Transaction types

[mikkohei13]

What would be the definition of a transaction, how many different kinds of actions should be placed under this, if an institution would like to track them carefully?

These might be additional types of transactions:

• Gifts - giving a specimen permanently to another institution
• Exchanges - exchanges with another institution
• Accessions & deaccessions - decision made by someone to include a specimen to a collection, or removing it. Or moving a specimen from one collection into another, within the same institution?
• Splitting a specimen into multiple specimens, or joining multiple into one
• Making a preparation - sensu lato; tissue sample, DNA extract, microscope slide, stuffed animal, preserved skin...
• Doing pest control - freezing, using pesticides...
• Inventory - checking if the specimen is still in the collection.
• Generic / underfined transaction - something that comes up and cannot be categorized under predefined transactions.

Also, what sould/could be counted as an interpretation, and what just adding new data about a specimen? Should they be done in a different manner? I think there’s a gray area in between, like “adding data based on collectors’ notebook entry”. Can that be a transaction?

[matdillen]

How are the access rights to a digital specimen defined? Concerning gifts, exchanges and other changes in curatorial responsibility regarding the specimen, these could all be defined as 'annotations' updating the curatorial status. Although there is a difference between annotations that reflect actual changes or incorrect/inaccurate/missing information.