Abstract:
The Sample Tracking Database (STD) was created to track samples from field work to various stages of shipping and storage through to analysis and possible disposal or destruction.
The Sample Tracking Database comprises two parts.
First and the most important is a Field based version written using Microsoft Access. Users in the field can enter barcoded sample references with details of location,
... sample weight, type of container it is in, collecting event date and the broad classification of the sample. Barcodes are also allocated to the containers (bins, fridges, shipping containers, drums etc).
Samples can be of any type - biological, rock, metal. samples can be contained in containers and those containers held in others. As a container or its contents are moved or split, the entire track of all its elements and weights is kept.
A uniquely allocated barcode is used across the entire AAD to track each element be it a container or samples itself within a container. The barcodes are allocated from a central register kept by the AADC. Each sample or container can have a user defined code such as FRED-1 that appears on any printed bar code. Movement events of a container are logged (along with the items contained in that container).
Tools have been developed to merge several field databases into one common database. This typically occurs when field databases are returned to the Kingston laboratories.
Containers and samples can be destroyed as they are consumed in any subsequent laboratory analysis. These events are also logged.
The second version is an Oracle database which can be accessed via a web-based application. This serves as a backup of the data and allows users anywhere in the Division complex to search for samples. Data is copied regularly from the Access field databases. This Oracle database and application is also used for barcode allocations, uploading data into Oracle, and as a download point for new copies of the Access database. 
