The Specify Collections Consortium is pleased to announce an update to the Specify 6 collection management platform. In development for almost nine months, this release adds a significant new capability: Batch Editing.
Batch Editing is a powerful capability for bulk changes to Specify data. It will be particularly useful for enhancing data quality by correcting inconsistencies and by bulk filling empty data fields. The Batch Editing process begins with a query on one of five data tables: Agent, Collecting Event, Collection Object, Locality, or Preparation. Query results in toto or selected subsets can then be edited with cut-and-paste, and drag-and-fill mouse operations, reviewed, applied, and saved. Embedded context sensitive help for Batch Editing is included within Specify, and a video introduction to Batch Editing is accessible at: https://vimeo.com/264674965.
With Batch Editing you can change thousands of records with a few mouse clicks. It is important to have a basic understanding of core Specify data table relationships before using it. Once changes are reviewed and applied, they become permanent. This major new tool will complement Specify’s data entry, and upload capabilities by providing a mechanism for the review of thousands of records at a time, and the application of any changes and corrections to those records in one easy edit transaction. In this release, Batch Editing is available to Manager and Administrator level users.
Specify 6.7 also updates the database schema to add several requested data fields. And the release fixes several engineering defects. The Specify 6 “Downloads” page includes a link to the Specify 6.7.00 installer packages.
We hope you are as enthused as we are with the enabling power and ease of use of the Batch Editing feature. We would be delighted to receive your feedback.
If we can help evaluate Specify for your collection or if you would like to know more about the Specify Collections Consortium, reach out to us! We would be happy to discuss with you these or other Specify matters.
–Specify Collections Consortium Team
