Accessing MVZ: A Primer and Demo of Arctos, MVZ’s Collection Management System, for Biodiversity Researchers
What is Arctos? Arctos is an ongoing effort to integrate museum data, collection management tools, and external resources on the Web. Arctos is designed to maximize access to multiple data types for biodiversity research.
Two instances 3M total specimens 7 collections 1 institution 1.6M specimens 39 collections 7 institutions 1.4M specimens
Arctos is part of a broader data network community
Breadth of Data Types in Arctos SPECIMENS Fieldnotes, Maps, and Images Audio DNARelationsGISProjects/Pubs
Collection Types MammalsBirds Herps Eggs and Nests Plants Fossils Insects Fishes
Arctos also includes observational data!
Arctos Functions: Search, enter, update data Georeference and map localities Manage transactions (projects, loans, accns, permits) Track specimen citations (pubs, GenBank) Track collection objects (e.g., tissue vial barcoding) Link to external web resources
Who uses Arctos? Academics (students, postdocs, profs.) Museum curators and researchers Federal and state agencies Non-government organizations Environmental consultants K-12 educators Artists
Arctos development is guided by users Curators Data Managers Researchers