This document describes the MBARI Sample Data Management System, which includes the Sample Collection Database and the software applications designed for loading data into it and extracting data from it. This document is written primarily for the system's developers, programmers, the Sample Coordinator, and other high level users for the purposes of reference and support of the system. Instructions for executing the processes and links to more information for end users are included too. This document, as well as the system, are under development.
The database and the processes described here were developed to:
| capture collecting event data in near-real-time for incoming ROV-collected samples |
| manage the inventory of specimens in the archives |
| make the information available over the web |
The system is coordinated with MBARI’s video annotation system, video frame-grabs, navigation data, and CTDO sensor data archives. Photographs, field notes, and other documents may be affiliated with specimens, as may lists of analyses performed and citations resulting from the use of the specimens. The specimens are primarily ROV-collected biological and geological samples and their subsamples, but the system is designed to be extendable to include other materials, such as non-ROV-collected specimens, derived objects, or frozen tissues.
The system is intended to serve MBARI as an institution by keeping track of hazardous materials and disseminating information about our specimens, MBARI investigators and staff by assisting them with metadata management and reducing loss and duplication of specimens, and external investigators by facilitating specimen loans.
Copyright © 1998 Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI). All rights reserved. No part of this document may be copied, reproduced, or translated in any form without the express written consent of MBARI. No part of this document may be stored or transmitted in any electronic form without the express written consent of MBARI. Trademarks, registered trademarks, and product names appearing in this document are the property of their respective owners.
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Last updated: 28 April 2000 by Jennifer Paduan
Copyright © 1998 MBARI