The International Generic Sample Number (IGSN) is a globally unique and persistent identifier (PID) for physical samples and collections with discovery function in the internet. IGSNs enable to directly link data and publications with samples they originate from and thus close the last gap in the full provenance of research results.
“FAIR Workflows to establish IGSN for Samples in the Helmholtz Association” (FAIR WISH) will
(i) develop standardised and discipline specific IGSN metadata schemes for different samples types within the research field Earth and Environment (EaE), complementing the core IGSN metadata schema
(ii) develop workflows to generate machine-readable IGSN metadata from different states of digitisation (from templates to databases)
(iii) develop workflows to automatically register IGSNs and
(iv) prepare the resulting workflows for further use in the Earth Science community.
We identified three EaE Use Cases: (1) rock samples and cores from the Ketzin pilot site (GFZ); (2) Arctic land expedition samples (AWI); (3) Biogeochemical Sample Database (Hereon) that ensure to have a large variety in sample types and sub-disciplines across the project partners and that represent all states of digitisation - from individual scientists, collecting sample descriptions in their field books to digital sample management systems fed by an app that is used in the field. The tools and workflows developed within FAIR WISH contribute to the HMC metadata fabric.