consolidated cataloguing rules of the registry · revision 7
cataloguing rules
adopted 1991-03 · last amended 2019-08 · binding upon the standing registrar and any deputy acting on the registrar's authority
This document consolidates the registry's cataloguing rules into a single reference. Earlier revisions are not superseded so much as folded into this one; where the text below differs from a previously circulated revision, the text below prevails as of the date of the present revision.
The rules are organised into eleven sections numbered §1 through §11. Each section is divided into subsections numbered §N.M. Cross-references between sections take the form (see §N.M).
contents
- §1 · scope and applicability
- §2 · accession identifiers
- §3 · intake
- §4 · descriptive fields
- §5 · analytical passes
- §6 · anomaly classification
- §7 · errata
- §8 · the proof-hash chain
- §9 · withdrawal and supersession
- §10 · retention
- §11 · citation
§1 · scope and applicability
This rule-set governs the cataloguing practice of the registry. It is binding upon the standing registrar and upon any deputy acting on the registrar's authority. It is not binding upon submitters; submitters are bound only by the conditions of submission set out in §3.
§1.1 · subjects governed
These rules govern the accession, description, retention, and disposal of physical material samples submitted to the registry, together with the metadata associated with such samples. They do not govern the registry's internal correspondence, accounts, or organisational matters except where these matters touch directly upon a catalogue record.
§1.2 · subjects not governed
These rules do not govern: (a) reference materials held for calibration purposes only and not catalogued under an accession identifier; (b) consumables; (c) administrative records of the registry's operation. The treatment of these classes is set out in standing instructions held by the standing registrar and is not published.
§1.3 · ambiguity in scope
Where it is unclear whether a given matter is governed by these rules, the standing registrar shall decide. The decision shall be recorded in the addendum series and shall, on its second occurrence, be reduced to a written rule and folded into a future revision of this document.
§2 · accession identifiers
Accession identifiers are assigned at the moment of intake and never re-issued. The form of the identifier is determined by the rules of this section. Pre-2014 identifiers, issued under earlier conventions, are reconciled to the present scheme through the public concordance.
§2.1 · form
An accession identifier under the present convention shall consist of: (i) the prefix AM; (ii) a hyphen; (iii) the four-digit year of accession in the Common Era under the Gregorian calendar, in UTC; (iv) a hyphen; (v) a five-digit zero-padded sequence number, beginning at 00001 each year; (vi) a hyphen; (vii) a single uppercase Latin letter denoting the analytical pass under which the metadata is reported (A: pass A, B: pass B, etc.).
§2.2 · sequence overflow
Should the five-digit sequence be exhausted within a calendar year, the sequence shall continue with six digits in that year, and the printed accession books shall carry an annotation against the first six-digit identifier. The five-digit form shall be re-established at the start of the following year. No identifier shall be re-used. The registrar's expectation, on present submission rates, is that overflow will not occur within the lifetime of the present convention; this rule is preserved for completeness only.
§2.3 · pass-letter promotion and demotion
Where a record's metadata is updated to reflect a later analytical pass, the record's identifier shall, in the printed accession books, gain a new entry under the higher pass-letter, with a cross-reference to the original. The public mirror surfaces the latest pass only; the earlier passes are retained internally and are available on request.
§2.4 · withdrawal does not free the identifier
An accession identifier remains assigned to its original record even after the record has been withdrawn from active circulation. The identifier shall not be re-issued under any circumstance. The act of withdrawal is recorded in the public withdrawn-records index.
§3 · intake
Intake is the procedure by which a physical specimen passes from the submitter into the custody of the registry. The procedure is intentionally minimal and tolerant of incomplete documentation, so as not to discourage submission of materials whose history is unknown.
§3.1 · modes of intake
Intake is by post or by drop-off at the registry's published intake address. The registry does not collect specimens. Postal intake is unattended; drop-off is by appointment only.
