This presentation provides an overview of the rationale for the IGSN, of the organizational structure and architecture of the IGSN e.V. , and the System for Earth Sample Registration.

1. 1
www.igsn.org
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2. Relevance of Samples
 Samples are the source of observational data and
measurements across disciplines.
 Samples provide irreplaceable evidence of long-term
historical trends.
 Samples serve as standards or references.
 Samples record unique events in history and/or
unique opportunities to collect specimens (e.g. moon
rocks).
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3. Scientific Collections: Policy
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“Improving the
Management of and
Access to Scientific
Collections”

4. Geosamples Status : Preservation
 Many samples are not archived and curated due to
lack of funds, space, & required effort.
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5. Geosamples Status: Access
 Many samples and collections are not ‘online’.
 Repositories lack resources & expertise to develop &
maintain digital collection catalogs.
 Samples often only described in publications.
 Existing online catalogs are not connected or
federated.
 No easy way to search for samples.
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6. Geosamples Status: Non-unique ID’s
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The EarthChem Portal shows 75 publications
with geochemical data referenced to a sample
with the name M1 (or M-1).
(www.earthchem.org)
Names of dredge sample 3
of the Amphitrite cruise
(PetDB database, www.petdb.org)
“The key measurement was the one backarc basalt called
"PPTUW”...
Subsequent efforts to confirm the observation ran into
problems. The apparently-same sample was variously
called PPTU, PPTUW/5, PPTUW-1, and TVZ19 in four other
papers. None of those papers gave its latitude and
longitude…!”
(J. Gill and E. Todd, personal communication 2013, related to IEDA data
rescue effort)
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7. Geosamples: New Opportunities in CI
 Online sample catalogs can dramatically improve
discovery and access of collections for broad
audiences.
 Software tools can support and streamline collection
management.
 Interoperability provides unprecedented capabilities
to
 Link data, samples, and publications
 Link all data acquired on a single sample & subsamples
 Integrate sample-based data with other data types
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8. Imagine the Possibilities …
 Find all publications that mention a specific sample
 Find all data for that sample in easily usable,
electronic format
 Find other samples with similar properties
 geospatial
 temporal
 compositional
 Find the sample and contact its owner
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9. What is happening:
 IGSN (International GeoSample Number)
 Registry of unique sample identifiers
 Distributed system of metadata catalogs
 iSamples (EarthCube Research Coordination Network)
 Community initiative to build the Internet of Samples in the Earth
Sciences
 DESC (Digital Environment for Sample Curation)
 Shared cyberinfrastructure for collections management
 Planning effort funded by NSF/OCI
 GRSciColl
 International effort to build registry of collections
 hosted by the Smithsonian Institution (D. Schindel, E. Graham)
 CODATA Task Group
 Physical Objects in Cyberinfrastructure
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10. IGSN: International GeoSample Number
 provide identifiers that are guaranteed to be unique
via a centralized control mechanism
 catalog and preserve sample metadata through user-
based registration

11. Why we need PIDs for samples?
 Discovery & Access for Re-use and Reproducibility
 Unambiguously reference a sample when reporting data.
 Locate and link to a sample’s ‘virtual representation’.
 Sample Citation
 Give credit to sample collectors for the intellectual effort and resources
they put into collection, preparation, and curation of the sample.
 Data Integration
 Link data that are acquired on a single sample in different labs and over
long periods of time and published in different articles.
 Sample Management
 Track samples & sub-samples through their life cycle (from field to lab
to repository)
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12. IGSN History
 Developed at LDEO/CIESIN
 NSF grants in 2004 and 2006
 System for Earth Sample Registration
 International governance established in 2011
 15 members in USA, Australia, Europe, Asia
 Central Catalog of registration metadata at GFZ Potsdam
(Handle service)
 Central Catalog of descriptive metadata at LDEO (Managing
Office)
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13. IGSN Adoption: Sample Repositories
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14. IGSN Adoption: Agencies
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15. IGSN Adoption: Publishers
COPDESS Statement of Commitment
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16. IGSN Adoption: Publishers 16
“… AGU Publications also strongly
encourages use of other identifiers in our
journal papers. International Geo Sample
Numbers (IGSNs) uniquely identify items,
such as a rock sample, a piece of coral, or a
vial of water taken from the natural
environment, and provide important,
consistent information about these
samples. Registering samples and including
the IGSN in papers helps secure provenance
information but most importantly connects
common samples across multiple studies in
the literature. IGSNs also will help you keep
track of your samples. These identifiers can
be reserved before a field season or
assigned afterward.”
Hanson, B. (2016), AGU opens its journals to author
identifiers, Eos, 97, doi:10.1029/2016EO043183.
Published on 7 January 2016. February 25, 2016DFG Rundgespräch Geochemical Databases

