Tools
Braconid wasp – Photograph © Museum Victoria
Taxonomic Databases Working Group
The Atlas of Living Australia aims to provide users with powerful tools to access well-managed structured data which can be integrated into a wide range of tools and analyses. To make this happen, the ALA depends on the existence of common data standards and protocols which ensure that data records are compatible. The Taxonomic Databases Working group (TDWG) is an international not-for-profit organisation dedicated to developing such standards.
Sharing data with the ALA
Draft guidelines on how to make a range of types of data available through the ALA are available at: http://www.ala.org.au/tools/data-standards.html.
ALA Review of Online and Desktop Tools
The ALA contracted with the Australian Museum to produce a review of software components which could contribute to the development of the Atlas. The results from this review have been presented as a web site allowing users to contribute suggestions for additional tools to be included. For more information see http://www.ala.org.au/tools/tools-survey.html.
URL: http://alatools.pbwiki.com/
Data Standards
The following data standards developed and supported by TDWG (see box on right) are of particular relevance to the ALA:
- Taxon Occurrence vocabulary
- Taxon Name vocabulary
- Taxon Concept vocabulary
- Structured Descriptive Data
(species descriptions) - TAPIR (web search protocol)
- Life Science Identifiers (unique identifiers
for data records)
Biodiversity Information Projects of the World
TDWG maintains an online database of projects active in the sphere of biodiversity informatics. This is a valuable resource for discovering activities related to the ALA.
URL: http://www.tdwg.org/biodiv-projects/
Biodiversity Information Networks Database
TDWG also maintains an online database of biodiversity data networks.
URL: http://www.tdwg.org/biodiv-networks/
Biodiversity Informatics Events Database
TDWG maintains an third online database to track conferences and other events relating to biodiversity informatics.
URL: http://www.tdwg.org/events/
