Collaborative Databases on a Global Scale

Background on distributed biological databases

➲ 1990's technology boom: funding, excitement, lots of biodata not online yet, huge potential

➲ Biology scientist meets computer scientist➲ Australian Virtual Herbarium (AVH)➲ Bio-resource network in Japan (BRnet)➲ European Natural History Specimen Information

Network (ENHSIN) ➲ Red Mundial de Informacion sobre

Biodiversidad (REMIB)➲ The Species Analyst (TSA)

How it worked

➲ Single web site, many databases➲ Users query *specific* biological concept➲ View or download single answer➲ Simple enough, right? ;)

Database DatabaseDatabase

Website

Biological Scientist Computer Scientist (Geek)

?

Problem

➲ Funding starts drying up➲ Major unresolved database issues➲ Meeting at the National Center for Ecological

Analysis and Synthesis in California➲ Distributed Generic Information Retrieval

(DiGIR) 2001➲ Intense requirements engineering session➲ Need: common data specification➲ Need: common software architecture➲ Need: global collaboration

Requirements analysis

➲ Worldwide biological collections contain specimen specific data and collection specific data elements.

➲ Universal standard for an identical element set not realistic or practical

➲ Need a broad element set domain that requires only a small subset to be functional

➲ Institutions need to be able to control their data within a collaborative/distributed environment

Software architecture & design

➲ Incompatible database and access technologies across the globe

➲ Too much invested to redesign or rebuild existing systems

➲ 2.5 billion specimen records worldwide➲ Adapt existing database systems to be

functional in a global distributed network➲ PAD (Portal, Adapter, Database) existing code➲ Scalability, maintainability, interoperability,

adaptability, usability

MySQL OracleExcel

UCB NUS CAS

HerpNET DiGIR Website(Data Portal)

DiGIR Provider (Database Adapter)

Collections Data

Vector GridRaster

TM ET NASA

Google Earth(Data Portal)

Data Providers(Database Adapter)

Spatial Data

HerpNETWeb 2.0

Limnonectes malesianus(Malesian Frog)

Global Amphibian Assessment

Limnonectesmalesianus

AmphibiaWEB

BioGeek Culture(Biologists and geeks working together)

➲ Requirements analysis priority➲ Sharing data (community, education, policy)➲ Maintaining curator/museum value➲ Programmer analyst staff➲ Open source code ➲ Advancing the state of the art in biodiverstiy

informatics➲ Tracking data usage➲ Dynamic systems engineered for perpetuity