Samples are registered through Allocating Agents. At present (November 2021) the following IGSN Allocation Agents register IGSN:
* System for Earth Sample Registration (SESAR)
* Geoscience Australia
* Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation Mineral Resources
* Australian Research Data Commons (ARDC)
* University of Bremen MARUM
* German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ)
* IFREMER Institut Français de Recherche pour l'Exploitation de la Mer
* Korea Institute of Geoscience & Mineral Resources (KIGAM)
* University of Kiel
To obtain an IGSN, users need to register a sample by submitting information about it to an IGSN Allocating Agent.  Once logged in, users can:
* register individual samples or batches
* register sampling features
* track relationships between samples and subsamples (e.g., bulk samples and mineral separates)
* update information on registered samples
* download QR code images for labelling purposes