IGSN Metadata Working Group

The IGSN e.V. Metadata Working Group was established in 2025 under the auspices of the IGSN e.V. to address the need for standardised metadata for IGSN IDs that are registered with DataCite. The primary mission of the IGSN Metadata Working Group is to develop, refine, and maintain metadata profiles that support the persistent identification and description of physical samples using the IGSN ID.  The goals are to facilitate the development of a core and extended metadata profile and to coordinate the use of metadata elements between discipline-specific profiles and their use in extended DataCite metadata and as Science On Schema embedded in landing pages.

RDA Physical Samples and Collections in the Research Data Ecosystem IG

The Physical Samples and Collections in the Research Data Ecosystem IG is an Interest Group of the Research Data Alliance (RDA). This group aims to facilitate cross-domain exchange and convergence on key issues related to the digital representation of physical samples and collections, including but not limited to use of globally unique and persistent identifiers for samples to support unambiguous citation and linking of information in distributed data systems and with publications, metadata standards for documenting samples and collections and for landing pages, access policies, and best practices for sample and collection catalogue, including a broad range of issues from interoperability to persistence.