Using Barcode Labels with OCHRE
By Sandra Schloen, August 2017
Labeling excavation items with barcode labels is a strategy that is supported by the OCHRE system in a highly integrated way. It is built into the use of OCHRE offline in the field so that items are logged, described, and labeled at the time of discovery by the people who did the discovering. They arrive from the field ready to be tracked as they enter further processing by the in-house staff of specialists.
Contact the OCHRE Data Service to design an appropriate barcode label for your project’s needs, based on your recording system.
The Zincirli project in Turkey, for example, uses a QRcode on its barcode label.
Zincirli barcode label
The Tel Shimron project in Israel uses a PDF-417 coded label
Tel Shimron barcode label
In all cases the UUID (Universally Unique ID) of the OCHRE item being label is the data being encoded by the barcode. This ensures that the item is uniquely identified. Additionally, the code is prefixed by the text "OCHRE:" which serves as a namespace indicator of sorts. Other apps receiving input from this barcode will be able to recognize it as an OCHRE item UUID.
Barcoded content, scanned into OCHRE's lookup field
Controls can be built in to ensure that certain required data is present before allowing the printing of a barcode label (with appropriate administrative overrides when necessary). For example, we might require a date and observer before allowing the label to be printed.