17. IGSN:
Linking
Samples,
Data, &
Publications
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18. IGSN Registration Workflow
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Allocating
Agent
• Sample Name
• Location
• Sample type
• ….
IGSN:XYZ08H7JG
IGSN eV
Registry
Sample Label
1. User submits metadata
2. Allocating Agent creates
IGSN, stores metadata
3. AA registers
IGSN
5. Send to user
6. Use IGSN
4. Confirm
uniqueness
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19. IGSN Roles 19
SESAR
USGS
GFZ
CSIRO RPI
WHOI
MARUM
IGSN
Registry
IGSN users
• Make decisions what specimens to register
• Registers samples through one of the higher level
namespaces
• Maintain physical collections
IGSN Registry
IGSNAllocatingAgents
• Register name spaces
• Validate identifier registration
• Maintain IGSN handle system
• Establish specimen description schema
• Validate metadata content for
specimens
• Handle interaction with specimen
collectors and curators to register
specimens
Global
Metadata
Store
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20. What objects get an IGSN?
 Individual specimens
 Categorized by material (rock, mineral, soil, fluid, etc.)
 Subsamples (linked to ‘parent sample’)
 Thin section, grain size fraction, mineral/fossil separate, etc.
 ‘Parent objects’ such as cores, dredges, CTDs
 Individual samples of these are ‘children’
 Locations such as drill-holes, wells, soil pits, sections
(‘sampling features’)
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21. IGSN: Metadata
 Identification
 Sample name(s), registrant
 Description
 Material, classification, age, size, comments
 Geospatial information
 Geographical names, coordinates
 Collection
 Expedition/cruise, platform, date, collector,
technique
 Archiving/access
 Physical location of sample (repository),
contact
 Relationship to other (sub-)samples
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22. IGSN: Sample Geneology
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23. User Tools: www.geosamples.org
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24. MySESAR
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25. SESAR (System for Earth Sample Registration)
 Originally only IGSN allocating agent
 Now IEDA’s Allocating Agent in the IGSN e.V.
 Provides tools for investigators and institutions to
register samples and manage sample metadata
 Create metadata templates
 Submit batches of samples (spreadsheet upload & review)
 Edit metadata
 Transfer ownership of samples (= sample metadata)
 Print customized labels with QR codes
 Web services for programmatic registration of
samples from client systems
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26. Geosamples: Unraveling Past Climate

27. Geosamples: Assessing Natural Resources
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28. Geosamples: Accessing the Inaccessible
-8
-6
-4
-2
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
0.702 0.703 0.704 0.705 0.706 0.707 0.708
Hawaii
Iceland
Samoa
Society
Marquesas
Pitcairn-Gambier
Tristan
Cook-Austral
St. Helena
Fig. 15a
DMM
HIMU
EM-1
EM-2

29. IGSN Applications
 Sample management
 Preservation and access of sample metadata
 Tracking samples (QR code labels)
 Tracking subsamples
 Transfer of metadata to new owners
 Data Management
 Find & access data for a specific sample in distributed
systems (interoperability)
 Link data, samples, and publications
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30. IGSN: Interoperability
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Index to Marine & Lacustrine Geological Samples
http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/mgg/curator/curator.html or
http://seabedsamples.org