The primary purpose of the Online Register is to provide an efficient, centralised, widely available register of historic scientific instruments and related objects that exist in dispersed collections of all kinds from around the globe. It is analogous to a computerised library catalogue in that it holds only a limited amount of key information about each instrument: the information most commonly used to allow an instrument to be located. It does not contain any detailed information about an instrument's form, use, or history. It is a gateway only - a stepping-off point to more extensive information that will be held by institutions themselves, whether on-line or off-line.

As in a computerised library catalogue, visitors to the Online Register can search through the key indexes of the register for certain keywords, phrases, or any other text pattern. In addition, visitors may browse through any of the available indexes alphabetically.

The instrument entries are not ratified or policed in any way by the maintainers of the Register. There are no prescriptive rules about the headings that must be used for particular types of instruments, for example, or about the correct form in which to give any names. Neither are there any rules about how much information must be provided for each instrument, or about what language it must be provided in. Nor is any guarantee given about the accuracy of the information that is provided. Instruments may, for example, be registered in each index under multiple terms. Thus, a single instrument may appear in the Headings index under a number of different headings, may be indexed under a number of different Associated Names, and may be referenced under a number of different Associated Places, or under the same place given in different forms. Any field except for the Instrument Heading and ISIN number may also be left blank. Responsibility for the content rests with the contributors.

ISINs explained

Each instrument in the Online Register has a unique International Scientific Instrument Number (ISIN). As computer catalogues make use of ISBN numbers, so the Online Register makes use of ISIN numbers. An ISIN consists of 14 digits: a 5 digit institution code plus a 9 digit object code. For example, from the above sample there is:

ISIN 16830-000092633

In this example, the first part, 16830, is the institution code of the Museum of the History of Science that was agreed with the Museum when it joined the Online Register. The last part, 000092633, is the object code of the armillary sphere, a unique number assigned to this object by the Museum. These numbers are not intended to replace in any way an institution's existing numbers but they are available for use in such things as collaborative catalogues and exhibitions.

Notes for contributors

From a contributor's point of view, the Online Register is a facility for publicising the existence of instruments in the contributor's collection. The Online Register is capable of providing a direct link to more detailed information available on the web about each instrument registered. Where no on-line information is available, the user is given the contact details of the contributor from whom more information can be obtained.

The extent of the information submitted to the Online Register is at the discretion of the contributor. The minimum entry for an instrument is simply a single heading, in English or in any other language, with the ISIN allocated to it. Some institutions may decide to submit entries only in their first language, others in multiple languages. The amount of information submitted for all instruments need not be the same: the contributors may judge that some instruments are more important than others and therefore deserve more extensive indexing that others. The principle of the Online Register is that any information is better than no information, whether that information is incomplete or imperfect in some respects.

The information provided by a contributor will be added to the Online Register in an automated fashion and the maintainers of the Online Register will not edit or ratify in any way what is provided to them. Therefore, the onus is on the contributor to provide information in the form that is most useful and appropriate for the purposes of the Online Register. It is the responsibility of the contributor to provide information in a suitable and useful form for the end-users of the register; it is up to the judgement of each contributor what this form will be.

Institutions with collections of any type or size are welcome to join the Online Register and add their scientific instruments to the database. Enquiries are also welcome from private collectors.

For detailed instructions on joining the register and submitting information, please refer to the Contributor's Manual .