Q401. How is the openDS initiative part of the DiSSCo programme?
openDS, the Digital Specimen concept, and the persistent identifiers that unambiguously identify them are part of the Distributed System of Scientific Collections (DiSSCo) programme in Europe. The initiative aims to implement the Extended Specimen concept described by Michael Webster and colleagues in the 2017 book, "The Extended Specimen: Emerging Frontiers in Collections-Based Ornithological Research (Studies in Avian Biology)" 
whilst at the same time providing an enabling mechanism for the transformational change of working practices in collections-based science that DiSSCo foresees.
Q402. What is the Extended Specimen Network (ESN)?
The Extended Specimen Network (ESN) is an broad initiative by the Biodiversity Collections Network (BCoN) in the USA to strengthen USA collections cyberinfrastructure by focusing on five main focus areas of collecting, digitization, integration/attribution, infrastructure, workforce and education of which the Extended Specimen concept is a key driving force; hence has an emphasis on both physical and digital representations. Alike in many respects, the ESN is akin to the overall DiSSCo programme to unify European natural science assets under common curation, access, policies and practices.
Q403. What are the technical similarities and differences between openDS and ESN?
DS and ES similarities and differences were explored in a Birds of a Feather (BoF) session convened during TDWG 2020. The session was recorded and is available on YouTube.
DiSSCo explains a Digital Specimen (DS) as a curated and authoritative open package of links to data associated with or derived from a physical specimen. As such, it is a ‘twin’ on the Internet for a specimen in a physical collection anchoring all the information known about or derived from that physical specimen.
ESN explains an Extended Specimen (ES) as being the linkage between a physical specimen and all its derived preparation materials to all its local and externally derived digital products.
Thus, DS and ES are conceptually very alike. Technical notions of how DS and ES might be implemented have emerged independently in Europe and the USA, giving rise to the openDS initiative and the Extended Specimen Network respectively. Nevertheless, with their common origin in the concept work by Webster and colleagues, they share the same basic idea and goals of connecting all the data derived from or about a physical specimen to that specimen in order to extend what is known about it.
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