The Latimer Core standard and the Global Registry of Scientific Collections

What this was about

Marie Grosjean explained how GRSciColl, the community-curated registry of scientific collections and institutions maintained by GBIF, uses Latimer Core. Collection descriptors are flat tables that fill the gap between textual collection descriptions and specimen-level occurrences, using Darwin Core (dwc:) or Latimer Core (ltc:) headers; GRSciColl currently indexes Latimer Core biome type and object classification name, enabling searches such as marine algae collections by country. Latimer Core is also used as an import/export format and in editor training, but limitations include GRSciColl fields without Latimer Core equivalents (forced into measurementOrFact) and missing descriptors in exports, which will be revisited as Latimer Core's structure is formalised.

Why it matters. Collection-level description lets undigitised or geological collections become discoverable, and GRSciColl is a key real-world implementation of Latimer Core.

In the room

• GRSciColl registers collections, institutions, codes and identifiers, curated by 70+ editors with Index Herbariorum as a main source; it has an API and can be embedded in GBIF hosted portals.
• Collection descriptors capture lists of taxa, collectors, statistics etc. and can include unmapped columns that are displayed but not indexed.
• Indexing Latimer Core biome type and object classification name allows finding non-monophyletic groupings like algae collections.
• Missouri Botanical Garden's page is an example of a complete descriptor based on a survey.
• Many GRSciColl fields must be modelled as measurementOrFact, which users cannot reproduce without knowing the types.
• Plans to revise the Latimer Core export to include descriptors and follow the latest Latimer Core structure.
• A modelling exercise in the editor curriculum, tested at a DiSSCo Flanders workshop, shows Latimer Core's flexibility.

Notable moments