Reference Manual

APPENDIX F: Creating Site Names
In the Site Name system, geo-political place names form a integral part of the recognition of collecting
localities. For frequently recorded sites, this will pose no problem to either retrospective or new data capture.
However, a considerable portion of existing catalogs will require guidelines for the consistent naming of places. In
addition, the concept of a place name requires some expectation for the geographic size of a 'place'. Different
taxonomic disciplines and different collections may diverge on such issues.
In order to assist MUSE users with these considerations we have developed the following guidelines for the
formation of place names. Described below are some new tools in MUSE that make the implementation of these
more practical. The fundamental rule in all of these is that the first word or phrase in the place name is a repeatable,
easily recognized geographic or political unit. For many, if not most, US localities this will be a city. Following this
"keyword" will be a description. Depending on the level of detail associated with the specific localities this restrictive
designation may be a simple direction ("Ann Arbor; NW"), a landmark, ("Ann Arbor; Briarwood Mall), a geographic
feature ("Ann Arbor; Mill Creek") or another political unit (Ann Arbor; Scio Township). For many localities there
will be no further breakdown than the keyword city or place ("Huron River State Park" or "Cancun"). Table 1 lists
a number of specific localities and the proposed place name to be utilized. At the end of this appendix there is a
summary of the rules used to formulate these place names.
One consequence of this new data model is that changes were required in MUSE to deal with place names.
The field number used by ichthyological collections disappears and a longer place name takes its place. On a
preliminary basis we have chosen 40 characters as the limit for place names. In order to efficiently select place names
from those already entered into the system we have devised a scheme whereby after entering the date and a keyword
place name ("Ann Arbor;") you will be presented with a choice list of all place names that start with that keyword
and an indication of whether a collection exists for that date (plus other informational fields). If any one of those site
names is a faithful description of the current locality, then selecting that name will automatically complete the place
name field. If the site name combination already occurs but on a different date, a filled in locality form will be
presented that can be saved with a single keystroke or edited for date specific information (e.g. collecting expedition).
If the combination doesn't exist, then a data entry form for locality will be presented and must be filled out.
Table 1. Sample localities and place names
# Specific Locality Proposed Place Name
1 N shore Beaver Lake near inlet Beaver Lake; Inlet
2 Near buoy 25, Kaneohe Bay, N coast of Oahu Kaneohe Bay; Buoy 25
3 Quare R., trib. of Oropuche R., at small side stream Oropuche R; Bridge B2/3
entering main river under bridge B2/3, at 2.5 milepost
4 Triplett Cr. near railroad bridge in Morehead Morehead; Triplett Cr., 1
5 Triplett Cr. near Morehead Morehead; Triplett Cr., 2
6 Sequoia National Park; Hackett Meadows, Witman Cr. Sequoia National Pk; Witman Cr.
7 1 mi. N of Barranca-Bermeja at Miramar Lake Barranca-Bermeja; N at Miramar L.
8 1 mi. N of Barranca-Bermeja at flooded gravel quarry - Barranca-Bermeja; N at Miramar L.
Lake Miramar
9 1 mi. N of Barranca-Bermeja at El Rosario Barranca-Bermeja; El Rosario
10 2 mi. N of Barranca-Bermeja at Lake San Sylvestre Barranca-Bermeja; L. San Sylvestre
11 Lake San Sylvestre by city of Barranca-Bermeja Barranca-Bermeja; L. San Sylvestre, 1
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F: Site Names