Labels

Specimen label with data matrix symbol

Last updated: 26 October, 2007

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Overview

Goal -- develop an efficient label and database network that uses secure, globally unique identifiers.

Justification

Museums, herbaria and members of the research community routinely exchange a diverse array of labelled material -- mounted specimens, microscope slides, DNA samples, photographs, virtual images, sound recordings, etc. Because no standard method of labelling this material exists, keeping track of individual items is inefficient at best and often impossible. Only a small fraction of the estimated 3 billion museum and herbaria specimens are labelled with specimen-level identifiers. Most are simply labelled with the locality, date, and other information associated with their collection -- information that may or may not distinguish each specimen from all others.

Pioneered by the Dan Janzen, Winnie Hallwachs, and the National Institute of Biodiversity in Costa Rica (INBio), progressive collections now label specimens with locally unique barcodes and associate specimen-level information with these unique identifiers in their databases. Thus, they can efficiently keep track of loan status and determination history of individual specimens, for instance. These institutions have typically adopted barcodes encoding a short institutional identifier (e.g., INBIOCRI, UGCA, USNM ENT, or SM) and a locally unique number. Unfortunately, because of the limited number of characters that can fit within small barcodes, these institutional identifiers are, by themselves, too short to guarantee that they are globally unique. SM may identify the specimens of both the Snow Museum and the more ubiquitous, though less famous, Sam Miller. Furthermore, while institutions have generally tried to chose institutional identifiers to avoid duplication based on norms or registries within their discipline, under the current system of self-choice, institutional identifiers could easily be duplicated between disciplines.

To better track labelled material among institutions and to facilitate inter-connectivity across their distributed databases, specimen-level identifiers must be globally, not just locally, unique.

Unique Identifiers

Click here for discussion, correspondence and registry of labels with unique identifiers.

Background
Since 1991, the Insect Diversity Project has labelled over 300,000 insects for which it maintains in a specimen-level, on-line database. This section explains our labelling methods. It also permits you to retrieve and enter data, and to print labels after selecting a database.
Click here for instructions on how to print labels from Sam Droege.

Technology

We are upgrading to all-in-one labels from a two-label system that combine human and machine readable data. Both systems uniquely identify individual specimens. Label data are on-line and used to retrieve and update information on specimens such as determination history and loan status.

All-in-one labels

All-in-one Label
Size: 22.5mm x 8mm (standard INBio size)
Lower left: 16 x 16 data matrix symbol

Label features

agent/institution (e. g., STRI)
sub-agent (e. g., ENT)
a globally unique, machine readable identifier encoded in the data matrix
a local, human readable identifier assigned by the agent (e. g., 12345678)
Line-1: Country State/Region/Province (e. g., PANAMA Canal Zone)
Line-2: Site [Optional: Elevation] (e. g., Barro Colorado Is.)
Line-3: Latitude Longitude, or other coordinate system (e. g., 09 9'N 79 51'W)
Line-4: date1 [Optional: -date2] (e. g., 29Dec-5Jan 2000)
Line-5: Collector [Optional: parent/sample/lot/log_id number] (e. g., D Windsor 9925)

Recommended equipment

Data matrix reader -- Intermec 1470 high-density imager
Printer -- Intermec 3240 thermal transfer printer
Web print server -- Axis 5600 Network Print Server

Older Labels
Conventional and Barcode Labels
Conventional insect label (above)
Code 49 barcode (2-stack) label (below)

The above barcode encodes the alphanumeric string "UGCA000100". Such identifiers are unique within our project and allow us to identify, track, and associate data with individual specimens. We position the barcode label on the pin below the insect, face-up. This typically enables them to be scanned without moving the specimen. In contrast, we position the conventional label face-down, back-to-back with the barcode label. Thus, specimens must be picked-up before their conventional labels can be read.
Recommended equipment to read Code 49 labels

Intermec 1470 high-density imager, or

Intermec 1545 scanner with 9710 wedge

New web labelling system

We are developing new technology that will generate labels through a web browser. Users will not need a specialized printer in order to generate these labels. For examples of various sizes and formats, please see the following links.

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