Collections Digitization Glossary

An activity with the goal of determining whether or not a specimen should be accessioned into a collection.

The formal, documented process to legally add an object or group of objects to a museum collection. A single accession transaction occurs when one or more objects are acquired in the same manner, from one source, and at one time.

An activity with the objective of gaining physical custody of an object for a museum collection through purchase, donation, bequest, transfer, or fieldwork. This includes the associated metadata primarily derived from primary sources.

Anthropology is the scientific study of humans, human behavior and societies in the past and present.

This class represents an archaeological material, that is a part of a lot of archaeological materials.

Archaeology, or archeology, is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture.

Collection objects in the physical custody of a collection that have not completed the verbatim data capture or acquisition phase of a digitization project.

Digital coding system showing an eye-visible linear array of rectangular marks of (possibly) varying width, height and vertical alignment, separated by spaces of (possibly) varying width in which the positioning and size of marks and spaces are used to code information to identify various types of material objects

Individual items (physical objects) of a material nature, which live, have lived, or are natural products of or from living organisms.

Biology is the science of life. It is concerned with the characteristics and behaviors of organisms

Written or electronic documentation that captures the unique identifying number assigned to a museum object or group of objects, along with a physical description, condition, provenience, and other pertinent information that facilitates physical and intellectual access.

Designates an accumulated group of objects with a focal characteristic that is assembled and maintained by an agent over time.

All practices and procedures implemented by a museum in acquiring, documenting, handling, accessing, cataloguing, storing, securing, lending, conserving and disposing of collection objects

An integrated software tool with a metadata structure specifically designed for capturing, curating, preserving, and accessing data associated with museum collections

A physical or digital object that belongs to a museum collection

Crystallography is the scientific study of crystals.

Legacy of physical objects and intangible attributes of a group or a society that are inherited from past generations, maintained and protected in the present and preserved for future generations

Cultural studies is a field of theoretically, politically, and empirically engaged cultural analysis that concentrates upon the political dynamics of contemporary culture, its historical foundations, defining traits, conflicts, and contingencies.

Comprises aggregations of physical objects that are curated and preserved by one or more Agents over time for a specific purpose and audience, and according to a particular collection development plan.

Person responsible for overseeing a collection with expertise in the same domain as the collection

The formal, documented process by which a museum or institution permanently removes an object from its permanent collection.

The systematic identification and classification of a collection object

Designates an aggregation of digital objects, including digital versions of physical media, digitised resources, or born-digital items. The collection may be online presented or not.

Process of converting analogue materials into digital form

A specific serialized representation of a dataset.

Environmental science is the science of the interactions between the physical, chemical, and biological components of the environment, but with particular attention to the effects of humans on the natural environment.

Investigation or other type of formal activity practiced by direct observation in the field as a form of primary reconnaissance

Recognizable remains such as bones, shells, leaves, burrows, impressions, or tracks of past life on the earth.

A collection object that is a geologic material

A material entity comprised of a natural amount of matter generated by some geologic process

Study of the planet earth, its composition, structure, physical and chemical processes, and history since its origin.

A word, number, letter, symbol, or any combination of these used to uniquely identify or reference an individual instance of an entity within a specific information domain.

Organization, or part of an organization, the main aim of which is to facilitate the use of such information resources, services and facilities as are required to meet the informational, research, educational, cultural or recreational needs of its users

The temporary transfer of custody of museum property on either a short- term (three years or less) or long-term basis.

Comprises all persistent physical objects of any size that are purposely created by human activity and have physical boundaries that separate them completely in an objective way from other objects.

An entity that exists in full during the length of time of its existence, persists through this time while maintaining its identity and has no temporal parts.

A material entity that represents an entity of interest in whole or in part dwc:MaterialSample. Top concept in material sample object type hierarchy. Represents any material sample object.

An institution that cares for (conserves) a collection of artifacts and other objects of scientific, artistic, cultural, or historical importance.

An object aggregate that has as member parts a material sample that is located in a museum as a result of a process of curation.

The natural sciences are those branches of empirical science that produce a comprehension of the natural world through the use of data collected from it by observation and measurement to construct deterministic and/or stochastic quantitative models of its phenomena.

A virtual collection primarily designed and collocated for online presentation. The items presented in an online collection may refer to physical objects or digital resources, or both.

Paleontology is the study of the developing history of life on earth, of ancient plants and animals based on the fossil record, evidence of their existence preserved in rocks.

Items of a material nature that are units for documentation and have physical boundaries that separate them completely in an objective way from other objects.

Designates an aggregated group of tangible objects

Person carrying out the operations required for the conservation of dead animals for decoration purposes or for scientific study

Materials that provide first-hand documentation or knowledge, usually of people, places, events or time periods.

Information that documents the history of a described object and related described activities, and that contains information about the origin or source of the described object, any changes that can have taken place since it was originated, and who has had custody of it since it was originated

Any changes in ownership and custody of a resource since its creation that are significant for its authenticity, integrity, and interpretation.

Person responsible for the surveilling, handling and the action(s) of physical placement of material objects in a museum

A material entity that represents a specific known entity (feature of interest)

A planned process that involves the initial entering of data about sample collection into a database.

The social sciences are academic disciplines concerned with the study of the social life of human groups and individuals including anthropology, economics, geography, history, political science, psychology, social studies, and sociology.

Space science encompasses all of the scientific disciplines that involve space exploration and study natural phenomena and physical bodies occurring in outer space, such as space medicine and astrobiology.

A specialized material entity is a material entity that is defined by having some quality, role or capability.

A material entity that represents a generalized population or "kind of" something defined within some context.

A specimen that physically and permanently documents data in published literature by verifying the identity of the organism(s) used in the study and by doing so ensures that a study which otherwise could not be repeated can be accurately reviewed or reassessed.