§3.2 · minimum metadata
No metadata is required at intake other than that which is intrinsic to the physical specimen (its weight, dimensions, and visual appearance). Submitters are encouraged to provide a locality, a stated mineral or material name, and any provenance known to them, but no submission is refused for want of these.
§3.3 · anonymity
A submitter may make a submission without providing any identifying information. Where a name or other identifier is provided, it is hashed on intake and only the first six hexadecimal characters of the hash appear on the public record (see §4.5). The original is reconciled and discarded within seven calendar days.
§3.4 · conditions imposed by submitter
A submitter may impose conditions on the use of the submitted material, including conditions on the publication of the locality, the photographic record, or the existence of the accession itself. The registrar will, where the conditions can be honoured within the registry's mandate, accept them; where the conditions cannot be honoured, the registrar will return the material with a written explanation. Conditions accepted at intake are binding upon the registry.
§3.5 · rejection at intake
The registry may reject material at intake on three grounds only: (a) the material is not within the registry's scope (see §1); (b) the material is hazardous and cannot be safely held by the registry; (c) the material is the subject of an active legal claim. Rejection is communicated in writing where a return address is available; otherwise the material is held under §10 pending instruction.
§4 · descriptive fields
Each accessioned record carries a fixed set of descriptive fields. The set is small by design; the registry has consistently preferred a few well-curated fields to many speculative ones. Each field is described below; the order corresponds to its order of appearance on the public record page.
§4.1 · designation
The designation field carries the mineral, material, or specimen name as accepted by the registrar at the most recent analytical pass. Where the designation is uncertain, the field carries the most informative description that the registrar is willing to defend without speculation, and an explanatory note is appended in the notes field.
§4.2 · chemical formula
The formula field carries the canonical formula of the designated species, with subscripts in their conventional positions. Where the specimen exhibits compositional variation outside the published tolerance for the designated species, the field carries the formula of the type species and the variation is recorded in the notes field; the record is, in such cases, ordinarily flagged for class I review (see §6).
§4.3 · crystal system, hardness, density, colour
These four fields carry conventional descriptive values. Hardness is recorded on the Mohs scale, rounded to the nearest 0.5, with ranges given where indentation tests yield values that span more than one unit. Density is recorded in g/cm³, with two decimal places where the measurement supports it. Colour terminology is restricted to a vocabulary maintained by the standing registrar.
§4.4 · type locality
The locality field is descriptive rather than cadastral and records what the submitter, or the registrar after consultation, considers the most informative answer to the question 'where did this come from?'. Localities subject to a §3.4 condition are recorded as 'withheld at submitter's request' with no further detail; the original is held in the printed accession books and is not published.
§4.5 · submitter (hash)
The submitter field carries the first six hexadecimal characters of the SHA-256 hash of the submitter's identifying information, where any was provided. Where no identifying information was provided, the field carries the literal string REDACTED.
§4.6 · raman peaks
The Raman-peaks field is an ordered list of integers giving the centroid wavenumbers, in cm⁻¹, of the peaks reported under §5.4. The list is empty where no Raman pass has been performed; it is empty where a pass has been performed but no peak met the prominence threshold. The list does not record amplitudes.
§4.7 · notes
The notes field is reserved for prose remarks by the submitter and the registrar. It is not parsed mechanically. It may contain references to other accession identifiers; these are not treated as cross-references for the purpose of §4.8 unless explicitly listed there.
§4.8 · cross-references
The cross-references field is an ordered list of accession identifiers to which the present record stands in a relation that the registrar wishes to make machine-readable. Common reasons include: shared spectral features (see §5.7), shared locality after rare specimens, and superseding/superseded relationships under the withdrawn-records index.
§5 · analytical passes
The registry conducts analytical work on accessioned material in a fixed sequence of passes. Each pass has a defined purpose, instrumentation, and reporting convention. A given record need not undergo every pass; the pass-letter suffix on the identifier indicates the highest pass under which the metadata is reported.
