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Table of Contents
Glossary
Allocating Agent
An Allocating Agent is an institution which allocates IGSN names on behalf of the IGSN registration agency of IGSN. An Allocating Agent may delegate technical functions and services to one or more data centres.
Allocating Agents:
- System for Earth Sample Registration (SESAR) http://www.geosamples.org
Allocating Agents in preparation:
- CSRIO Australian Resources Research Centre http://www.csiro.au/en/Organisation-Structure/Divisions/Earth-Science--Resource-Engineering/arrc.aspx
- MARUM Centre for Marine Environmental Sciences, Univ. Bremen http://www.marum.de
- German Research Centre for Geosciences GFZ, Potsdam http://www.gfz-potsdam.de/portal/gfz/Services/Forschungsdaten
- Geoscience Australia
- Curtin University, De Laeter Centre for Geoschemistry
Community
An IGSN Community is a scientific community of practice, e.g. petrology, ocean sediments, critical zone, etc. The catalogue of samples registered by a community is made accessible through a community portal. The community also defines the IGSN Naming Convention and metadata application application profile.
Community Portals:
- System for Earth Science Sample Registration (SESAR) http://www.geosamples.org
IGSN Syntax
An International GeoSample Number (IGSN), is a unique string created to identify a sample object in an online environment. The IGSN is made up of two components, a handle prefix and a suffix, separated by a forward slash. The syntax guidelines are summarised on the IGSN wiki pages.
The IGSN is organised by namespaces to ensure globally unique allocation of IGSNs to samples. The recommended format of the IGSN is a nine character string consisting of a namespace identifier and a sample number. In a journal article or manuscript a sample identified by IGSN SSH000SUA may look like this (tagged IGSN):
Example: SSH000SUA
The IGSN can be resolved by is concatenating it into a resolvable URL:
<prefix>/<igsn>
where <prefix> is http://hdl.habdle.net/10273, and <igsn> is the value (IGSN) assigned by an Allocating Agent. This URL can be resolved to the metadata page of the sample through any handle resolver, e.g. http://hdl.handle.net
Example: http://hdl.handle.net/10273/SSH000SUA
IGSN user communities may adopt their own IGSN formats, if necessary. Deviations from the recommended format need to be approved by the IGSN Executive Board.
Example (IGSN): GeoB3375-1 (a gravity core from the core repository of MARUM, Univ. Bremen, Germany) Example http://hdl.handle.net/10273/GeoB3375-1
Please refer to the syntax guidelines for more detail.
Metadata Profile and Schema
Due to the diversity of samples that IGSN tries to accommodate, including historic samples with a very limited set of available metadata. The IGSN metadata scheme is not a standard metadata scheme for sample description, it is used only to transmit core metadata needed for the registration, resolution, and administration of the IGSN resolver service. Metadata schemes in community databases are defined by the respective scientific communities.
Metadata elements are:
| Element | Definition |
|---|---|
| sampleNumber | The IGSN that identifies the registered object. |
| registrant | The allocating agent registering the object. |
| relatedResourceIdentifier | The identifiers of other objects (literature, data, samples) related to this object. |
| log | Date and Time relevant to events concerning the registered object and its metadata. |
The XML schema can be downloaded from our code repository: (Trac) http://trac.gfz-potsdam.de/igsn/browser/IGSN/schema or (SVN) http://svnext.gfz-potsdam.de/igsn/.
The documentation of the metadata and schema has moved to the IGSN Trac Wiki http://trac.gfz-potsdam.de/igsn/wiki/WikiStart
An IGSN Community can define a more detailed metadata application profile.
Namespace
In order to assure the uniqueness of assigned IGSN names, the space of IGSN identifiers is subdivided into namespaces. Namespaces are assigned to Allocating Agents by the IGSN Registration Agency. The allocation of IGSNs within a namespace is governed by the allocation agents.
Registration Agency
IGSN names and registration metadata are sent to the Registration Agency by the Allocating Agents. The Registration Agency keeps a record of all registered IGSN names and integrates the IGSN names into the handle_system for global resolution into URLs. Detailed descriptions of the data are kept by the Allocating agents and can be harvested into community portals for sample discovery and re-use.
Individual users should refer to Allocating Agents for registration of their samples.
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