PDA or handheld computers for ID in the field ?

[Mike Dallwitz]

- From: Stinger Guala <stinger at STINGERSPLACE.COM>

> One possible addition would be Pavel Klimov's Visual Key
>     http://insects.ummz.lsa.umich.edu/beemites/vk_bees/Visual_key.htm

Thanks, I've added this to my list at
     http://delta-intkey.com/www/idprogs.htm

Another recent addition is X:ID (not to be confused with XID) at
     http://uio.mbl.edu/services/key.html
It's intended to be suitable for handheld computers.

> I'm having a bit of difficulty understanding the list though. Is it only for
> programs that you can download, or for any interactive keys running
> anywhere? I can't find download sites for some of the "free" programs listed
> such as ActKey and 20q for example. There are lovely implementations but no
> obvious place to get one's own copy and implement it (as there is for most
> of the programs on the page).

It's for any interactive-key programs. I've described them as 'free' if
there is no mention of any charge for the programs. Although some of the Web
sites have no information about obtaining the programs, you could probably
get them if you asked the authors. The authors of Actkey and 20q will (I
think) put your keys on their own Web sites on request.

> I gave a talk recently and showed a list of more than 40 (I would guess that
> there are hundreds) different online interactive keys - the kind that anyone
> with a database (or not) and a web directory can (and does) implement
> frequently. Are you looking for those too?

I exclude interactive keys in which the software is not claimed to be
general-purpose or innovative. Example:
     An interactive key to identify Noctuidae of North America
     http://plant.cdfa.ca.gov/noctuid/

I also exclude conventional keys implemented as Web pages, or software for
constructing them. Example:
     An Interactive Key of Common Iowa Trees
     http://www.extension.iastate.edu/pages/tree/key.html

> I have had a few inquiries about a list of interactive keys on the web. I
> gave a talk awhile ago and showed a list of 40 different implementations.
> Here are a few of the less obvious examples. There are many ways to do an
> interactive key in its most simple form. Each of these has something
> (sometimes very minimally) novel about it. For example, there are several
> different implementations of Navikey here in which it is extensively to
> minimally modified to run under different constraints or on different
> systems. One is a major rewrite.

Of the 30 Web sites in the posted list, 3 were not keys at all, 10 were
conventional keys, and 6 were one-off interactive keys without any
interesting software. The rest were already in my list, except for the new
versions of Navikey, which I've now added.

--
Mike Dallwitz
13 Warrambool Close, Giralang ACT 2617, Australia
Phone: +61 2 6241 2884
Email: M.Dallwitz at netspeed.com.au  Internet: http://delta-intkey.com