The Specify Collections Consortium (SCC), founded in 2018, is a collaborative, open-source software community of engaged collection institutions with a vision to advance research and education uses of biological specimen and sample information. A Board of Directors, along with Research and Technology Advisory Committees drawn from member institutions, govern the Consortium and determine its software and technical service priorities. The Consortium advances the interests of its members through engineering, deployment, and support of software technologies that facilitate the creation, curation, discovery, and scientific utilization of the information and knowledge associated with biological collections.
The consortium produces the Specify Collection Management System and offers related technical services for processing the data associated with specimens and samples in biological collections used for research. We have partnered with natural history museums and biological repositories for more than 30 years. Today, Specify handles research data at biological collections institutions and consortia around the globe.
Both Specify 6 and Specify 7 are entirely free to download and use and is licensed under the GNU General Public License v3.0. Joining the Specify Collections Consortium as a member incurs an additional cost, but it provides individual collections or entire institutions with exceptional support. Members receive assistance with data conversion and importing, form customization, label and report creation, and access to hundreds of exclusive documents for IT staff and users. Additionally, membership supports our mission and ensures the software remains sustainable, protecting the longevity of our efforts and your software.
The Specify Software Project is pleased to offer Specify 7, a web implementation of our biological collections data management platform. Specify 7 server code is open source and available from GitHub. We encourage members to use our Dockerized compositions of Specify 7. You can choose a version, make the necessary adjustments and then run a single command to get everything working. It is very simple and can be easily updated when new versions are released. Members can contact us at support@specifysoftware.org to gain access to this repository.The new generation of Specify combines the interface design components and data management foundation of Specify 6 with the efficiency and ease-of-use of web-based data access and cloud computing. The Specify 7 web application uses the same interface layout language as Specify 6, so any user interface customization made in one product is mirrored in the other. Also Specify 6 and Specify 7 use the same data model and can work from the same Specify MariaDB (akin to MySQL) database, which means they can be run simultaneously with any Specify collection. By providing an easy migration path to the web, Specify 7 helps transition Specify 6 collections to cloud computing. It is also a great starting platform for collections which prefer zero workstation software installation and ubiquitous web browser access.Specify 7’s server/browser architecture open the door for computing support of collaborative digitization projects and for remote hosting of institutional or project specimen databases. Without the need for a local area or campus network to connect to the MariaDB data server, Specify 7 gives you and your collaborators access to a shared specimen database through any web browser. Without adequate IT support to maintain a secure database server? With the Specify 7 server software supported on generic Linux servers, museums can utilize a server hosting service to provide support for the technical complexities of systems administration, security management, and backing-up. Want to create a joint database with remote collaborators for a collaborative digitizing effort? No problem!
You can take advantage of our Specify Cloud hosting service, allowing our team to manage your Specify database, set up accounts, update the software, and make sure everything is ready to go and accessible 24/7. Our team is excited to provide even more efficient user support, customize interfaces, develop printed reports and labels, and offer additional services to our hosted members.
Secure.
Support for Single Sign-On (SSO) integrates Specify 7 with a campus or institutional identity providers. It supports all identity providers (IdPs) that have an OpenID endpoints.The Security and Accounts tool allows administrators to give access based on roles and policies. Create, edit, and copy roles among collections and databases. Administrators can give users as many or few permissions as desired, from guest accounts to collection managers.
Accessible.
It is important that web applications work for people with disabilities. Specify 7 is developed with this top of mind, not only meeting international accessibility standards but also providing a better experience for everyone.Specify 7 is largely compliant with the main WWW accessibility standard – WCAG 2.1 (AA). It supports screen readers and allows each user to customize their color scheme and appearance as well as reduce motion and resize all elements.This accessible design respects system and web browser preferences for date formats, language, theme, and animations.
Specify Cloud is a dedicated hosting service provided for members of the Specify Collections Consortium, designed to support the Specify 7 application. This robust, web-based platform allows institutions to efficiently manage biological and geological collections data without the need for extensive on-site infrastructure. By hosting Specify 7 in the cloud, users can easily access and store a wide range of data elements, including specimen metadata, taxonomic information, and multimedia files, while benefiting from enhanced security features and reliable performance.
With Specify Cloud, institutions can harness the power of software as a service (SaaS) to keep their collection data secure and accessible from anywhere. This service offers seamless integration with institutional identity providers for secure access, allowing users to concentrate on advancing research and preserving biodiversity. By eliminating the need to manage physical servers, Specify Cloud enables organizations to use their resources more effectively and engage more fully with their collections.
Whether you're a small museum or a large institution, Specify Cloud provides the reliable hosting you need to effectively support and manage the Specify 7 application. Join the community of organizations benefiting from Specify Cloud to enhance your capabilities and streamline your data management.
For collections that need to publish their catalog information publicly, the Specify Web Portal offers a comprehensive web interface for read-only public access to specimen data and images. It is an optional component of a Specify installation. Using an exported copy of a Specify collection database, the Web Portal enables full-text indexed searches, as well as structured and spatial queries of specimen holdings. Express searches are quick, while structured queries allow for precise search specifications and support multi-field queries using AND or OR logic. Searches can be refined to return only records with geo-coordinates or attached images.
The Specify Web Portal displays specimen information in three views: Records, Images, and Maps. In the “Records” tab, specimen data is presented in a traditional grid format. Each collection determines the choice and number of data fields displayed in the web interface, and users can sort and rearrange data columns during their session. The search panel can be customized with an institutional logo or brand image, and web pages can be embedded into institutional content management systems or web platforms by a web programmer.
The Specify Web Portal is an effective tool for publishing specimen data. Specify’s Schema Mapper and Data Export tools simplify the process of issuing updates to the web portal from a Specify collection database. The Web Portal is designed for institutional web server computers, and setup requires the technical expertise of a server administrator.