The Global Registry of Scientific Collections—commonly referred to as GRSciColl (gee-are-sigh-call)—is now available in Spanish, marking a further step toward greater accessibility and inclusivity within the global collections community.
Originally developed by the Consortium of the Barcode of Life (CBOL), GRSciColl has now been fully built using GBIF's hosted portal platform. The latest version assembles both collection information and specimen records already shared into the GBIF infrastructure, forming an essential resource about object-based collections, the institutions that house them, and the dedicated professionals entrusted with their curation and upkeep.
"Bringing GRSciColl to the global audience of Spanish speakers marks a crucial step towards improved inclusion and amplifies representation of scientific collections from our biodiversity-rich region," said Víctor Chocho Sánchez, deputy regional node representative for the Latin America and the Caribbean region and node manager for GBIF Ecuador within the Ministry of Environment, Water and Ecological Transition. "By embracing localization, this critical resource can engage a broader worldwide audience and empower collections stakeholders and communities to explore and build a common understanding of the world’s biological specimens."
The dedicated efforts of editors, translators, curators and national representatives ensures the accuracy and coverage of content in GRSciColl. Users are encouraged to propose updates, additions, or mergers, fostering a culture of collaborative curation and serving as a hub for discussion, collaboration and knowledge sharing.
"The enthusiastic engagement from members of the GBIF community has truly propelled GRSciColl's development," said Marie Grosjean, data administrator at GBIF. "We invite people interested in joining the discussion, as their input and active participation will shape the future of this resource."
Recent enhancements—such as the release of a dedicated API and regular synchronization with external sources like Index Herbariorum, the Integrated Digitized Biocollections (iDigBio) and several national registries—further strengthen GRSciColl's reliability and timeliness. The expansion of the platform into Spanish underscores GBIF's ongoing commitment to serving diverse linguistic communities around the world.
Join the community!
By contributing your expertise, you, too, can enhance data quality and coverage, add further translations and develop other opportunities for engagement and collaboration.
- Find more information and stay updated about scientific collections and GBIF
- Discuss collections on the GBIF community forum
- Report issues and provide feedback
- Become a volunteer translator