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Changing the IGSN name #1

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ramdeensarah opened this issue Feb 24, 2021 · 18 comments
Open

Changing the IGSN name #1

ramdeensarah opened this issue Feb 24, 2021 · 18 comments

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@ramdeensarah
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Issue
IGSN stands for International Geo Sample Number, but IGSN are no longer restricted to geo samples and can be used for any physical object from the universe. This broader and emerging usage has prompted us to reconsider our name.

Considerations
We would like to retain the IGSN abbreviation, IGSN is our brand, and develop a name that is discipline agnostic.

Recommended solutions
The following recommendations for a new name have been made by the community:

  • IGSN -- IGSN Global Sample Number
  • IGSN -- Inter Galactic Sample Number
  • IGSN (Just the letters, no phrase associated with the name)

Actions needed
The purpose of this issue is to provide a space for discussion. Please add your opinions as comments. This includes additional recommendations, or support for existing suggestions.
@JEDamerow
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I like IGSN Global Sample Number. We work with multidisciplinary projects in ecosystem sciences that have a variety of biological and environmental sample types. Many people working with biological samples seem to have the initial impression that International Geo Sample Number is not relevant for them, and I think the change will help.

@jescartin
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IGSN -- IGSN Global Sample Number seems the most adequate. However it is strange to include an acronym within the name, and that both acronyms are the same. International Global Sample Number?

@VeraBBender
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I agree with @jescartin. Also I think International and Global in such close connection sounds somewhat awkward.
Inter Galactic Sample Number, makes me think of a Beastie Boys song, but not what we intend - I guess...

Some spontaneous suggestions:
IGSN -- International Groundbreaking Sample Number...? ;-)
IGSN -- International Genuine Sample Number...?
IGSN -- Interdisciplinary Global Sample Number...?

Currently I'm lacking further better ideas, thus, if I would need to choose from the above three original suggestions, I would go for just IGSN - no phrase.

@DorisMaicher
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Good idea @VeraBBender to exchange "international" for "interdisciplinary", since I agree that the duplication of "international" and "global" sounds rather odd.

Another suggestion:
IGSN -- International Generic Sample Number
with the meaning of "generic" referring to something general, non-specific, i.e. any kind of sample type.

@VeraBBender
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@DorisMaicher

IGSN -- International Generic Sample Number
with the meaning of "generic" referring to something general, non-specific, i.e. any kind of sample type.
Very good idea!

@ramdeensarah
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Author

Additional comments received by email:

  • Retain acronym/Concern about name including the acronym

  • Individual Georeferenced Sample Number - but issue with spatial coordinates and samples created in a lab.

  • International Global Sample Number

  • Interdisciplinary and Generic Sample Number

  • Something akin to the ASLO transformation from “American Society of Limnology and Oceanography” to “Association for the Science of Limnology and Oceaongraphy…
    I - international, individual(ly), immutable, inderdiciplinary
    G - generic, generated, …
    S - sample
    N - number

@JEDamerow
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Still think "Global Sample Number" has the best ring to it. Seems ok to have IGSN stand for "Global Sample Number", which is easy to remember. It also helps imply the "globally unique" aspect when describing to new users. Other options seem fine too, but will likely be more difficult for people to remember.

Have you heard of TDWG? Taxonomic Data Working Group, that changed name to Biodiversity Information Standards (TDWG) - they couldn't let go of the original acronym but completely changed the name of the group.

@uschindler
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G = General is also a possibility.

@thorge
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thorge commented Sep 21, 2021

I like the idea of @DorisMaicher regarding "G = Generic". Even if this sounds far-fetched now, but with regard to e.g. samples from Moon or Mars, global would be less appropriate. ;)

@ramdeensarah
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Author

Suggestions raised at the IGSN e.V. September General Assembly:

  • IGSN (with no full name associated with it)
  • IGSN Global Sample Number
  • Interdisciplinary Global Sample Number
    Mentioned but received no votes was IGSN Generic Sample Number

Next steps - we will bring this issue to vote again at the December General Assembly meeting.

