Welcome to the Heritage Samples Registry¶

The Heritage Samples Registry is an emerging international initiative to support the persistent identification, discovery, and sharing of information about material samples in the context of heritage science. These samples, including paint cross-sections, material fragments, reference standards, and other physical specimens, are valuable research assets that underpin heritage science, conservation, and more general research worldwide.

The Registry aims to make the existence of these samples findable, citable, and consistently documented, enabling researchers and institutions to connect local sample records with global research outputs.

What this site provides¶

An Introduction to the Heritage Samples Registry¶

An overview of the purpose and development of the International Heritage Sample Registry (IHSR), explaining its role as a shared system for assigning persistent identifiers (IGSN-DOIs) to heritage samples and supporting long-term data interoperability across institutions.

An Introduction to IGSNs¶

A clear explanation of the International Generic Sample Number (IGSN) system, how IGSN–DOIs work, and why they are suitable for identifying, tracing, and citing heritage samples.

Details of our Registry Schema and Metadata Structure¶

An overview of the draft metadata schema used for registering samples, outlining required and optional fields, how local identifiers are incorporated, and how the schema extends IGSN-DOI standards for heritage science contexts.

Instructions for Contributors¶

Guidance for institutions, laboratories, and researchers on how to:

prepare sample metadata,
submit sample records,
register interest in participating,
integrate the Registry into existing documentation systems.

Consortium Information¶

Details about the organisations currently supporting the initiative, and how additional institutions can join the consortium as it expands.

Current status¶

The Registry is under active development with international partners.
During this phase the goals are to:

test the metadata model with a diverse set of real sample records,
refine workflows for assigning IGSN–DOIs to heritage samples,
gather feedback from institutions and researchers,
build a sustainable governance and technical framework for long-term use.

As work progresses, additional sections of this documentation will be expanded to include validation tools, implementation examples, and community guidelines.

Get involved¶

Institutions or researchers interested in contributing to the development of the Registry, or in assigning IGSNs to their heritage samples, are warmly invited to get in touch with the project team.

Submit feedback or questions via GitHub Issues
Or, if you prefer email, please contact the project team via: riches@nationalgallery.org.uk

(An official project inbox will be added once the Registry moves beyond the development phase.)

Your feedback, expertise, and participation will help shape a shared, international approach to heritage sample documentation and identification.

Acknowledgement¶

This project was setup as part of the work of the following projects:

The Horizon Europe E-RIHS IP project¶

E-RIHS IP has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe call HORIZON-INFRA-2021-DEV-02, Grant Agreement n.101079148.

The Horizon Europe ECHOES project¶