This group of fields identifies the data records of the transfer file,
that is, it describes the accession-based (specimen-based) information being interchanged.
It is essential that these fields match exactly for the various exchange options to work
effectively.
The fields in this group include the Institution Code and Accession
Identifier, as well as the Record defining field identifiers.
Description: The single character } indicating the end of a
HISPID3 Record.
Domain/Range/Values: Must contain the symbol '}' only.
Comments: To be found at the end of each HISPID3 record
indicating the end of the data of a record, prior to beginning the next record or the endfile
identifier if it is the last record in the transfer file.
TDWG Short name: HERBARIUM
Description: The standard code for the Institution to which the
plant record refers.
Relevant standards: Index Herbariorum, International Directory
for Botanic Gardens, ABIS, ITF, TLR
Domain/Range/Values: The code must consist of an entry of 17
uppercase letters (AZ), no embedded spaces. This field must be filled.
Comments: When inserting the accession information into a
receiving database, the Institution Code combines with the Accession Identifier
to make up the unique Donor's accession identifier for each record.
It is perhaps not necessary to include this field in a 'home' database
since it may be appended to the record as the interchange file is generated. However, it
will be necessary if the herbarium chooses to keep records of other institutions'
collections of particular groups (for research purposes for example).
A problem with this field may arise with herbaria associated with
botanic gardens; it is desirable that the herbaria and botanic gardens have the same
abbreviation. If the record is primarily referring to an herbarium voucher, then the
herbarium code should always be used in the transfer file. The distinction between
herbarium and living material can be handled by various flags in the Collection group.
If an institution's herbarium does not have an official code,
then a temporary one should be assigned. However, it is essential that the institution
receiving the transfer file is aware of the code being used. This information should be
included in the Description of File Contents and other Comments field (refer
above).
TDWG Short name: UNIQUEID, ACCESSIONID
Description: The unique identifier of the record, often called
'Accession Number', used internally by the institution to record each accession.
Relevant standards: ABIS, ITF, TLR
Domain/Range/Values: Alphanumeric; the Accession Identifier
field may consist of any characters in the ASCII character set, no embedded spaces.
1. The Accession Identifier should be a unique set of characters that identifies each accession in the institution's own record system.
2. The same value of the Accession Identifier should not be used
again for a separate, unrelated specimen in that institution.
Comments: Institutions differ widely in the way they accession
and record herbarium specimens with one result that numbering systems (sometimes multiple)
have been applied in fundamentally different ways. In some institutions this number refers
to a unique specimen accession number, in others the specimen parts are accessioned
individually and each part (eg. multiple sheets) has its own accession number, but
supplementary material such as spirit and fruit may carry the number of the first sheet.
The application of different specimen/accession number systems is a source of potential
confusion where the specimen number and accession number may or may not be the same thing.
However, only the Accession Identifier is used in HISPID3. This single number will either
identify the single herbarium material or the group of material (when several identifiers
are used for different elements of an accession).
Unlike herbaria, many botanic gardens include punctuation within their Accession Identifier, eg. 82BG2431. It is vital for an institution to be consistent on whether the punctuation is included in the HISPID3 transfer format.