Catalog Your Mineral Collection Online

A collection deserves to be seen the way it was built: piece by piece, with everything you know about each one.
Your collection is in your cabinets. The provenance, the history, the chemistry: it lives in your memory, in folders, in notes only you can read. Here it comes together online, structured by science, shown to whomever you choose, and managed entirely by you, from any device. This is your mineral collection catalog, and it is yours alone.

A Mineral Collection Catalog, Structured by Science

This is not a gallery with a search bar bolted on. It is an interactive catalog built around the way a collector actually thinks. There are eight ways into the same collection, each following a different logic: a fellow collector, a geologist, a buyer, a member of the family, each finds their own. Logged in as the owner, a ninth opens, yours alone.

Each Specimen, Its Own Page

Each mineral has its own page: a photo gallery on one side, the complete record on the other. A specimen can hold several minerals, each with its formula, elements, family, crystal system and hardness. A visual bar places each one between talc and diamond, with a plain line on what that hardness means in the hand: whether it scratches glass, whether a fingernail marks it.

Every element, family, crystal system and country on the page is a link, so one specimen leads naturally to the next, and the pieces it suggests follow how the visitor arrived, never at random. For any piece you have marked for sale or trade, a contact button reaches you directly.

Managed From a Single Screen

Add a specimen and it is online the moment you save it. That is the whole operation. You stay a collector, and the catalog keeps up with you.

Every day-to-day act is yours: add a piece, change a price, invite a guest, hide a page. You never wait on anyone to keep your collection current. You are on your own as much as you want to be, and no more: a question, a piece that does not fit the mold, and we are there.

The science fills itself in

Type the first letters of a mineral name, and matches rise from a reference of more than 6,200 minerals recognized by the International Mineralogical Association. Choose one, and the formula, the hardness, the family, the crystal system and the elements settle into place on their own. You name the piece; the science is already there.

No reference holds every mineral, and a serious collection always reaches past it: a variety, a subspecies, a piece the records have not caught up with. When yours does, the data behind it is added for you, so the specimen stands complete alongside the rest, not a blank you were left to fill.

Your photographs, in a few gestures

Bring in your own images, or the ones your photographer delivered, and arrange them in the order that shows the piece best, a turntable video among them. The rest of the record sits on the same screen: the locality and country, the dimensions, the collections a piece has passed through, and a field left open for whatever you alone would think to note. This is where the work done in front of the lens reaches the people who will see the collection.

From the glass cabinet to the page

Print a QR code for each specimen and set it beside the piece in your cabinet. A phone held to the label opens its full page: photographs, provenance, chemistry, everything you have recorded. The collection on your shelves and the collection online become one and the same.

As involved as you choose

You decide how much each person may touch. Five roles climb from someone who only keeps the books to someone who manages the whole collection. One rule runs through all of them: whatever a role may not change, it does not even see.

Registrar Records and accounts The books and logistics: prices, values, acquisition, status, storage, and whether a piece is for sale. The science, the photographs, the origin and the notes are not just locked, they are not even shown. For an accountant or an assistant.
Registrar+ Records, origin and notes Everything the Registrar does, plus origin and dimensions, provenance, specimen and conservation notes, and favorites. The scientific data and the photographs stay out of reach, and out of sight. For a trusted assistant who documents a piece but never alters it.
Curator Builds and edits Full editing of every piece: scientific data, photographs, video, the minerals themselves, and new specimens. Nothing can be deleted. For whoever builds the collection day to day.
Steward Full control Everything a Curator does, and the right to delete a specimen outright. For someone you trust with the whole collection.
Steward+ Full control, all photographs Everything a Steward does, with one more reach: the photographs already on the site. This role can draw from every image the collection holds and place it where it belongs, working hand in hand with the photographer.

You set the role when an account is created, and it can rise as trust grows.

What Only You See

Your figures stay yours

Purchase prices, estimated values, acquisition sources, invoice references, storage locations, loan status, conservation alerts: visible only to you, logged in as the owner. No visitor sees them, no guest, whatever their access. They surface in one place only: the documents you generate for yourself.

An inventory only you can generate

One click, and your entire collection becomes a single document: every specimen with its photograph, a QR code, its full record and your own values, purchase and estimate. A complete inventory of everything you own, ready to print, to archive, or to give your insurer. Produced from the private layer no one else reaches.

A private acquisition diary

Sort the collection by purchase date and it becomes an acquisition diary: every piece in the order it entered, grouped by the month you acquired it. A quiet record of how the collection came together, year after year.

Sharing, Documents and Settings

A public link or a private invitation

A Public Link Shows your collection exactly as any visitor would see it: public specimens, no private data. One link, ready to send to anyone.
A Private Invitation Opens your full collection, private pieces included, for a window you set: seven days, thirty, ninety, or a year. They see the pieces, but never the figures. Revoke it instantly, label each one by name, and keep several active at once: one for a buyer in London, one for a show in Tucson, one for a colleague in Paris.

Documents you can export

Valued inventory The complete inventory as a single printable document, one row per specimen. Yours to keep or to give your insurer.
Excel inventory Your entire collection exported as a spreadsheet, thirty-five columns covering the full record of each piece.
QR labels The labels behind the cabinet feature above: printable for every specimen, one at a time or in batches, on standard Avery or Herma sheets.

