UC Berkeley MVZ Information Model

[Jim Beach]

The University of California Museum of Vertebrate Zoology (MVZ) is
undertaking a comprehensive, integrative modeling effort for its
vertebrate collections of birds, herps and mammals as part of its
Information System Re-engineering Project.  In addition to the core
vertebrate collections, several ancillary collections are also
being analyzed for their information content and being included in
the model.  For more information on the collections of the MVZ see
our WWW home page at:

       http://www.mip.berkeley.edu/mvz/

The analysis and modeling effort began in January and is ongoing.
The resulting models are being made available as Adobe
PDF (Portable Document Format) files; they contain graphical
representations of the model as well as text.  PDF files can be
displayed and printed with PDF reader software from Adobe.
Adobe Acrobat readers for MS-Windows, Macintosh, and Unix are
available for free via ftp from ftp.adobe.com (under '/pub/
adobe/Applications/Acrobat') or via WWW at http://www.adobe.com.

More modules of the model will be added to the locations below as
they become available during the next two months.  The first module
now on the net, deals with collection transactions information.  It
significantly extends the ASC model in that area.


PDF format files are available via the WWW at:

        http://www.mip.berkeley.edu/mvz/

They are also available via Gopher at the Biodiversity and Biological
Collections Gopher:

        muse.bio.cornell.edu    under "Standards and Data Models"

They are also available via the Taxacom anonymous FTP server at:

        muse.bio.cornell.edu    in the directory:  /pub/standards/mvz


Contact Stan Blum, Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, University of California,
Berkeley, CA 94720, phone: 510 643-0352, email: sblum at violet.berkeley.edu,
for additional information.


----------------------------------------------------------
The following is from the introduction to the Collections
Transaction Model:



DRAFT INFORMATION MODEL FOR MVZ COLLECTION TRANSACTIONS

Stanley D. Blum

April 14, 1995


This is the University of California at Berkeley (UCB),
Museum of Vertebrate Zoology's (MVZ) transaction management
model. The model has been developed as part of the Museum's
Collections Database Systems Re-engineering Project which
began in January, 1995.  The Project will model the MVZ's
collections information management, specify its systems and
functional requirements and make recommendations for a
software architecture and implementation.  This is the first
of several information models which will be produced by the
end of June, 1995.  This model deals with the "specimen
activity" or "transactions" of the museum and is meant to
capture the essential information needed for collections
transactions management (see the listing below).  The next
model will describe the hierarchy of collections objects at
the various levels of organization, from the entire
collection itself as an entity to cataloged items to
specimen parts, tissue samples, DNA extracts, etc.
Forthcoming models will deal with taxonomic and geographic
information.

_________________________________________________________________________
James H. Beach                          smtp://beach@violet.berkeley.edu/
Museum Informatics Project                          voice://510.642.0246/
University of California                              fax://510.643.8856/
Room 378, Doe Library                    http://muse.bio.cornell.edu/jim/
Berkeley, CA 94720-6200