Definitions

This section needs fleshing out and links to other locations in the documentation.

catalog number:  A unique numeric (or more rarely an alphanumeric or decimal) code applied to a specific collection object or set of objects in a museum collection. Catalog numbers are unique with a collection and since we've moved them into a common database they are always preceded by a unique institutional code (codon) to ensure uniqueness within the database.

collecting event: When and where an effort was made to collect. Events should include all of the species that were collected at the same place and time.

collection object: A physical specimen held in a museum or collection. Specimens may be whole or partial animals. Specimen occurrences are thus verifiable in ways that other occurrence are not since the specimen and original labels are usually available for examination.

data donor: 

data source: An entity that provided or we otherwise received data from. Data sources provided datasets that are processed into the database.

data track: Compilations of occurrence records, from many data sources that are processed together and appended to the project database. See documentation of our data tracks.

data type: 

determination: A taxonomic identification of a physical specimen, photograph, genetic sample, or audio recording.

event ID: Unique numeric identifier used to define a collecting event.

georeference (georeferencing): A georeference defines a location in terms that a computer can easily understand. As implemented in this project, it includes a point (as latitude and longitude coordinates) and a spatial error (radius in meters). Georeferencing is the act of translating textual locality descriptions into points and radii.

lot: A museum database occurrence record correlated to the physical specimens held in container/s. A lot usually refers to a jar of specimens.

occurrence: When and where an taxon was observed/collected. An occurrence is defined by at least three critical pieces of information; date, location, and taxonomic determination.