You decide what shows

The private curtain Invisible in one switch One switch, and the whole collection vanishes behind a private page. Invisible to everyone, until you decide otherwise.
Your chosen entrance Pick the first page Choose the page visitors land on first. The collection opens exactly where you want it to.
Hide it, restore it Nothing is lost Take any page out of the menu and bring it back whenever you like. Nothing is lost, and nothing has to be rebuilt.
Each filter, your call One by one Show or hide each filter on its own, so visitors browse the collection exactly the way you intend.
Keep the incomplete aside Undetermined pieces Specimens still missing a class, a system or a country can be kept out of public view until you complete them, so visitors only ever see finished records.

Hosted, Protected, and in Your Pocket

Everything runs on our own infrastructure. You install nothing, host nothing, maintain nothing: it is all handled for you.

A private server Yours alone Your collection lives on its own private high-performance server. You install nothing and host nothing, and it is kept current for you.
Daily backups Thirty days of history Saved automatically every day, with thirty days of restore history behind it. Nothing is ever lost.
Secured SSL throughout Protected by SSL from end to end, so the collection and everything in it stay private and safe.
Fast worldwide A global network Delivered through a global network, so the collection loads quickly wherever in the world it is opened.
In your pocket A standalone app Installs on your phone or tablet as a standalone app, no App Store in the way. Your whole collection, at a show, with a buyer, wherever you are.

An Annual Subscription

1 First Year Setup and subscription Setup and configuration Live onboarding session A written reference guide you keep A follow-up check-in after your first weeks Everything in year two, included from day one: hosting, daily backups, SSL, updates and maintenance.
2 From Year Two Everything continues Hosting on a dedicated server Daily backups, thirty days of restore history SSL certification and all platform updates Ongoing maintenance

If your subscription ever ends, the collection stays reachable for six months, and your full inventory exports in a single file. The catalog is yours, and so is the way out: your data leaves with you, whole, whenever you choose. Nothing is locked in.

Pricing is available on request. Every collection is different, and we prefer a conversation before a quote. Contact us to tell us about yours.

Everything the Mineral Collection Catalog Does

The page above is the short version. Below is the complete one. Every function of the platform, grouped by area. Nothing here is essential reading to understand what the platform is, but if you want to know exactly what it does, it is all here.

The Public Catalog

  • Full collection grid, up to 200 specimens per page.
  • Filter by color (15 defined colors), by transparency (transparent, translucent, opaque), and by hardness with a double-range Mohs slider from 1 to 10.
  • Sort A to Z or Z to A, and by date added, grouped into monthly chapters.
  • Owner-only sorting: by purchase date and by value.
  • Owner-only filters: show only pieces for sale or trade; show only private specimens.
  • Reset every filter at once.
  • Real-time search across the entire collection.
  • A to Z index of every species in the collection.
  • By Element: interactive periodic table where only the elements present are active; each element page carries a periodic card, a three-dimensional crystal lattice animation, educational notes, and every specimen containing that element.
  • By Class: the ten Strunz families, plus Meteorites, Tektites, Fossils, Molybdates and Tungstates, each with its own illustration.
  • By Crystal System: seven systems plus amorphous, each with a diagram.
  • By Country: interactive world map; each country page lists its mining localities and flags species endemic to that country.
  • Videos: every specimen filmed in motion.
  • My Favorites: a marked selection, with a quota that scales with collection size.
  • Any navigation page or filter can be hidden; pages with no content hide themselves.

The Specimen Page

  • Photo gallery with as many images as the piece needs, navigable by arrow or keyboard, openable full screen.
  • Several minerals per specimen, each with name, chemical formula with correct subscripts, elements, family and subfamily, and crystal system.
  • Hardness shown as a visual bar from talc to diamond, with a plain-language line on what it means.
  • Every element, family, crystal system and country is a clickable link.
  • Dimensions, cabinet size, locality, country, previous collections, and open specimen notes.
  • Contextual related specimens, chosen by how the visitor arrived, never at random.
  • Contact button on pieces marked for sale or trade, protected against spam.
  • Embedded video where one exists.

The Private Dashboard

  • Add, edit and publish from one screen. What you save is online the moment you save it.
  • Mineral name autocomplete from a reference base of more than 6,200 IMA-recognized minerals and varieties; formula, hardness, family, crystal system and elements fill in on their own.
  • Photographs by drag and drop, reorderable, with no size limit on what you upload.
  • Video by link, or uploaded directly to the video host without passing through your collection.
  • Inventory code and sale or trade status.
  • Specimen status: In Collection, On Loan, In Restoration, Sold or Offered, each opening only the fields it needs.
  • Acquisition source, date (auto-formatted), purchase details, and invoice reference.
  • Purchase price and estimated value, each in its own currency.
  • Storage location and conservation notes.
  • Automatic conservation alerts for around 50 sensitive species (light, humidity, fragility, toxicity, water solubility).
  • Collection overview: specimen, photograph and video counts, storage used, and subscription renewal date.