In order to narrow down the options. Please reply to this issue with the following:

  1. The name you wish to discuss
  2. An explanation of why it is a good choice (pros)
  3. Why it might not be a good choice (cons).
    Please use numbers to help track if you include more than one response.

We will gather all the comments into one document for review and distribution leading up the the GA.

Thank you!

@uliharms
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The name IGSN is meanwhile protected by European law, see attached certificate, so "IGSN" must remain and for a simple acronym we need four words with these initials. Sample Number is unavoidable so the only remaining freedom is
I - international or interdisciplinary with the first one being shorter and easier to pronounce, and
G - global or generic or general (since we need to leave Geo behind) where the first one has only two syllables while the other options are longer. Since IGSN will be the usual wording the full name is not really important and I therefore argue for the shortest: International Global Sample Number!
TM6562EU00-Urkunde 176741.pdf

@LPowers-nggdpp
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I vote for International Generic Sample Number. While International isn't ideal due to the planetary samples, Inter-galactic will be hard to take seriously. Generic is appropriate based on the Thesaurus entries: general, common, collective, nonspecific, inclusive, all-inclusive, all-encompassing, broad, comprehensive, blanket, umbrella, sweeping, universal, cross-disciplinary, interdisciplinary, multidisciplinary. My second choice is IGSN as a stand alone.

@jklump
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jklump commented Dec 23, 2021

My first choice is to simply call it IGSN.

My second choice is International Generic Sample Number.
Pro: Relatively easy to pronounce.
Con: "Generic" sounds a bit contrived like a reinterpretation of "Geo" - which it is. "International" does not cover the extraterrestrial materials, but "Intergalactic" sounds too much like a bad science-fiction movie.

"Interdisciplinary" would make more sense but is also more difficult to pronounce. Also, "International" sounds more catchy. Having "Global" follow "International" would be redundant.

Overall, I agree with Uli Harms that we should simply refer to it as IGSN, regardless of what we call the organisation.

@jescartin
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jescartin commented Dec 23, 2021 via email

@Geofab76
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Geofab76 commented Dec 26, 2021 •
edited
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My first choice is International Generic Sample Number. The Pros here are that with International we reach the international community and Generic covers all kinds of sample types. I don't agree with previous comments that "International" does not include extra-terrestrial samples: Those samples are usually collected from a space organisations which are usually assigned to one or multiple countries, hence an international community of space exploration collects those samples. The word international does not necessary need to point to the point of local, geospatial origin of the sample, in my opinion. For example a Moon or Mars sample could be collected by NASA so it would still be an US organisation. Another sample could be from a meteorite collected by JAXA the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency. All those samples will still be international samples. Second, extra-terrestrial samples, such as meteorites or tektites can be found all across the globe, so they still contain an international context of where they are found and registered.

My second choice is also IGSN alone, but I also agree that I would prefer to have some meaningful words behind it. People often ask me what IGSN stands for and currently it is quite hard for me to answer those questions. I don't think just IGSN would help...

Dr. Fabian Kohlmann
Managing Director
Lithodat Pty. Ltd.

@HelenGlaves
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I see the argument about IGSN being a legally registered identity that we need to retain. Also IGSN is widely recognized and people will continue to use the acronym. The example of ESRI also springs to mind - they went the other way in that the acronym had a meaning but that has been dropped in favor of using only the acronym.

For those reasons, my first choice would be IGSN. However, if I have to choose another name, my vote would go to Interdisciplinary Generic Sample Number. This maximizes its potential use across different disciplines, and also potentially includes samples from beyond the Earth.

Helen Glaves

@MoritzTheile
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Coming late to the party (since I jump in for Fabian in the meeting today). I just stumbled over the term "Generic". Looking it up in a dictionary it says "shared by, typical of, or relating to a whole group of similar things, rather than to any particular thing". So "generic" is describing exactly the opposit what an IGSN is supposed to be: A unique identifier. The core property of an identifier is, that it is not shared at all. Just my two cents...

@jklump
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jklump commented Jan 25, 2022

"Generic" in this context was understood to mean "generic across disciplines".

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