During the past several years, a considerable number of biodiversity databases have been developed which provide Internet services in Taiwan. Some are education-oriented with vivid visual layouts to attract the younger community. Others are well organized research aids. Although huge amounts of digitized content of ecological/specimen distribution data, literature and species descriptions have been collected and are accessible, people can only browse them separately. The announcement of the Encyclopedia of Life (EOL) project has inspired TaiBIF, the GBIF portal of Taiwan, to become a portal for both novices and experts by integrating existing institutionally based data with others from miscellaneous sources, thus providing better coverage of biological topics.

Using a Wiki system supported by the open source community for the Taiwanese EOL (TaiEOL) will not only help information gathering and the sustainability of the website but can also help EOL obtain data of many endemic species in Taiwan. With features like customizable presentation layers of web design, the portal can serve information according to the users’ knowledge level. To achieve this, we need a solution comprising standards and mechanisms: the ITIS Submittal Guidelines and Species 2000 Standard Dataset; reference management using BibTeXML (http://bibtexml.sourceforge.net/); and DarwinCore as the exchange format between different data resources.

The features of Wiki-based software satisfy real world requirements. Version control reveals change history while verifying author credits, categorization frameworks automate biodiversity data analysis and establish semantic context, while map service extensions offer the ability to demonstrate spatial data. These together with the Wiki approach construct an ideal platform for collaborative efforts from enthusiasts and specialists. Community awareness of TaiBIF (http://www.taibif.org.tw/) and TaiEOL will be crucial to encourage users to become involved in this collaborative effort.