ANTWEB(www.antweb.org)

Providing tools for exploring the diversity

and identification of ants.

Dave Thau, Brian FisherCalifornia Academy of Sciences

ANTWEB Goal

Accelerate the rate of description and identification

ANTWEB End Users

Taxonomists: images of ant types and other ant specimens held in the world’s major ant collections

Public: identification tools, distribution, and biology of ants

ANTWEB Design Goals

Efficient work flow: Automate as much as possible.

Blend with current habits: Leverage in-place processes.

Support multiple sources of data: To achieve #1 and #2, necessary to deal with data in whatever form it comes.

Maximize code life span: Stick with known standards, use open source tools.

Work Flow – Adding DataProject Files

ExcelSpecimen Records

Biota

DatabaseMicrosoft Sql Server

Browser Uploading Data

Web ApplicationTomcat on Linux

Catalog InformationSpidered Hymenoptera

Name Server

Authority FilesExcel

Work Flow – Adding Images

SQL Server Linux File System

Browser Uploading Data

Picking Favorite Images

Web ApplicationTomcat on Linux

Images CreatedIn Automontage

ANTWEB Tools

Programming Language: Java Servlets and JSP

Database: Microsoft SQL Server (sans Microsoft xtras)

Design Pattern: Model-View-Controller using Struts

Image Processor: Image Magick

Bug Tracker: Bugzilla

Project Builder: Apache Ant

Recent Additions

Ant genera of the world

Ants of the Bay Area

Image Picker tool – choose best image for a taxon

Catalog Information – synonymy

Sticky search fields

Templates via Struts tiles

Future Directions

Distributed image sharing standardsGIS servicesDistributed catalog informationInteractive keysDescriptive dataMore collaborative toolsUltimately expanding beyond ants