§5.1 · pass A · visual, mass, density
Pass A is performed on every accessioned specimen, ordinarily within five working days of intake. Visual examination is conducted under a calibrated lamp and recorded against the registry's restricted colour vocabulary. Mass is determined to two decimal places in grams; density is estimated by the Archimedes method.
§5.2 · pass B · raman spectroscopy
Pass B is performed on the great majority of accessioned specimens, conditional upon a §3.4 sacrifice consent. Acquisition is at 532 nm by default, with 785 nm reserved for specimens whose 532 nm response is dominated by fluorescence. Reduced-power acquisition (8 mW at the sample) is used where consent for sacrifice has not been given. Acquisition windows, peak prominence threshold, and baseline correction are described in the methodology document.
§5.3 · pass C · x-ray diffraction
Pass C is performed where pass B has yielded ambiguous results, and is performed on roughly one specimen in five overall. Cu Kα radiation is used with the registry's standing collection geometry. Indexing is conducted against the registry's reference library; phases not identifiable against the library are not assigned.
§5.4 · pass D · external arrangement
Pass D is performed at an external facility and is undertaken only where compositional ambiguity remains after pass C, or where the standing registrar judges the specimen to merit the cost. Pass D is rare and is recorded individually in the addendum series.
§5.5 · pass E · re-analysis
Pass E is a repeated execution of an earlier pass, performed where the registry's instrumentation has been substantially recalibrated or where new evidence calls an earlier finding into question. A pass-E result supersedes the corresponding earlier pass on the public record; the earlier pass is preserved in the printed accession books with the supersession noted.
§5.6 · ordering and re-passing
Passes are ordinarily performed in alphabetical order. A pass may be skipped where its result can be predicted with confidence from the preceding passes; the skipped pass is recorded as 'not performed' rather than absent. A pass may be re-performed any number of times under the §5.5 mechanism.
§5.7 · spectral cross-correlation
Where a Raman peak reported under §5.2 recurs across two or more records of compositionally unrelated material, the records shall be cross-referenced under §4.8 and the recurrence shall be noted in the addendum series. The registry does not propose mechanisms for such recurrences; it records the fact.
§6 · anomaly classification
Anomaly classification is internal to the registry. It carries no formal standing in the wider mineralogical or materials-science literature. It is used solely to organise the registry's caseload and to provide a stable vocabulary for cross-references.
§6.1 · five classes
Five classes are defined: I (composition deviation), II (structural anomaly), III (persistent-state anomaly), IV (spectral coherence anomaly), V (indeterminate). Definitions are set out on the public classifications page.
§6.2 · promotion and demotion
A record may be promoted to a higher class on new evidence and may be demoted to a lower class where evidence becomes available that resolves the original anomaly. Promotion to class V requires explicit registrar acceptance after at least three independent analytical passes have failed to converge on a description.
§6.3 · active-watch protocol
A record carrying a class III, IV, or V assignment may be placed under the active-watch protocol formalised under bulletin no. 26. Records under the protocol are re-examined no less often than every 90 days; each examination is noted in the addendum series.
§7 · errata
Errata are issued only after a positive identification of the original error, the proposed correction, and the route by which the correction reached the registry. The original entry in the printed accession books is preserved unmodified; the public mirror surfaces the corrected value.
§7.1 · form of an erratum
Each erratum carries an identifier of the form ERR-YYYY-NNNN, the accession identifier to which it relates, the field corrected, the prior value, the new value, and the basis on which the correction was accepted.
§7.2 · fields excluded from errata
The submitter (hash) field, the proof-hash field, and the date of submission are not subject to errata. A change to any of these requires withdrawal under §9 and re-accession under a fresh identifier.
§7.3 · errata against withdrawn records
An erratum may be issued against a withdrawn record where the correction is material to the record's citation history. The erratum does not bring the record back into active circulation; it serves the withdrawn-records index only.
§8 · the proof-hash chain
The proof-hash chain is a chained-hash construction over the catalogue's canonical record ordering. Its purpose is to permit a holder of any prior catalogue snapshot to verify, against the head-hash, that the present catalogue is a consistent extension of that snapshot.
