Core + Extension

One event, with the right evidence attached.

A bird sighting, field notebook, quartz sample, plankton tow and SEM image need different fields. They still share a who, when, where, method, provenance and licence. Clio’s architecture keeps that common spine intact.

The record model

A common core, with extensions for each kind of evidence.

Event core

Every submission starts here.

eventID: platform-minted UUID v4
eventDate: ISO 8601 date or date-time
decimalLatitude: WGS84 decimal degrees
coordinateUncertaintyInMeters: required, including deliberate fuzzing
recordedByID: ORCID iD, where available
license: CC BY 4.0 for contributor-authorised Clio deposits

Extensions

Domain-specific evidence joins the event.

biology: Darwin Core Occurrence
geology: ABCD-EFG, IGSN where retained
media: Audiovisual Core, EXIF
microscopy: REMBI, OME-TIFF, OME-Zarr
sampling: Humboldt Extension
packaging: EML, Darwin Core Archive

Designed for real practice. The same event core supports field observations, collection and specimen work, lab samples, imaging and classroom exercises without pretending those contexts have identical evidence or permissions. Contributor publication is public by default, with drafts available while evidence is completed.

Verification is data

The latest identification is never the whole story.

Keep the original observation alongside later identifications and their evidence. The three tiers below describe different levels of assessment. Curator applications aren’t open yet, so expert verification isn’t available.

Unverified

As submitted. The original contributor’s words and media remain visible.

Community-verified

At least two independent, agreeing identifiers from established contributors.

Expert-verified

Confirmed by a credentialed curator with an ORCID iD and affiliation on file.

Identity + evidence

Know who contributed and what changed.

Your identity connects you to your contributions. Published versions keep a history of the evidence and corrections. Sign in to prepare and publish a record.

Contributor-owned identity

You control your contributor identity with a passkey or passphrase. Keep your recovery phrase and kit safe; a linked account alone cannot restore a lost identity.

Contribution and acceptance

Your signed contribution records what you submitted. Clio’s receipt records what the museum accepted. Neither makes an identification a verified scientific finding.

Read the record’s status

Publication, review and citation are separate. A published version can be cited by its Clio permalink. DOI review does not assign a DOI, and a signed record does not guarantee permanent preservation.

Clio uses Ma’atara for identity and evidence services. It is developed by the same team and also supports Parable. This shared ownership is disclosed so contributors can assess the relationship.

Identity and evidence infrastructure: Maatara — post-quantum identity

For account access and publication, open the contributor workspace. For local field, lab and record preparation, see Record Studio.

Research reuse

Preparing records for reuse.

A research project can download a research package. Once every record in the project is an accepted Clio record, the package includes a Darwin Core Archive that groups observations, methods, media and dataset context for repository review. The export is a file you download: nothing is sent to GBIF, ALA or any other archive, Clio makes no claim that they will accept it, and Clio does not deposit or preserve it for you.

Files in the Darwin Core Archive export and what each one holds
Record layer	File in the archive	Purpose
Event	`event.txt`	Who, when, where, and sampling context
Occurrence	`occurrence.txt`	Organism identity and verification history
Media	`multimedia.txt`	Images, access URIs, and file metadata
Dataset	`eml.xml`	Scope, methods, attribution, and licence
Archive	`meta.xml`	Maps every column to a Darwin Core term

A project’s archive holds either an occurrence table or an event table as its core, depending on the records. Media rows appear only for files with a public address, a licence and a named rights holder.