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Mineral specimen aggregator sites

GH
George Harlow
Thu, Jun 27, 2024 4:34 PM

John,
I was certainly unaware of SCC and Specify.  However, the big issue with open access databases is who funds their upkeep.  ICDD manages XRD data but with a subscriber license.  Challenges for RRUFF and MinDat are the long-term future.  An institution has the long-term interest in maintaining an institutional database of its collections.  Mineralogy is not an institution.
Cheers,
George

George E. Harlow                                            gharlow@amnh.orgmailto:gharlow@amnh.org
Dept. Earth and Planetary Sciences
American Museum of Natural History
200 Central Park West, New York, NY 10024-5102  U.S.A.
Phone (212)769-5378    FAX  (212)769-5533
WWW:  http://www.amnh.org/our-research/staff-directory/george-e.-harlow
http://research.amnh.org/eps/jade/

From: John Jaszczak jaszczak@mtu.edu
Sent: Thursday, June 27, 2024 12:06 PM
To: George Harlow gharlow@amnh.org
Cc: Fisherkeller, Peggy PFisherkeller@indianamuseum.org; MSA-Talk msa-talk@minlists.org
Subject: Re: [MSA-talk] Re: Mineral specimen aggregator sites

EXTERNAL SENDER

There has been a long-time formerly NSF funded database called SPECIFY for biological specimens,
and they have been seriously working on GeoSpecifyhttps://discourse.specifysoftware.org/t/about-the-geospecify-project-category/1026, which looks promising for geo and mineralogical collections data management.
(We have long been using Superbase but will need to transition at some point....)
John

John A. Jaszczak
Director and John and Phyllis Seaman Endowed Curator
of the A. E. Seaman Mineral Museum
Professor of Physics
Michigan Technological University
906-487-2255

On Thu, Jun 27, 2024 at 11:54 AM George Harlow via MSA-talk <msa-talk@minlists.orgmailto:msa-talk@minlists.org> wrote:
All,
It is a bit shocking with all the money dedicated to SESAR, EARTHCHEM, PetDB, etc., there is no such NSF sponsored repository for strictly mineralogical data.  Petrological mineralogical data can be included in EARTHCHEM, and mineral specimens can be documented/IDed in SESAR, but stand-alone mineralogical data … ??
At AMNH we are working to get data associated with the mineral (and gem) collection accessible publicly.  However, this effort is going to take some time before this task is completed.  I realize this doesn't resolve creating something like MinDB, but it would get data only used in abstracts or documentation of a specimen into the public domain.
Cheers,

George E. Harlow, Curator emeritus                                      gharlow@amnh.orgmailto:gharlow@amnh.org
Dept. Earth and Planetary Sciences
American Museum of Natural History
200 Central Park West, New York, NY 10024-5102  U.S.A.
Phone (212)769-5378    FAX  (212)769-5533
WWW:  http://www.amnh.org/our-research/staff-directory/george-e.-harlow
http://research.amnh.org/eps/jade/

From: Fisherkeller, Peggy via MSA-talk <msa-talk@minlists.orgmailto:msa-talk@minlists.org>
Sent: Thursday, June 27, 2024 10:16 AM
To: MSA-Talk <msa-talk@minlists.orgmailto:msa-talk@minlists.org>
Subject: [MSA-talk] Re: Mineral specimen aggregator sites

EXTERNAL SENDER

Thanks to all for the thoughtful responses.

Peggy Fisherkeller
Curator of Geology
Indiana State Museum and Historic Sites
pfisherkeller@indianamuseum.orgmailto:pfisherkeller@indianamuseum.org
p: 317-232-7172

From: Fisherkeller, Peggy via MSA-talk <msa-talk@minlists.orgmailto:msa-talk@minlists.org>
Sent: Monday, June 24, 2024 1:11 PM
To: msa-talk@minlists.orgmailto:msa-talk@minlists.org
Subject: [MSA-talk] Mineral specimen aggregator sites

**** This is an EXTERNAL email. Exercise caution. DO NOT open attachments or click links from unknown senders or unexpected email. ****


Our museum is in the process of updating our collections management software. Among the many preferences, we’d like software that is compatible for uploading data to an aggregator website.
So, we’re reviewing aggregator sites. I’m familiar with sites for biological specimens, like https://www.idigbio.org/https://protect2.fireeye.com/v1/url?k=31323334-50bba2bf-31367a34-4544474f5631-68572e4b3ebf7ac2&q=1&e=46fee7a3-0abb-4f1d-b790-a8454b215c9d&u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.idigbio.org%2F, but wondering if there is an equivalent site for mineralogical specimens.
Thank you!

