International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry

Information systems and biodiversity databases: Trends and challenges*

Thomas Duncan

Museum Informatics Project, Information Systems and Technology, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720
E-mail: [email protected]

Abstract: During the last five years there has been an explosive growth of Internet information resources on biodiversity. However, biodiversity information systems have only begun to utilize the wide array of networked technologies currently available. Trends in World Wide Web (WWW) tools and services, multi-tier client server architectures, component software development environments, repository management and maintenance and image presentation will significantly change the way in which information systems are designed and implemented. These emerging technologies offer new possibilities for storing, presenting, and sharing nomenclatural, distributional, and phylogenetic data that are fundamental to understanding global biodiversity and tracking changes in it. Biodiversity information providers and systems developers must address the technical and institutional challenges such technologies offer and how these technologies will change the way in which taxonomic, biotic, and phylogenetic studies are conducted.

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