Who Sees What

Three kinds of people meet your collection: a visitor who finds it online, a guest you invite, and you, the owner. This is exactly what each one can see and do.

  Visitor Guest Owner
Public specimens ● ● ●
Photos, formula, hardness, crystal system ● ● ●
Origin, dimensions, provenance, notes ● ● ●
Sale or trade badge and contact button ○ ● ●
Private specimens   ● ●
Specimen status (loan, restoration, sold)     ●
Storage location     ●
Conservation notes and alerts     ●
Purchase price and acquisition source     ●
Estimated value and appraisal     ●
Invoice and inventory references     ●
Acquisition diary, sort by value or date     ●
Documents, exports, invitations, settings     ●
● included ○ optional, set by the owner blank not available

The circle on the for-sale row is the one choice you make here: in settings, you decide whether pieces marked for sale or trade are visible to every visitor, or only to guests you invite. Everything below the private specimens line is yours alone, on every page, in every export, without exception.

Who Can Change What

You also decide who may change the collection, not only who may see it. Five roles cover everyone you might bring in to help, each able to touch a little more than the last. The principle is strict: whatever a role may not change, it is not even shown. Here is exactly what each one can do.

  Registrar Registrar+ Curator Steward Steward+
See the full record, including private financial data ● ● ● ● ●
Edit accounting: price, value, appraisal ● ● ● ● ●
Edit status, storage, and whether a piece is for sale ● ● ● ● ●
Edit origin, dimensions and provenance   ● ● ● ●
Edit specimen and conservation notes   ● ● ● ●
Mark favorites   ● ● ● ●
Edit the specimen title     ● ● ●
Edit scientific data: formula, hardness, class, system, elements     ● ● ●
Edit the minerals, color and transparency     ● ● ●
Add, reorder and replace photographs and video     ● ● ●
Set a specimen private, and its inventory code     ● ● ●
Create a new specimen     ● ● ●
Delete a specimen outright       ● ●
Draw from every photograph already on the site         ●
● allowed blank not allowed

The scientific identity of a piece, its name, formula and crystal data, is shielded from the lighter roles. They cannot change it, and they never see it. Whoever keeps your books can never alter, or even read, what a specimen actually is.

What You Show, and What You Hide

  • The whole site public, or hidden behind a private curtain page, with a single switch. Invisible to everyone until you decide otherwise.
  • Each navigation page shown or hidden from the menu, to match what your collection holds and what you want to show.
  • Each filter shown or hidden, one by one.
  • Pages with no content hide themselves automatically, so the menu never shows an empty room.
  • The page visitors first land on, chosen by you.
  • The for-sale badge visible to every visitor, or to invited guests only.
  • The Not Determined categories shown or hidden, and public or private, for crystal system, class and country.
  • If you do not want your collection found by search engines, the platform can be set to stay out of their results entirely.

Documents and Exports

  • Valued inventory (PDF) to give your insurer: one row per specimen with photograph, QR code, full data and your private values, purchase and estimate.
  • Excel inventory: 35 columns covering the full record of every specimen.
  • QR labels: individual or in batches, with Avery and Herma presets, A4 or Letter, and custom layouts.
  • All dates in the unambiguous Mon DD, YYYY format.

Sharing

  • Public link showing the collection as any visitor sees it.
  • Private invitation opening the full collection, including private pieces, for a window from seven days to a year.
  • Each invitation is labeled, revocable instantly, needs no account, and several can be active at once.

Hosting and the Mobile App

Everything described in the Hosting section above: a dedicated private server, daily backups with thirty days of restore history, SSL certification, and delivery through a global network for fast loading anywhere. Installable as a standalone app on phone, tablet and desktop, without the App Store.

Currencies and Defaults

  • A default currency that pre-fills every new specimen, chosen from the full ISO 4217 standard.
  • Each price kept in its own currency, so a piece bought in dollars can carry an appraisal in francs.
  • Every currency in the ISO 4217 standard, more than 150 in all, from the US dollar and euro to the yen, franc or dirham.

See It Live: rock-of-science.org

rock-of-science.org is a real mineral collection running on this platform. Browse the specimens, navigate by element, by country, by crystal system, by family. Everything on this page is live there. What a visitor sees is the public face; what the owner sees, logged in, is the same collection with its private layer showing: prices, provenance, storage, the acquisition diary. One collection, two realities.

Who It Is For

For collectors who know their specimens by provenance, by chemistry, by the mine and the country each came from, and who want the record to match the care that built the collection. This is not a photo album, and not a gallery with labels. It is a structured, scientific, private and shareable mineral collection catalog, and you run all of it yourself, as easily as you would keep any catalog of your own.

Minerals Photography is a specialized service of Camarda Visual Studio LLC, a visual communication studio based in Farmington, Connecticut. Camarda Visual Studio deploys and manages your platform.

Adapted to Your Collection

The platform does a great deal as it stands, but no two collections are alike, and neither are their owners.

If something you need is not described here, ask. What looks complicated is sometimes simple, and what looks simple is sometimes not, so the only way to know is to tell us. When it can be done, we do it.

Tell us about your collection

Contact Us