ARCHIMEDE - A new software for management of geological and biological samples

Since 2003, IFREMER manages the marine geology database of Brest (BGMB) which includes information on geological samples (sediment cores and rocks) and geotechnical measurements collected by IFREMER teams and/or resources and related analyses (stratigraphy, lithology, chemistry, grain size). In the same way, the IFREMER Deep Sea Lab database (BIOCEAN) gathers data about biological, sediment and hydrological samples collected by IFREMER biologists and ecologists since 1967. These databases which include several thousands of operations and samples require having a better visibility for the scientific community through the improvement of existing software tools and services. Indeed, according to the current scientific projects and future applications (e.g. management of mining licenses, implementation of the Nagoya Protocol, observatory of mineral raw materials, data dissemination), it becomes crucial to access to: • the geographic position of sampling operations, • the samples description (preservation, identifications,…) and related analyses, • the samples physical location. In this context, a project was initiated in order to: • improve archiving and maintenance of marine samples collected during expensive marine cruises all over the world, • make visible and accessible the available information (data and samples) to the whole scientific community, • rationalise and optimise the logistic for cruise preparation for the French and international community. As part of this, a study about management of marine geological and biological samples and related data in a unique system has been undertaken. The main objective is to save all information about the technical and scientific work during the operational phase in the field and in the lab. All metadata and data about handling and curating of sampled materials have to be collated as well...