§8.1 · construction
Each accessioned record bears a proof-hash computed as sha256(prev-hash ‖ canonical(record)), where prev-hash is the proof-hash of the immediately preceding record in the canonical ordering and canonical(record) is the JSON serialisation of the record's identifying fields in their fixed order.
§8.2 · canonical ordering
The canonical ordering is by date of submission ascending, with ties broken by accession identifier ascending. The ordering is recomputed on every catalogue change. The genesis hash is a fixed registry-wide constant anchoring the chain.
§8.3 · fields included in the canonical serialisation
The canonical serialisation includes: id, name, formula, locality, dateSubmitted, submitterHash, recordRev. Other fields are excluded. Adding a field to this list breaks every record's proof-hash and requires explicit registrar approval, recorded in the addendum series.
§8.4 · annual head-hash declaration
At the close of each accounting year, the standing registrar publishes the head-hash of the catalogue in the gazette. The notary retains a counter-signed copy. The published head-hash binds the registry to the corresponding catalogue contents.
§9 · withdrawal and supersession
Withdrawal is the act of removing a record from active circulation while preserving its identifier. Supersession is the act of withdrawing a record concurrently with the issue of a replacement record under a fresh identifier. Both are recorded in the public withdrawn-records index.
§9.1 · grounds for withdrawal
Withdrawal is undertaken on one of the following grounds: (a) provenance dispute; (b) physical loss of the specimen; (c) merger with an existing record; (d) submitter request; (e) reassessment under §6.2 below the registry's retention threshold. Each instance is recorded against the corresponding ground.
§9.2 · form of a withdrawal note
Each withdrawal carries the accession identifier, the date of withdrawal, the ground, and (where applicable) the identifier of the superseding record. The withdrawal does not modify the original record; it adds a note to it.
§9.3 · rolling review
Withdrawn records are subject to a rolling review under bulletin no. 31. A record whose withdrawal is reversed is re-issued under its original identifier; the supersession (if any) is dissolved by an erratum.
§10 · retention
The registry retains physical specimens and metadata according to the schedule below. Retention is read against the moment of intake; the date is taken from the printed accession books.
§10.1 · physical specimens
Physical specimens are retained for a minimum of fifty years from the date of accession, regardless of the record's status. Specimens may be retained beyond fifty years at the registrar's discretion.
§10.2 · photographic plates
Photographic plates are retained on the same fifty-year schedule as the physical specimen. Plates from withdrawn records are retained on the same schedule. Earlier disposal requires the standing registrar's written instruction.
§10.3 · metadata
Metadata is retained indefinitely. The public mirror surfaces the most recent revision of each field; earlier revisions are preserved in the printed accession books and in the proof-chain.
§10.4 · submitter correspondence
Submitter correspondence is reconciled against the record at intake and discarded within seven calendar days, save where the standing registrar has reason to retain it longer; in such cases the retention is recorded against the file.
§11 · citation
Researchers, journalists, and members of the public are welcome to cite the catalogue. The registry asks only that citations be specific enough to be checked.
§11.1 · citation form
A citation should include the accession identifier in full (including the pass-letter suffix), the date on which the catalogue was consulted, and a URL of the form https://anonymousmaterials.com/sample/AM-YYYY-NNNNN-X.
§11.2 · citation of withdrawn records
A citation of a withdrawn record should include the date of withdrawal as published in the withdrawn-records index. Citations of withdrawn records remain legitimate; the registry does not regard withdrawal as erasure.
§11.3 · citation of the head-hash
Where reproducibility of the catalogue's state at the moment of citation is material, the citation should include the head-hash returned by the public mirror at that moment. The head-hash binds the catalogue contents to the cited state.
§11.4 · press citation
Press citations are subject to no further restriction. The registrar's standing policy on press enquiries (bulletin no. 20) is unrelated to the right to cite the catalogue.
— end of document — issued by the standing registrar — rev. 7