Checklist Provider Tool: a GBIF Application for Sharing Taxonomic Checklists Using TAPIR and TCS
Wouter Addink, Jorrit van Hertum
Abstract
There is currently no simple way to connect nomenclatural and taxonomic resources to the Global Biodiversity Information Network (GBIF) network. The Taxon Concept Schema (TCS) standard was developed within Biodiversity Information Standards (TDWG) to make the exchange of taxonomic data possible. Providers need easy-to-use tools to connect such data to the GBIF network and to other networks such as the Catalogue of Life using TCS.
GBIF commissioned the development of a Checklist Provider Tool for sharing datasets held in tab-delimited files or Excel spreadsheets. This tool is scheduled to be made available at the GBIF GB14 meeting in October 2007 in Amsterdam.
The Checklist Provider Tool uses a MySQL relational database to store data in a TCS-compliant format. Data can be imported into the database through web forms written in PHP. The tool includes a pre-configured TAPIR-compliant access point which connects directly to the database and will facilitate connection to the GBIF network and to other networks. The access point will be based on the TapirLink PHP implementation of the TAPIR protocol (the same implementation is in use for sharing occurrence data using Darwin Core). This TAPIR access point will expose the taxonomic checklist data in TCS format.
The Checklist Provider Tool will be available for download as open source software at the GBIF website. In addition GBIF is considering using the tool to host small data sets directly at GBIF without data providers needing to install the software locally.
GBIF commissioned the development of a Checklist Provider Tool for sharing datasets held in tab-delimited files or Excel spreadsheets. This tool is scheduled to be made available at the GBIF GB14 meeting in October 2007 in Amsterdam.
The Checklist Provider Tool uses a MySQL relational database to store data in a TCS-compliant format. Data can be imported into the database through web forms written in PHP. The tool includes a pre-configured TAPIR-compliant access point which connects directly to the database and will facilitate connection to the GBIF network and to other networks. The access point will be based on the TapirLink PHP implementation of the TAPIR protocol (the same implementation is in use for sharing occurrence data using Darwin Core). This TAPIR access point will expose the taxonomic checklist data in TCS format.
The Checklist Provider Tool will be available for download as open source software at the GBIF website. In addition GBIF is considering using the tool to host small data sets directly at GBIF without data providers needing to install the software locally.