SwissCollNet is committed to improving the accessibility of natural history collections. A common vision and long-term strategy will promote the use of natural history collections for research, education and society.
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National Data Infrastructure
Swiss bio- and geodiversity data ecosystem
SwissCollNet aims to enhance digital access to collection data stored in numerous public collection-institutions across Switzerland by sharing standardized information and specimen images through a common data-platform, in full compilance with the FAIR principles—ensuring data is Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable. The process will ultimately result in the establishment of a Swiss data ecosystem for biodiversity and geodiversity data.
bio-and geodiversity data ecosystemImage: SwissCollNet
Natural history collections send metadata of specimens (biology and paleontology) to a data aggregator (DAGI) or to the Earth Science Collections aggregator GeoCASe (geology and paleontology).
Species observation data collected in Switzerland are sent to national data centers for species information.
Specimen data provided by Swiss natural history institutions are aggregated, standardised and enriched in DAGI
Observation data are administered and verified in the national data centers for species information.
Specimen data can be exchanged between national data centers and DAGI
Standardised specimen and observation data are sent to the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF)
Metadata of natural history institutions and collections are published in the Global Register of Scientific Collections (GRSciColl)
Data of specimens from Swiss natural history institutions are published on the Swiss Natural History Collections portal (SwissNatColl)
Data of species observations made in Switzerland are published in the Swiss Biodiversity Information Facility (SwissBIF)
All data listed above can also be retreived directly in the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF.org)
Data of geological and paleontological specimens are published on the Swiss Earth Science Collections Portal (SwissGeoCASe).
National data infrastructure development
The development of this nationally coordinated data infrastructure is advancing step by step through close collaboration with data providers, administrators, and users.
The project is steered by a strategic board and accompanied by data expert working groups for bio- and geosciences (for details see data infrastructure project organisation).
NHC-data infrastructure development in SwitzerlandImage: SwissCollNet
The numerous public institutions with collections in Switzerland diverge in regard of the size of their collections, of the collection management systems in use and of the degree of specimen digitization. In a first step, requirements of collection-holding institutions in regard to data management have been evaluated in parallel with the technical solutions best adapted for the data-platform (usability, costs, collaboration and coordination with similar data repositories, sustainability models). The study has been conducted by Ana Petrus and Tobias Wildi at the University of Applied Sciences, Graubünden (A. Petrus, T. Wildi, S. Müller. Preproject ‘Swiss Virtual Natural History Collection’ Database, 2023, 1-9).
The main outcomes of the study were to:
Coordinate vocabularies and data models among the collections.
Focus on the development of existing infrastructure, invest in their reliability, process automation and capacity to link data between platforms. To coordinate further development, experts from Swiss natural history museums have to be included in the board of InfoSpecies.
Add functionalities where needed: add the possibility for geological data and specimen data from outside Switzerland.
Focus on the investments and do not dilute them by funding a heterogeneous landscape of too many different portals and initiatives.
Avoid introducing artificial heterogeneity in datasets, work on common core data sets and a common taxonomic backbone. Invest in data normalization and quality improvement.
‘Catalogue of Life’ as a taxonomic backbone in GBIF (see https://www.catalogueoflife.org/).
Populate collection information in the ‘GBIF Global Registry of Scientific Collections’ (https://www.gbif.org/grscicoll).
Create a Swiss portal website on GBIF which contains not only data published through PICTIS but also from large collections that might want to publish directly from their CMS. Invest in a good-looking, attractive UI/UX with functionalities like virtual exhibitions. This will be an important public showcase.
Create a sustainable business model to finance the ongoing costs, as well as to have a reliable organization with the necessary scientific and technical skills.
As a long-term goal, the natural history collections should be associated with observational data, literature and DNA data in an ‘enriched dataset’ linkage hub.
Based on the outcomes of the prestudy, SwissCollNet has decided to closely collaborate with the data centers for species information (InfoSpecies, Swiss node of GBIF) in order to link information on collection specimens with species observation data. After several exchanges, SwissCollNet has designed a concept for a data-platform for natural history collections, which was refined by the stakeholders in a workshop. Furthermore, user groups were targeted, data models, data standards and vocabularies discussed and use cases formulated (minutes). In consequence, the concept for the data-platform for natural history collections was enriched with the outcomes of the workshop (concept), followed by a series of meetings of the data management working groups for bio- and geosciences and the elaboration of a project plan and a call for tender for the construction of the data-platform for natural history collections in Switzerland.
Data from biological and paleontological specimens will be embedded into the data environments of GBIF and be published on the online-portal Swiss Natural History Collections (SwissNatColl), whereas data from geological and paleontological specimens will be embedded in the data environments of the Earth Science Collections Portal GeoCASe. Metainformation on collections curated in Switzerland is available in the Global Registry for Scientific Collections (GRSciColl). Furthermore, data of biological and paleontological specimens collected in Switzerland will also be displayed on the Swiss Biodiversity Information Facility (SwissBIF) and in the Virtual Data Center (VDC)
The data-platform comprises two elements:
the data aggregator DAGI, in which specimen data from the decentralized collection institutions in Switzerland are aggregated, mapped to Darwin Core for standardization and enriched with additional information retrieved from global catalogues (e.g. taxonomic backbone). DAGI will also be connected with the data centres for species information (InfoSpecies) for enrichment and exchange of data belonging to specimens collected in Switzerland. DAGI has been developed in collaboration with the IT-company zebbra and is integrated in the data infrastructure of info fauna and the Swiss node of GBIF (for details see DAGI development report). The minimal viable product DAGI-V0 is available for data providers since October 2024. An extended version of DAGI-V0 is progressively developed since October 2024. In June 2025, DAGI-V1 has been released.
The web portal Swiss natural history collections (SwissNatColl), hosted by the Global Facility for Biodiversity Information (GBIF), on which information on specimens of Swiss institutions are openly accessible.
Specimen data from geological collections (minerals, meteorites, rocks, fossils) will be integrated in the Earth Science Collection Portal GeoCASe. A specific webpage will be constructed for data of specimens from Swiss collection institutions.
Gradual data upload of biological and geological specimen data
