[Rockhounds] Numbering Specimens (WAS: Paint)

[Kreigh Tomaszewski]

Jim,

Interesting solution. Were the two numbers forced on you by your tool 
(i.e., Access), or by the design of your catalog?

In my system the unique sequence number on the specimen and label is 
also the catalog entry number. The catalog entry has fields for 
Principal Mineral, Matrix, and Secondary Minerals. I have an index by 
Mineral/Rock name that points to the catalog. Using your example, my 
index would include entries for pyrite, galena, and sphalerite. I have 
a second index organized by classification (Elements, Oxides, 
Phosphates, Sorosilicates, etc) with mineral names under each class. In 
each index each mineral name has a pointer to each catalog entry 
containing the mineral (at least it is supposed to).

I implemented my catalog as web pages. The pointers are html links. In 
my indexes the mineral names are also html links to the corresponding 
mineral page on MinDat. It has been very convenient being able to 
access my catalog from anywhere I can get on the internet, but it is 
time consuming to do right.

I have a catalog entry for photos of the specimen that I usually leave 
blank (taking a picture, loading on to the computer, photoshopping it 
to a lower resolution, and uploading it to the website takes time). 
BTW, my pictures get file names made of the unique sequence number 
(prefixed by my initials, and an appended letter if more than one). I 
find myself skipping the index entries for common minerals like calcite 
(I can find them easily with Google if necessary, and then go back and 
fill them in).

I may be nearing half done cataloging my collection (I started late, 
only about 10 years ago), but I've at least gotten into the habit of 
cataloging new specimens as I acquire them. I might have it done by the 
time I retire.

The tool you use to implement your catalog makes a difference. Paper 
based systems have been traditional and work reasonably well (I've got 
over 750 specimens in an acquired collection I don't have online yet, 
but it is almost as easily accessed). Web or database both have 
advantages.

What I'm trying to say is give some thought to how you want to use your 
catalog, and what information you want to capture. Figure out what will 
work for you. Think about the tool you will use. Making a good catalog 
is going to take a lot of time; having a catalog makes your collection 
significantly more valuable in both scientific and monetary terms. You 
want to do it right the first time. If you don't have a catalog, now is 
the time to start.

Kreigh




On Wednesday, Dec 3, 2008, at 10:30 America/Detroit, Jim Daly wrote:

> Kreigh,
> You bring up an interesting point.In my system, there's a catalog 
> entry number, and a specimen number. A specimen with more than one 
> species on it has multiple catalog entries (the unique field required 
> by Access), all with the same specimen number. Each is assigned 
> sequentially. There's also a field for "associates", so that if I have 
> a specimen with, let's ay, pyrite, galena and sphalerite, there are 3 
> entry lines. The pyrite line shows galena and sphalerite as the 
> associates, etc. That way they are cross-referenced.
> Jim Daly
>
> --- On Tue, 12/2/08, Kreigh Tomaszewski <Kreigh at tomaszewski.net> wrote:
>
> From: Kreigh Tomaszewski <Kreigh at tomaszewski.net>
> Subject: Re: [Rockhounds] Numbering Specimens (WAS: Paint)
> To: "Rockhounds at drizzle.com: A mailing list for rock and gem 
> collectors" <rockhounds at lists.drizzle.com>
> Date: Tuesday, December 2, 2008, 4:07 PM
>
> John,
>
> If you had started numbering specimens when you started collecting 
> they would
> roughly be in a time sequence. But the number is just a unique 
> identifier to tie
> together the specimen, the label, and the catalog entry. If you have 
> ten
> specimens of the same rock from the same trip you have ten numbers 
> (some of them
> may turn out to have micro crystals of something unique). And it really
> doesn't matter what order you put them in.
>
>
>
>
>
>
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