The DINA Symposium (“DIgital information system for NAtural history data”, https://dina-project.net) ends with a plenary session involving the audience to discuss the interplay of collection management and software tools. The discussion will touch different areas and issues such as:<br> (1) Collection management using modern technology:<br> How should and could collections be managed using current technology – What is the ultimate objective of using a new collection management system?<br> How should traditional management processes be changed?<br> (2) Development and community<br> Why are there so many collection management systems? <br> Why is it so difficult to create one system that fits everyone’s requirements?<br> How could the community of developers and collection staff be built around DINA project in the future?<br> (3) Features and tools<br> How to identify needs that are common to all collections?<br> What are the new tools and technologies that could facilitate collection management?<br> How could those tools be implemented as DINA compliant services?<br> (4) Data<br> What data must be captured about collections and specimens? <br> What criteria need to be applied in order to distinguish essential and “nice-to-have” information?<br> How should established data standards (e.g. Darwin Core &amp; ABCD (Access to Biological Collection Data)) be used to share data from rich and diverse data models?<br> In addition to the plenary discussion around these questions, we will agree on a streamlined format for continuing the discussion in order to write a white paper on these questions. The results and outcome of the session will constitute the basis of the paper and will be subsequently refined.
