Attributes

Attributes are descriptive (usually biological) characteristics of cataloged items (which are often biological individuals) such as measurements, weight, age, and sex.  Like other determinations (opinions) in Arctos, Attributes have a determiner, a determination date, and a determination method. Because they are treated as determinations, a record may have any number of similar and even contradictory Attributes.

Attributes, many of which use controlled vocabularies with many values and many individual definitions, are largely documented within tables within Arctos, as opposed to being documented here.  The appropriate units for numeric Attributes, and the appropriate vocabulary for Attributes with controlled vocabularies are set by a master “code table of code tables.”  This can be a useful node for exploring these values outside of the forms in which the vocabularies are used.

Attribute Name is the proper name of an Attribute. These should be unambiguous and match their usage in scientific literature as closely as possible.  These names of Attributes are listed, defined, and linked to particular types of collections, in an another code table.

• ctAttribute_Type lists all Attribute names, collection types, and definitions of what the Attributes are.
• ctAttribute_Code_Tables (“code table of code tables) lists all Attributes that have controlled vocabulary and associates them with specific tables that control their specific vocabularies.

Attribute Value:
Attributes have a Value, and those values are of three types:

• numeric (with Units) – These are measurements and meristic values that are subject to numeric operators, such as “greater than” (>) and “less than” (<).
• controlled vocabulary – These are Attributes for which there are a limited number of possible states, e.g., the sex of the individual.
• uncontrolled vocabulary – These are often relatively subjective Attributes, and the values are anything that can be expressed in text. Examples include the Attributes “Colors” and “Body Condition.”

Some examples:

Attribute Name	Value	Units
Total Length	“123″	millimeters
Age Class	“adult” (controlled text)	null
Colors	“reddish feet” (uncontrolled text)	null

The appropriate units for particular numeric Attributes, and the appropriate vocabulary for controlled vocabulary are set by a by a “code table of code tables.”

Attribute Units: Numeric Attributes have values expressed in units such as grams, millimeters, and years. Different Attributes are described in different units, so there are code tables for units of weight, length, and time.  Numeric Attributes are assigned one of these code tables in the “code table of code tables.”

Method is how the Attribute was determined. If the Method can be logically inferred, it is usually unspecified. Thus, Attributes such as length measurements are assumed to have been taken with rulers, calipers, or another standard tool. In such cases, no value is recorded for Method.

Remark is a comment about the Attribute. For example:

• “Transcribed from collector’s journal.”
• “Weighed after substantial loss of blood.”

Determiner is the agent that determined the Value of the Attribute. Many Attributes are determined by either the collector or preparator of the specimen, but often Attributes are determined at a later time by an investigator using the specimen. In the many specimen records for which this data was not recorded, the institution contributing the record has been used as a default value for Determiner.

Determined Date is the ISO8601 date that the determination was made. Where this is unknown, the date that the specimen record was moved into the database has been used as a default value, meaning essentially that the determination was made before this time. For many such Attributes, it would be reasonable to record the date of collection (or, if known, the date of preparation) as a default. For Attributes which can be re-determined from the existing specimen, even an imprecise date will provide a chronological order to successive determinations.

Searching with Attributes
You may search for only Attribute Name (leave Value and Units blank) to return specimens that match your other criteria and possess data for the specified Attribute. Exercising this option unwisely (For example, searching for all specimens with Attribute ‘sex’ and no other qualifiers.) can time-out your request.

You can search for Attributes by only value or by only units. For example:

• Attribute: Numeric Age
• Units = “years” (Returns all specimens with a numeric age recorded in years.)

• Attribute: Numeric Age
• Value = “5″ (Returns all specimens with a numeric age of 6 years, 6 days, etc.

You may set the search operator for Attributes to:

• equals
• contains
• greater than
• less than

Equals will find only exact matches. Contains will find substring matches. For example, sex equals ‘male’ will find only male specimens; sex contains ‘male’ will find both male and female.