Specimen Citations

[Stinger]

I should clarify that we are quite willing to (and will to some extent)
host a repository site as being discussed here, and expand a bit on the
plans.  However, herbarium databasers have struggled with this problem
for decades, it isn't a data acquisition problem, it is whether anyone
can use it or not.  Basically there are two major problems once you
actually have the labor and hardware to do the job.  The first is
integrity.  For example, we guarantee integrity of our data by providing
a large color photo of every specimen databased.  You don't think that
the record is correct... see for yourself.  Obviously, every monographer
doesn't take photos of every specimen they examine.  The second is
standardization.  There are at least 7 variations of the name "John
Kunkel Small" in our herbarium, and at least 2 other Dr. Smalls.  You
need to standardize if you are ever going to be able to retrieve records
in any useful way.

I am developing a web data entry interface right now.  It uses authority
files that are as standard as we can get at the moment and integrates
directly with our virtual herbarium.  Unfortunately I don't see
monographers sitting down to re-enter data into the system and I don't
see the synonomy files and AI interpreters available to bring in large
databases and interpret them, being available any time soon.  It isn't
really like genbank because a monographer often examines thousands of
specimens for a given study, a molecular systematic study rarely
generates more than a hundred sequences that actually get sent to
Genbank.

--
Gerald "Stinger" Guala, Ph.D.
Keeper and Curator of the Herbarium
Systematist
Fairchild Tropical Garden
11935 Old Cutler Rd.
Miami, FL 33156

http://www.ftg.fiu.edu/