Tracking Organisms across data sets - Darwin Core Hour Input Form 4/12/2021 20:57:47

[iDigBioBot]

A user submitted this information via the Darwin Core Hour webform:
Timestamp: 4/12/2021 20:57:47
Please provide a topic of interest: Hi there, I'm currently working on a proof of concept 'global identifier' system for tracking individual organisms of varying species in New Zealand, as well as the associated systems. For example, there is a kea (Nestor notabilis) with the name Jam (https://keadatabase.nz/birds/jam) which is referenced in three different database systems by various identifiers. Is Organism the appropriate type to be using for storing this information? Probably using fields such as dwc:organismName for the name, dcterms:publisher to refer to who is publishing the data, as well as dcterms:references to refer to the other systems with references to the same entity. Similarly, how does Organism relate/differ to Living Specimen? Cheers
Are you capable of and interested in participating: Yes
Who else would you recommend to participate in the presentation:
What resources can you point to:
Your name: George Moon
Your email: [email protected]
Your GitHub username: georgemoon

[baskaufs]

@georgemoon It doesn't look like anyone else has given an answer to this question, so I will make a try.

I believe that what you suggested about organizing this information under an Organism instance would be appropriate. Your suggested fields also sound reasonable.

As far as how Organism relates to Living Specimen, I am not sure that there is a clear consensus on this, but I have distinguished between the two in the following way. I have used organism as a way to link data that applies to the same organism, i.e. if there are multiple occurrences recorded for the same organism (your use case) or multiple determinations (a.k.a. dwc:Identification instances) for the same organism. In my view, a LivingSpecimen instance is an organism whose circumstances are being tracked by some organization which bears some sort of responsibility for its curation. So for example, an organism in a zoo or tagged animal in a wildlife park could be an instance both a LivingSpecimen and an Organism, whereas a wild animal that is observed would be an Organism instance but not necessarily a LivingSpecimen if no one assumed any sort of responsibility for maintaining it. This is how I have considered the two classes, but others may think about it differently. One could also say that all LivingSpecimens are Organisms, but not all Organisms are LivingSpecimens.

[georgemoon]

@baskaufs Sorry, realised I never wrote a response to your answer. Thanks heaps for that, and your distinguishment between the two makes logical sense. Cheers