def get_specs(data):
    """
    Takes a magic format file and returns a list of unique specimen names
    """
    # sort the specimen names
    speclist = []
    for rec in data:
        try:
            spec = rec["er_specimen_name"]
        except KeyError as e:
            spec = rec["specimen"]
        if spec not in speclist:
            speclist.append(spec)
    speclist.sort()
    return speclist