The application and long-term utility of sample­ based data is critically dependent on

• availability of information (metadata) about the samples such as geographical location and time of sampling,
• links to other data sets derived from individual samples that are dispersed in the literature and in digital data repositories, and
• access to the samples themselves.

Major problems for achieving this include incomplete documentation of samples in publications, use of ambiguous sample names, and the lack of a central catalogue that allows finding a sample's archiving location.

Using persistent identifiers for physical samples, such as the International GeoSample Number (IGSN), provides solutions. The IGSN Implementation Organisation (IGSN e.V.) offers a system of unique persistent identifiers for samples. Use of persistent identifiers in digital data systems allows building linkages between the digital representation of samples (sample profiles) in community governed portals and their related data in the literature and in web­ accessible digital data repositories.

This system is open to scientific communities outside of the geology.

Each scientific community has different needs how to reference physical sample materials, yet all communities benefit from the ability to identify samples in a globally unique and persistent way. The IGSN Implementation Organisation (IGSN e.V.) provides the organisational and technical backbone for scientific communities to apply globally unique and resolvable, actionable, and persistent identifiers for physical sample materials.

Physical sample materials encompass any materials referenced for scientific purposes, e.g. minerals, rocks, water samples, holotypes, collection specimens, reference materials, and other types of physical sample materials.

IGSN e.V. is not a database for samples. Discipline specific databases are operated by the respective scientific communities.

IGSN e.V. does not prescribe a naming scheme for samples. Communities are free to govern their IGSN namespaces according to their needs.

IGSN e.V. is not a standard metadata scheme. Metadata schemes in community databases are defined by the respective scientific communities.

Figure: Organisational structure of IGSN Implementation Organisation (IGSN e.V.) and community organisations. * Denotes examples for inclusion of further disciplines and communities

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