[cid:image001.jpg@01DAC88E.6737EAC0]

Peggy Fisherkeller
Curator of Geology
Indiana State Museum and Historic Sites
pfisherkeller@indianamuseum.orgmailto:pfisherkeller@indianamuseum.org
p: 317-232-7172
650 West Washington Street
Indianapolis, IN 46204
www.indianamuseum.orghttps://protect2.fireeye.com/v1/url?k=31323334-50bba2bf-31367a34-4544474f5631-8f6b342b72062b8e&q=1&e=46fee7a3-0abb-4f1d-b790-a8454b215c9d&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.indianamuseum.org%2F


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John, I was certainly unaware of SCC and Specify. However, the big issue with open access databases is who funds their upkeep. ICDD manages XRD data but with a subscriber license. Challenges for RRUFF and MinDat are the long-term future. An institution has the long-term interest in maintaining an institutional database of its collections. Mineralogy is not an institution. Cheers, George George E. Harlow gharlow@amnh.org<mailto:gharlow@amnh.org> Dept. Earth and Planetary Sciences American Museum of Natural History 200 Central Park West, New York, NY 10024-5102 U.S.A. Phone (212)769-5378 FAX (212)769-5533 WWW: http://www.amnh.org/our-research/staff-directory/george-e.-harlow http://research.amnh.org/eps/jade/ From: John Jaszczak <jaszczak@mtu.edu> Sent: Thursday, June 27, 2024 12:06 PM To: George Harlow <gharlow@amnh.org> Cc: Fisherkeller, Peggy <PFisherkeller@indianamuseum.org>; MSA-Talk <msa-talk@minlists.org> Subject: Re: [MSA-talk] Re: Mineral specimen aggregator sites EXTERNAL SENDER There has been a long-time formerly NSF funded database called SPECIFY for biological specimens, and they have been seriously working on GeoSpecify<https://discourse.specifysoftware.org/t/about-the-geospecify-project-category/1026>, which looks promising for geo and mineralogical collections data management. (We have long been using Superbase but will need to transition at some point....) John John A. Jaszczak Director and John and Phyllis Seaman Endowed Curator of the A. E. Seaman Mineral Museum Professor of Physics Michigan Technological University 906-487-2255 On Thu, Jun 27, 2024 at 11:54 AM George Harlow via MSA-talk <msa-talk@minlists.org<mailto:msa-talk@minlists.org>> wrote: All, It is a bit shocking with all the money dedicated to SESAR, EARTHCHEM, PetDB, etc., there is no such NSF sponsored repository for strictly mineralogical data. Petrological mineralogical data can be included in EARTHCHEM, and mineral specimens can be documented/IDed in SESAR, but stand-alone mineralogical data … ?? At AMNH we are working to get data associated with the mineral (and gem) collection accessible publicly. However, this effort is going to take some time before this task is completed. I realize this doesn't resolve creating something like MinDB, but it would get data only used in abstracts or documentation of a specimen into the public domain. Cheers, George E. Harlow, Curator emeritus gharlow@amnh.org<mailto:gharlow@amnh.org> Dept. Earth and Planetary Sciences American Museum of Natural History 200 Central Park West, New York, NY 10024-5102 U.S.A. Phone (212)769-5378 FAX (212)769-5533 WWW: http://www.amnh.org/our-research/staff-directory/george-e.-harlow http://research.amnh.org/eps/jade/ From: Fisherkeller, Peggy via MSA-talk <msa-talk@minlists.org<mailto:msa-talk@minlists.org>> Sent: Thursday, June 27, 2024 10:16 AM To: MSA-Talk <msa-talk@minlists.org<mailto:msa-talk@minlists.org>> Subject: [MSA-talk] Re: Mineral specimen aggregator sites EXTERNAL SENDER Thanks to all for the thoughtful responses. Peggy Fisherkeller Curator of Geology Indiana State Museum and Historic Sites pfisherkeller@indianamuseum.org<mailto:pfisherkeller@indianamuseum.org> p: 317-232-7172 From: Fisherkeller, Peggy via MSA-talk <msa-talk@minlists.org<mailto:msa-talk@minlists.org>> Sent: Monday, June 24, 2024 1:11 PM To: msa-talk@minlists.org<mailto:msa-talk@minlists.org> Subject: [MSA-talk] Mineral specimen aggregator sites **** This is an EXTERNAL email. Exercise caution. DO NOT open attachments or click links from unknown senders or unexpected email. **** ________________________________ Our museum is in the process of updating our collections management software. Among the many preferences, we’d like software that is compatible for uploading data to an aggregator website. So, we’re reviewing aggregator sites. I’m familiar with sites for biological specimens, like https://www.idigbio.org/<https://protect2.fireeye.com/v1/url?k=31323334-50bba2bf-31367a34-4544474f5631-68572e4b3ebf7ac2&q=1&e=46fee7a3-0abb-4f1d-b790-a8454b215c9d&u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.idigbio.org%2F>, but wondering if there is an equivalent site for mineralogical specimens. Thank you! [cid:image001.jpg@01DAC88E.6737EAC0] Peggy Fisherkeller Curator of Geology Indiana State Museum and Historic Sites pfisherkeller@indianamuseum.org<mailto:pfisherkeller@indianamuseum.org> p: 317-232-7172 650 West Washington Street Indianapolis, IN 46204 www.indianamuseum.org<https://protect2.fireeye.com/v1/url?k=31323334-50bba2bf-31367a34-4544474f5631-8f6b342b72062b8e&q=1&e=46fee7a3-0abb-4f1d-b790-a8454b215c9d&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.indianamuseum.org%2F> _______________________________________________ MSA-talk mailing list -- msa-talk@minlists.org<mailto:msa-talk@minlists.org> To unsubscribe send an email to msa-talk-leave@minlists.org<mailto:msa-talk-leave@minlists.org>