The TAPIR subgroup will draft, document and maintain the TAPIR (TDWG Access Protocol for Information Retrieval) Standard for TDWG.

TAPIR specifies a standardised, stateless, HTTP transmittable, XML-based request and response protocol for accessing structured data that may be stored on any number of distributed databases of varied physical and logical structure. TAPIR combines and extends the features of the BioCASe[1] and DiGIR[2] protocols to create a new and more generic means of communication between client applications and data providers using the Internet. The TAPIR subgroup will ensure the applicability and effectiveness of the protocol through association with the development of the PyWrapper v2[3] reference implementation.

TAPIR was developed for use with biodiversity and natural science collection data but is a generic tool applicable to other domains. The TAPIR subgroup will maintain awareness of the potential for interoperability with other subject domains and the protocols that are used or are under development in those domains, and will consider the benefits or problems of convergence with them. The TAPIR subgroup will liaise with other TDWG subgroups and allied working groups to ensure compatibility of approach and avoid duplication of effort particularly with related biodiversity standards initiatives.

Note: This charter is temporary and will be replaced by the final version when that is approved by the Executive Committee.

[1] Biological Collections Access Service: http://www.biocase.org/products/protocols/

[2] Distributed Generic Information Retrieval: http://www.digir.net/

[3] See: http://www.pywrapper.org/