diversity Project]
>
>2) What taxa are in this collection? (be as general as possible)
>
> [Insects, largely Hymenoptera]
>
>3) What is your collection's acronym that you use in your database? (Put it
>in quotes to help identify any spaces, e. g., "LACM ENT")
>
> ["UGCA"]
>
>4) Is your collection's acronym published somewhere, such as in Arnett &
>Samuelson's publication on "Insect & Spider Collections of the World?" If
>so, give publication and any details.
>
> [Yes. "UGCA" is "University of Georgia Collection of Arthropods"
>in Arnett & Samuelson]
>
>5) Who is primarily responsible for your database records on uniquely
>identified specimens (include name and email address)?
>
> [John Pickering <pick@discoverlife.org>]
>
>6) Are records from this database available through the WWW? If so, what
>is the URL where information can be obtained?
>
> [Yes. Information can be obtained about uniquely identified
>barcoded individuals through
> <http://dial.pick.uga.edu/DATABASES/UGCA>]
>
>7) What HUMAN READABLE text do you put on your labels that contain the
>unique identifier?
>
> ["UGCA 123456" --note space in human readable.]
>
>8) What is the institutional identifier encoded in your barcode symbol and
>how many digits do you currently use? (give example)
>
> ["UGCA123456" --4 letters and 6 digits encoded]
>
>9) Which barcode symbology are you using (code 39, 49, 128, DataMatrix,
>PDF417, ...)?
>
> [Code 49]
>
>10) What are the dimensions of your label with the unique identifier?
>
> [0.56 x 0.315 inch]
>
>11) So far, what is the range of identifiers that you have printed and used?
>
> [Including labels ordered by Mike Sharkey at University of
>Kentucky, who is also using "UGCA", we have printed barcodes "UGCA000001"
>to "UGCA420000". To date the Insect Diversity Project has collectively
>used over 267,000 of these.]
>
>Cheers,
>Pick
>
>_________________________________________________________
>John Pickering
>Institute of Ecology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602-2602
>Office: 706-542-1115 Messages: 706-542-3379
>Laboratory: 706-542-1388 FAX: 706-542-3344
>
>e-mail: pick@pick.uga.edu Home: 706-353-7076
>Web sites: <www.discoverlife.org> <http://dial.pick.uga.edu>
>_________________________________________________________
>
=======================================================
Scott E. Miller, Leader, Biodiversity and Conservation Programme
International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (ICIPE)
Box 30772, Nairobi, KENYA
Tel: +254-2-861680 [switchboard] -861309 [direct] Fax: -860110
Email: smiller@icipe.org -- or -- scottm@hawaii.edu
Africa: www.icipe.org/environment/biodiversity_index.html
New Guinea: www.bishopmuseum.org/bishop/natsci/ng/newguinea.html
| Discover Life in America | Science | Unique Identifiers & Barcodes | Correspondence | Scott Miller - 29 July, 1999 |