How To Build Other Identifiers
Other Identifiers in Arctos are composed of:
- issued by (an Arctos Agent)
- value (free text)
- relationship
- type
- remark (free text)
It is important to be consistent when describing other identifiers if they are going to be useful. This document provides methods for making better other identifiers.
How to use other identifiers to create resolvable relationships between Arctos records
There are many reasons that one Arctos record should be linked to another, these can be found in the relationships code table. Creating links between Arctos records using these relationships is easy, all you need to know is the guid (or triplet, nonpreferred) for the record you want to relate the record you are editing or entering to and Arctos does the rest!
Example
I am cataloging a parasite and I know the host is a record in the MSB Mammal collection with catalog number 11405. To create a link from my parasite record to the MSB mammal record, I would enter the other identifier as follows:
| Other ID field | Value entered |
|---|---|
| issued by | |
| value | https://arctos.database.museum/guid/MSB:Mamm:11405 (or MSB:Mamm:11405) |
| relationship | parasite of |
| type | Arctos record GUID |
| remark | say whatever you need to say |
Pro Tip
The most important selection for making links between Arctos records is
type = Arctos record GUID
This lets Arctos do much of the work for you and provides a check to ensure that links will be operational. All values that are associated with a valid Arctos collection either through a record url (or triplet) will have the issued by automatically inserted by Arctos. Also note that if only the record triplet is entered in the value, Arctos will assume intention and convert to the GUID automatically.
If you enter a value that does not match an existing Arctos collection’s prefix, you will recieve an error as Arctos lets you know that all other identifiers of type Arctos record GUID must be included in an existing Arctos collection.
If you attempt to enter a valid Arctos record url using a type other than Arctos record GUID, you will receive an error as Arctos lets you know that links between Arctos records must be type = Arctos record GUID. Note that Arctos cannot assume a “triplet-like” identifier of a different type is intended to be a GUID.
How to use other identifiers to create resolvable relationships between Arctos records and external resources
There are many reasons that an Arctos record should be linked to an external resource, these can be found in the relationships code table. Creating links between Arctos records and external resources using these relationships is easy, all you need to know is the url for the external resource!
Example
I am cataloging a mammal and I know that it has a related accession in GenBank. To create a link from my mammal record to the GenBank accession, I would enter the other identifier as follows:
| Other ID field | Value entered |
|---|---|
| issued by | NCBI Nucleotide (GenBank) |
| value | http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/nuccore/AF520643 |
| relationship | same individual as |
| type | identifier |
| remark | say whatever you need to say |
Pro Tip
The most important selection for making links between Arctos records and external resources is
value = the entire url of the related resource
Selecting an inappropriate issued by or type (other than Arctos record GUID, which will cause an error) does not functionally change the fact that the record will now include a link to an external resource (as long as you have entered a working url!).
Other Resolvable Identifier Cheat Sheet
Recommended methods for entering some “popular” other identifiers that provide links to data external to Arctos.
| issued by | type | number format | relationship | note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NCBI Nucleotide (GenBank) | identifier | http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/nuccore/xxxxxx | self | provides a link to GenBank that GenBank will reciprocate |
| Smithsonian Museum of Natural History EZID | identifier | http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx | same individual as | EZIDs provide links to the USNM databases they can be found by searching the USNM catalog number in the appropriate collection database |
How to use other identifiers that do not create relationships to other resources
When an identifier other than the Arctos record triplet is known for a cataloged item or there is a known relationship to an external resource that cannot supply a url, use an other identifier to document the information.
Example
I am cataloging a mammal tissue and I know that it has a related skin in the collection at The Smithsonian. To document this relationship, I would enter the other identifier as follows:
| Other ID field | Value entered |
|---|---|
| issued by | Smithsonian Division of Mammals |
| value | USNM 12345 |
| relationship | same individual as |
| type | identifier |
| remark | say whatever you need to say |
Pro Tip
The most important selection for adding informative other identifiers that do not link to other Arctos records or any external resource is
issued by = the most specific Arctos agent possible to describe who created this identifier
Selecting an inappropriate type (other than Arctos record GUID, which will cause an error) does not functionally change the fact that the record will now include an identifier that might be used to eventually create a resolvable relationship to an external resource or Arctos record should the agent used start publishing urls for their records.
The choice of type is somewhat arbitrary, but some important considerations remain. For example, “field number” is not a number assigned to an individual specimen (as is traditional terminology for many mammalogists), but rather an identifier assigned to a collecting event (as is traditional in ichthyology); “collector number” is (usually) the appropriate choice for a “mammal field number.” Please consult the documentation in the other ID code table, and file an Issue if any questions remain. The Arctos technical team strongly recommends using type = identifier for any identifier other than Arctos record GUIDs in order to avoid confusion and inconsistency.
Other Non-Resolvable Identifier Cheat Sheet
Recommended methods for entering some “popular” other identifiers that do not provide links to data external to Arctos.
| issued by | type | number format | relationship | note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| American Museum of Natural History Mammal Collection | identifier | AMNH M xxxxx | same individual as | |
| American Museum of Natural History Ornithology Collection | identifier | AMNH B xxxxx | same individual as | |
| Smithsonian Division of Amphibians and Reptiles | identifier | USNM xxxxx | same individual as | |
| Smithsonian Division of Birds | identifier | USNM xxxxx | same individual as | |
| Smithsonian Division of Fishes | identifier | USNM xxxxx | same individual as | |
| Smithsonian Division of Mammals | identifier | USNM xxxxx | same individual as |
Edit this Documentation
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